Harat Olam
After blowing the shofar on Rosh Hashanah we say hayom harat olam. The word harat is connected to pregnancy and birth. Herayon means pregnancy in modern Hebrew, and horeh is the name for a parent. The...
View ArticleNeilah
Weekdays have three services. Shabbat and Yomtovim have four. Yom Kippur is the only day of the year with five. The extra service is Neilah, prayed at the end of Yom Kippur as the sun is setting....
View ArticleNafka Mina
Mai nafka minah is a colloquial, yeshivish question meaning "What's the practical difference?" It has no neat English equivalent. You might say "What's the nafka minah if she's Christian or Wyccan? The...
View ArticleChizuk
The other day I saw a poster in English on a wall in a religious area of Jerusalem, offering counselling and advice on how to achieve a year full of "geshmack [tasty] Torah learning". It was signed...
View ArticleGeshmack
Last week, I saw a sign in a religious neighbourhood of Jerusalem proffering advice for those who wanted a year of "geshmack Torah learning." In context, this probably means something like satisfying,...
View ArticleGa'agua
Ga'agua means longing or homesickness. This talmudic word derives from the biblical ga'a, the low sound produced by cattle. The cows pulling the holy ark in the beginning of I Samuel are described as...
View ArticleDarchei Shalom
Darchei Shalom means the ways or paths of peace, from the words derech, road, and shalom, peace. It is primarily a legal category rooted in Mishnah Gittin 5:8, which lists various halachot whose...
View ArticleMayim achronim
Many people have the custom, known as mayim achronim, to pour a little water over their finger tips up to the joints before saying grace after meals. You have probably seen the pretty silver cup and...
View ArticleSefirat ha'omer
From the second night of Pesach, we count the Omer - counting off the days for seven weeks until Shavuot. Counting is an expression of anticipation. Grown-ups count the weeks until the next holiday;...
View ArticleMa'aser
As he began what would be a 20-year sojourn in exile, Jacob prays to God and promises, "Of all that You give me, I will set aside a tenth for You" (Genesis 28:22). This is the first biblical mention...
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