“Then said Achish unto his servants, Lo, ye see the man is mad: wherefore then have ye brought him to me? Have I need of mad men, that ye have brought this fellow to play the mad man in my presence? shall this fellow come into my house?” — 1 Samual 21:14-15 “The whole religious […]

“And Judah said unto Onan, Go in unto thy brother’s wife, and marry her, and raise up seed to thy brother. And Onan knew that the seed should not be his; and it came to pass, when he went in unto his brother’s wife, that he spilled it on the ground, lest that he should […]

Hair is a major issue in Orthodox Judaism. If you’re a man, you’re supposed not to shave it from your face (i.e., grow a beard and a mustache). You’re also supposed to grow your “Payot”, which is the Hebrew term for sidelocks or sideburns. In fact, the 252nd of the 613 “Mitzvot” (613 commandments) of […]

Nowadays we witness an endless debate between carnivores and vegetarians, when one of the arguments is about the well-being of the animals. In the meantime, countries of the “new world”, especially in Europe, formulate new rules about how animals should be killed in order to be eaten. The main idea is electrocution, namely death by […]

“Sukkah” is the Hebrew word for a hut (as in “Pizza Hut”) – a small house, typically temporary and wooden, in someone’s territory. “Sukkot” is the plural of “Sukkah”, i.e. “huts”. One of the most interesting Jewish holidays is Sukkot. We often refer to it as the “Gathering Festival”, following the Biblical phrase: “Also in […]

Rumor has it that during the “Black Plague” in the Middle Ages there were those who blamed the Jews for its spread, because of the lower mortality among them, which was associated with the religious customs of washing hands. Much water has flown since then, even in Jordan River. And nowadays? Miraculously, various elements related […]

Tens of thousands of Breslev Hasidic Jews intend to fly to Ukraine, to the town of Uman, in order to attend the yearly ceremony near the grave of their rabbi. This is generally an extremely crowded event, and the people in charge of public health in Israel want to prevent this madness from taking place, […]

The recent Coronavirus poses new challenges to religion. Aside from wondering why God is supposedly mad at us (everything is for a reason, you know) – there are some several intriguing issues that relate specifically to Orthodox Judaism. The Orthodox Jewish religion dictates many specific and rigorous rituals, which are of little interest to the […]

A new virus is always a great joy for religious preachers, who perceive our world as run by some kind of mysterious mechanism that keeps them in the center of things. Indeed some of our local Jewish preachers (as I’m sure also their competition worldwide) have already expressed their opinions on this matter. One talented […]

One of the most interesting holidays in the Jewish calendar is ‘Sukkot’, when religious Jewish people (as well as many secular kids) spend time in small wooden huts near their homes. This is also known as the “Collection Festival”, following the old Biblical command: “Also in the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when ye […]