A. Miracles aren’t only a matter of convenience – the sea split so Jews could get to the other side. They aren’t mere problem solvers. When G-d interferes with the natural order He created, it is an infusion of Divine … Read the rest
...A. Talmud Sotah 9b-10a has some interesting stuff, check out a translated Talmud. Also there are commentaries printed on Tanach – some of which are translated into English in the Judaica Press edition. I can lend you both books.
There’s … Read the rest
...A. Jeremiah 31:14. A very moving verse, it is prominently inscribed on Rachel’s tomb in Bethlehem.… Read the rest
...A. It would probably be a woolen Tallit yellowed with age and use, traditional black stripes down the sides, probably of middle size, not a shawl-type common today in liberal congregations, and not the very large full-size that the Chassidim … Read the rest
...A. A lot more than it does today. Not all scholars were automatically Rabbis back then. The title “Rabbi” referred to the “Smicha” ordination of the earlier generation (represented by one of its outstanding leaders) conferring special authority, transmitted down … Read the rest
...A. This is simply a matter of sensitivity. There are no Jewish laws prohibiting his music, but for those who suffered through the Holocaust and saw their loves ones go to their death while Wagner’s music was played by their … Read the rest
...A. See Kings I Chapter 15. Kings Asa and Aviyam had the same mother, Maacha daughter of Av(i)shalom.… Read the rest
...A. Neither. Cyrus was the Persian King who gave the go-ahead but it was built by Jews, led by Ezra and Nehemiah. Herod was King (vassal to the Romans) a few dozen years before the Common Era, who despite his … Read the rest
...A. A famous Spanish Rabbi, author of the “Akeidas Yitzchak” (Binding of Issac) or “Akeda” for short. It is an important inspirational classic work of Jewish Thought, written prior to the Expulsion of Jews from Spain in 1492 and the … Read the rest
...A. A traditional Russian beet soup. There are all kinds, some with vegetables and/or sour cream, others may have meat chunks or eggs. It can be served hot or cold. The commercial variety (you often see near Manishewitz boxes in … Read the rest
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