Jewish Holidays
18articles
Why does the order of the ushpizin include precisely Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Aaron, Joseph and David, and what does this order say about a person's spiritual journey?
The order is not chronological: Joseph comes after Moses and Aaron, because the ushpizin are arranged according to the seven attributes, from kindness to kingship. Seven days in a temporary dwelling as a map for building a person, and seven questions we invite into ourselves.
Is the sukkah really a psychological test: does a person feel safe because of the walls around them, or because of something deeper?
"Go out of your permanent dwelling and sit in a temporary dwelling." As a psychological reading, the sukkah is a yearly experiment in what truly gives a person security, and seven days at the end of which we return home, having learned that the walls are only walls.
What is the deep connection between Sukkot and the Garden of Eden, and do the four species hint at things that happened at the beginning of human history?
Rabbi Abba of Acco identifies the Tree of Knowledge as the etrog, and the Ramban sees in the commandment of the four species an appeasement for the sin that was committed with it. In the Garden of Eden man took a fruit and lost the garden, and on Sukkot he takes a fruit to begin the way back.
What is the surprising connection between the festival of Sukkot and all the nations of the world, and why does this Jewish festival in particular take on such a universal meaning?
Seventy bulls over the seven days of the festival, corresponding to seventy nations, Zechariah's vision of the nations going up to celebrate Sukkot, and a single bull on Shemini Atzeret. And why it is precisely in the small sukkah that the festival opens up to all of humanity.
Why, precisely after the Days of Awe, when we stand in awe before the Holy One, does a festival come whose central commandment is to rejoice?
Sukkot is not the opposite of the Days of Awe, it is their outcome. "You shall rejoice before the Lord", the midrash on "the first for the reckoning of sins", and the flimsy sukkah that teaches that what holds a person up was never the house and its walls.
How can we understand the secret of Rosh Hashanah?
One sentence in the Talmud opens three gates to the day: kingship, remembrance and shofar. Who runs my life, what did I do with the year I was given, and what remains when words run out. And why judgment is not the opposite of love.
How many allusions to the language of the Bible are hidden inside the piyut "Bezochri al Mishkavi", and what changes in their meaning when the poet weaves them together into a single prayer?
There is a genuine biblical weave here. More than twenty allusions and linguistic echoes in the piyut of Rabbi Yehuda ibn Bal'am, and the fascinating part is not the quantity but what the poet does to the verses.
Is the foe the speaker asks to be saved from necessarily an external enemy, or can part of the piyut be read as though the great enemy is also inside the person himself?
The word "foe" can be read on two levels at once, as a real external enemy and also as an inner one. The first threat in the piyut is not a pursuer but the wilfulness of the heart, which is why the poet asks for redemption and not only for rescue.
What is the connection between the opening of the piyut "Mah Lecha Nirdam" and the story of Jonah on the ship, and can that choice change the way the piyut is understood?
The opening of the piyut is an almost direct reworking of the captain's words to Jonah. The poet takes a call spoken inside a sinking ship and turns it toward us, so that "sleeper" becomes a spiritual condition rather than tiredness.
In the piyut "Bezochri al Mishkavi", why did Rabbi Yehuda ibn Bal'am choose to return again and again precisely to "Let us fall into the hand of the Lord, for His mercies are great"?
The word that sounds most frightening in the piyut, "let us fall", turns into a word of confidence. The refrain rests on David's words after the census, and stops exactly before "but let me not fall into the hand of man".
What is special about the moment when the speaker stops talking about himself and mentions "Your servants", "the merit of the fathers" and "Your congregation", and what does that teach about the relation between personal repentance and national identity?
In the final stanza the prayer changes size. The speaker stops being an individual before God and discovers that he is part of a story larger than himself, and two memories stand facing each other: the memory of sin and the memory of the fathers.
Why Do the Levites Retire from 'Active' Service at Age 50, and Is This Age Set Up for Spiritual Success?
Why do the Levites retire from active service in the Tabernacle precisely at age fifty? The transition from physical shoulder-work to a mature spiritual role, and the connections of the number 50 in Judaism.
Do the two goats represent two forces within a person, one offered to holiness and one that must be sent to the wilderness?
The two goats of Yom Kippur as a mirror to the human soul: the same inner force can become holiness when directed, or wilderness when released without limits.
What Are the Hidden Meanings Behind the Blessing of the Trees?
Behind the Blessing of the Trees lie deep layers of meaning: renewal, grace beyond necessity, rectification of sight, and the elevation of all creation. A short blessing that opens a great gate in the heart.
What are the hidden dimensions of the Passover sacrifice performed by the children of Israel?
There are several "hidden layers" in the act of the Passover sacrifice—depths of meaning that unfold when looking not only at what they did, but what...
Parshat Tzav introduces the Korban Todah (Thanksgiving Offering). Why does it include both chametz (leavened bread) and matzah (unleavened bread)—two opposing elements? And what does this teach us about the right way to say "thank you"?
What you're really asking is: Why does the Korban Todah include both chametz and matzah—two complete opposites? This takes us directly to the heart of...
How Do the Numbers of the Torah Reveal Deep Secrets?
The numbers in the Torah are not random. Every number carries hints about creation, the order of the world, and divine governance. The Sages and Kabbalists discovered that Torah numbers hold deep meanings and a wondrous order.
How Can It Be That Most of the World Knows the Story of the Exodus from Egypt?
The story of the Exodus from Egypt is one of the most central and influential narratives in human history, and the fact that most of the world knows it stems from several historical, religious, and cultural factors...
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