News and Thoughts from Judaism Online
It's a little-known feature of the Jewish calendar, but this past Wednesday, the 7th of Heshvan, is the day when we begin praying for the winter rains to fall in Israel. The date, set in antiquity, would allow the pilgrims who came to the Temple in Jerusalem for the holiday of Sukkot to get back to ...
It's not exactly a surprise that Jewish learning at Judaism Online takes place, well, online. That's what makes it possible for students around the world to learn Judaism where they are, when they have time in their busy schedules to sit down and watch an hour-long lesson. It also makes it a great v...
Tl;dr - it's not about fasting.
That might surprise the many people I've known in synagogues who work themselves up about the fast: preparing for it, enduring it, and how to make it easier.
(For anyone who doesn't know: on Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement, Jews abstain from all food, drink...
Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year) is the only Jewish holiday that is two days long even in Israel. (Other holidays are one day here, but two days each in the Diaspora.) And now that the holiday is over, and before Shabbat (the Sabbath) begins, it's a good time to reflect a bit on hopes and goals f...
The Jewish new year, called Rosh Hashanah, is coming up in just a few days, starting the evening of September 22. (Remember, Jewish days begin at sundown.) Rosh Hashanah is the only holiday that is observed for two days both in Israel and in the Diaspora.
It's a time for reflecting - Jewish traditi...
One question adults ask when they want to learn about Judaism is what books they should read.
It's not as simple a question as it might seem. There are thousands upon thousands of Jewish books. The question they're asking is which ones they should start with.
The first criterion for most is that t...
While antisemitism has grown leaps and bounds since Hamas invaded Israel on October 7, 2023, murdering some 1200 civilians in Israel and kidnapping some 250 - both alive and dead, there has been a marked interest in returning to Jewish life among Jews who had left it. And there has also been a marke...
If you missed my free live webinar, Israel Beyond the Headlines, you can watch the recording here. It's 93 minutes of personal reflections on what's happening in Israel today, in four parts:
- Culture and Jewish Life
- Arab-Jewish Relations
- Dealing with The Situation (Part 1)
- Dealing with The Situ ...
I've prepared a webinar for this coming Sunday, June 29, at 7 pm Israel time, called
Israel Beyond the Headlines
on what's happening and what life is like in Israel right now. It's free, but you need to register in advance.
To register, please visit www.judaism.online/israel-
A few generations ago, converts to Judaism were usually people engaged to marry Jews. That still happens, but most people contemplating conversion to Judaism are looking to join the Jewish people and practice Judaism, without necessarily being engaged to someone born Jewish.
If you're thinking abou...
The holiday of Shavuot begins Sunday evening, June 1 (we're talking 2025 in this post). You know the drill: in Israel, it's a one-day holiday, so it continues during the day on Monday, June 2. In the Diaspora, that one day becomes two.
In the Bible, it's agriculturally-focused, and it comes seven w...
Yom Hazikaron
Yom Hazikaron, Israel's day of remembrance both for fallen soldiers and for victims of terror, begins this evening, April 29. It is a somber day.
Americans of a certain age will no doubt remember when Memorial Day in the US was like this, unlike today, when for many it's simply a day...
