Jewish Holidays

Embark on a journey of Jewish learning and discovery, exploring the depth of our Jewish Holidays resources, where tagged items including audio, programs, and podcast episodes await your exploration.

Tisha B'Av: The Joy of Jerusalem

Rabbi Jay Kelman

"Whoever mourns for Jerusalem will merit seeing its joy" (Ta'anit 30b). Our Sages seem to be offering words of comfort to those pious Jews over the millennium, who faithfully internalized the suffering of the Jewish people. Though…
Article
Aug 3, 2014

Shavuot: Why Were We Chosen?

Rabbi Jay Kelman

"It was taught in the name of Rabbi Meir: Why was the Torah given to the Jewish people?" (Beitzah 25a). The simple answer—made famous by a Midrash that is taught at a very young age in all Jewish schools—is that we wanted to. "The Lord came from…
Article
Jun 3, 2014

Yom Yerushalayim Thoughts

Rabbi Jay Kelman

"Ten miracles were performed for our ancestors in the Beit Hamikdash...and no one ever said to his fellow, 'the place is too cramped for me to sleep in Jerusalem'" (Avot 5:7). Jerusalem was a very small city, populated primarily by priests working…
Article
May 28, 2014

Yom Ha'atzmaut: The Most Important Mitzvah

Rabbi Jay Kelman

One of the Rambam's principles of faith is the eternity of the Torah. While historical circumstances may prevent the performance of certain mitzvoth, the mitzvah of Talmud Torah encompasses these "theoretical" mitzvoth as we hope that…
Article
May 6, 2014

Pesach: A Long Short Story

Rabbi Jay Kelman

“And it was at the end of four hundred and thirty years, in the middle of that very day, that the legions of G-d went out from the land of Egypt” (Shemot 12:41). After 430 years, does it really matter what day and what time of the day we left Egypt…
Article
Apr 14, 2014

Acharei Mot: Celebrating Pesach on Yom Kippur

Rabbi Jay Kelman

It is quite rare to read parshat Acharei Mot on Shabbat Hagadol. In non-leap years, it is generally parshat Tzav that is read on Shabbat Hagadol. And when we do have a leap year, it is usually parshat Metzora that is read as we get set to usher in…
Article
Apr 11, 2014

Kriat Yam Suf in Prose and Poetry: Themes and Emphases

Rabbi Nathaniel Helfgot

from The People and the Book: 8th Annual Conference on Tanach (2014).
Audio
Apr 2, 2014

Re-examining MAGID, in Light of Sefer Devarim

Rabbi Menachem Leibtag

from The People and the Book: 8th Annual Conference on Tanach (2014).
Audio
Apr 2, 2014

My Sacrifice, My Food - Midrashim for Rosh Chodesh Nisan: Text Study from Pesikta deRav Kahana

Dr. Anna Urowitz-Freudenstein

from The People and the Book: 8th Annual Conference on Tanach (2014).  
Audio
Apr 2, 2014

Matza: The First Fast Food

Rabbi Alex Israel

Audio
Apr 2, 2014