Leave it to the Jews to have a cookie inspired by cultural annihilation! Hamantaschen are the triangular pastries associated with the holiday of Purim, when Jews read from the Book of Esther, the ...

Leviticus 21:17–21 establishes that a priest with certain physical features cannot serve in the Temple and provides a list of those disqualifying features and the people who have them, including the ...

A central figure in the development of Jewish mysticism, Luria died at 38 and left behind no significant writings. Isaac Luria was a 16th-century rabbi whose teachings exerted an enormous influence on ...

On today’s daf, the Gemara discusses the consequences for selling a range of products that should not be consumed: The sages taught in a beraita: In a case where one sells meat to another and it was ...

A blemish on the study hall. Today’s daf offers us a peek into the fascinating social dynamics of the rabbinic community. Rabbi Tzadok had a firstborn animal. He placed barley in baskets for it, and ...

The centrality of God in Judaism may not be as straightforward as you think. How important is belief in God? Can one be a “good Jew” without believing in God? These questions–articulated in this ...

“Praised be You, God…who commands us to busy ourselves with words of Torah.” Talmud torah (that is, the study of sacred Jewish texts) is so important in Jewish tradition the daily liturgy begins with ...

A tzedakah box, also known by its Yiddish word, pushke, is a receptacle for collecting money that is designated for charity. The Hebrew word tzedakah comes from the root tzedek, meaning justice.

This Chinese parlor game found Jewish enthusiasts in the Catskills. Four women sit around a table, each with a card of various numbers and colors, arranged like a secret code. Tiles are exchanged like ...

This renowned scholar led the non-Hasidic Jewish world into modernity. Rabbi Elijah ben Solomon Zalman Kremer — better known as the Vilna Gaon or sometimes as HaGra, an acronym for his Hebrew title, ...

Gabbai (pl. gabbaim) is an Aramaic word that means tax collector, but today a gabbai is someone who assists with the reading of the Torah. In many communities the gabbai is charged with making sure ...

Life without amiable companionship was unthinkable to the sages of the Talmud. Life without amiable companionship was unthinkable to the sages of the Talmud. According to one rabbinic story, when the ...