We all recite this phrase daily in Shema. But what does it mean? The word that needs a proper translation is יפתה. The phrase comes

Part II Last week, we discussed the first Bar-Kochba letter findings at the caves of Murabba’at. This week, we will discuss Nahal Hever. This site

What did we really know about Bar-Kochba for two thousand years? The material in rabbinic literature was brief and the passages had a legendary quality

I thought it would be interesting to discuss this monumental work that is still not finished. This is an encyclopedia in Hebrew that aims to

The above statement is from Balaam’s blessing at Numbers 23:9. We know the meaning of the first three words, but what about that second phrase?

I am now going to discuss this first century work. My discussion will be based on an article by Vered Noam (cited below). Noam is

Rambam wrote a few letters to the rabbis of the main communities in southern France: the communities of Lunel and Montpellier. I am going to

Verse 10: “eshet chayil mi yimtza?” These four words imply that it is hard to find a woman of valor. Yet at verse 29 we

Part II I have previously addressed the history of the “Baruch She-petarani” blessing, and the scant knowledge we have of bar mitzvahs until the time

I am largely basing this column on Bar Mitzvah: A History, by Michael Hilton (2014). In Gen. Rabbah 63:10, there is the following passage: “Rabbi

The above blessing is not in the Talmud or the Geonim. When did the practice of reciting it in shul when one’s son is age