This word appears 29 times in Tanach, all but one time in the plural. (The exception is Hoshea 5:8: “chatzotzrah.”) The most common spelling of
Rabbi Epstein was born in Belorussia, and studied in a traditional cheder. His intent was to follow in his father’s footsteps: work as a merchant
How can we achieve a better understanding of what God wants us to learn from the Shalosh Regalim? Rabbi Neil Lauer’s “The Tripod” (2022) attempts
Psalms 137:5 reads: “If I forget you Jerusalem, tishkach yemini.” But what do the last two words mean? On the simplest level, “tishkach yemini” means
Regarding the discovery of Ugaritic, here is how one scholar tells the beginning of the story: “In the spring of 1928, a farm worker was
After my many decades of counting, it is time to deal with this issue. Let us first look at the Acharonim. This is straightforward. The
There are many streets named “Ruppin” in Israel. There are also many buildings named after him, such as one at Hebrew University. Who was he?
Regarding the wicked son, the Haggadah tells us: “hakheh (הקהה) et shinav.” What does that expression mean? There are two issues: What is its literal
A widespread custom of firstborns fasting on the 14th of Nisan is not referred to in the mishna or either Talmud. Nor is it mentioned
When I came across Rabbi Haim Jachter’s fascinating book: “Bridging Traditions: Demystifying Differences Between Sephardic and Ashkenazic Jews,” (2021), I learned that Sephardim have the
The Tachanun chapter in Rabbi Jachter’s “Bridging Traditions” (2021) inspired me to better understand the origin of this prayer. Before I read Rabbi Jachter’s book,
I wrote about this last year, but I am writing about it again as I have more sources to share. First, let us discuss the
