How long does Yom Kippur last?

Do I have to be a synagogue member to go to Kol Nidre and other Yom Kippur services?

Where can I stream Kol Nidre and other Yom Kippur services?

Why do people fast on Yom Kippur?

Do children have to fast? Is anyone exempt from fasting? Can I at least drink water?

I heard it’s OK to wear sneakers to services. Is that really true?

What prayers are unique to Yom Kippur?

What parts of the Torah are read on Yom Kippur?

What’s this I keep hearing about the Yom Kippur breakfast? I thought people skipped breakfast on Yom Kippur.

Are there any special words or phrases I need to know for Yom Kippur?

What’s Yom Kippur about exactly?

Yom Kippur is the Day of Atonement, when we ask forgiveness for the wrongs we have committed over the past year. Jewish tradition believes that on this day God places a seal upon the divine decrees affecting each person for the coming year. Traditionally, Jews fast on this somber day and also refrain from other bodily pleasures.

How long does Yom Kippur last?

Yom Kippur, which falls 10 days after Rosh Hashanah, lasts one day. It begins at sundown and concludes at sundown the following day. The fast itself lasts 25 hours.

Do I have to be a synagogue member to go to Kol Nidre or other Yom Kippur services?

No, although most synagogues require you to purchase High Holiday tickets in advance. If the cost is prohibitive, you can sometimes request a lower rate. In addition, many synagogues do not require tickets for their Yom Kippur afternoon services. A number of congregations and other Jewish institutions offer free services for the entire holiday, but you may need to do a little research to find them. Some suggestions to get you started are listed here.

Where can I find a live stream of Kol Nidre and other Yom Kippur services on the Internet?

While traditional Jews do not use technology on Yom Kippur, a growing number of non-Orthodox congregations are broadcasting Yom Kippur and other holiday services online. Many also broadcast Shabbat services and make previous services available for streaming anytime on their website or YouTube channel. Learn more about streaming High Holiday services here.

Why do people fast on Yom Kippur?

Yom Kippur is the day on which we are instructed to divorce ourselves as completely as humanly possible from the mundane world in order to devote ourselves with all our hearts and minds to our relationship with the divine. Fasting is the most widespread manifestation of this devotion. Other examples include: refraining from washing, sexual relations, and the wearing of leather (a sign of luxury in earlier times).

Do children have to fast? Is anyone exempt from fasting? Can I at least drink water?

Traditionally, Jews are not required to fast until they reach bar/bat mitzvah age (12 or 13), and children under the age of 9 are not allowed to fast. People for whom fasting is a health risk, along with pregnant and nursing women, are also exempt. The fast includes abstaining from water, but, again, only if doing so does not pose a health risk. Find tips on fasting without jeopardizing your health here.

I heard it’s OK to wear sneakers to services. Is that really true?

Yes, many Jews wear sneakers, or white athletic shoes, on Yom Kippur. That’s because of a desire to avoid leather (a sign of luxury in early times) and the tradition of wearing white, as a symbol of purity.

What prayers are unique to Yom Kippur?

The evening of Yom Kippur begins with Kol Nidrei, a prayer that is repeated three times and asks that all vows and oaths that we have made throughout the year be forgiven so we can start the new year with a clean slate. Another major prayer is the Viddui, or confession, which includes Ashamnu and Al-Chet, prayers which list all the sins individuals in the community have committed.

What parts of the Torah are read on Yom Kippur?

On Yom Kippur, congregations traditionally read a passage from Leviticus about the sacrificing of a goat (the origin of the term scapegoat). The Reform movement has replaced that reading with one from Deuteronomy about the human freedom to make moral choices. In addition to these readings from the Torah (the five books of Moses), on the afternoon of Yom Kippur it is customary to read the Book of Jonah, from the Prophets section of the Bible.

What’s this I keep hearing about the Yom Kippur breakfast? I thought people skipped breakfast on Yom Kippur.

A break-fast is an informal meal in the evening, after the Yom Kippur fast has ended. In the United States, break-fasts tend to resemble morning breakfast (or at least brunch) in that they tend to be dairy (rather than meat) and include bagels, cream cheese, smoked fish, salads and sandwich fillings like cheese, tuna salad and egg salad. Find some recommended recipes here.

How do I greet people on and before Yom Kippur? And are there any special words or phrases I need to know?

You can say, “Have an easy fast” or “gmar chatima tova” (may you be inscribed for a good year.) It’s also acceptable to say “shana tova” (happy new year). As for other words and phrases for the holiday, check out our glossary for Yom Kippur. (We also have ones for Rosh Hashanah and Sukkot, as well as other major holidays.)

Want to learn more about the High Holidays? Sign up for a special High Holiday prep email series.

The post Yom Kippur FAQ: All About the Day of Atonement appeared first on My Jewish Learning.

What is a shofar?

What traditional foods are served?

What do “shana tova” and “gmar hatima tova” mean?

How long does Rosh Hashanah last?

Do I have to belong to a synagogue to go to Rosh Hashanah services?

Is it possible to live-stream Rosh Hashanah services from my computer?

Is it true that you are supposed to throw bread in the water on Rosh Hashanah?

What prayers do we read on Rosh Hashanah?

What sections of the Torah are read during Rosh Hashanah services?

What is the prayer book for the High Holidays called, and are there any other special Hebrew terms I need to know during the holidays?

What is Rosh Hashanah about exactly?

Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year) is simultaneously a time of great celebration and subtle trepidation. It is a day to celebrate our creation, but also a day of accounting and judgment for our actions. On Rosh Hashanah, we relate to God as the ultimate judge. The symbolic Book of Life is opened and we become advocates for our personal inscription in it. We review the choices we have made over the past year, our actions and our intentions, as we attempt to honestly evaluate ourselves. You may want to consult this list of questions to help in your introspection.

What is a shofar?

A shofar is a ram’s horn that is blown like a trumpet during the Jewish month of Elul that leads up to Rosh Hashanah, at Rosh Hashanah services and at the end of Yom Kippur. The four sounds of the shofar – tekiah, shevarim, teruah and tekiah gedolah – remind many people of a crying voice. Hearing the shofar’s call is a reminder for us to look inward and repent for the sins of the past year.

What traditional foods are served? Are any foods forbidden? And what’s the reason for those round challah loaves?

Traditionally Jews eat sweet foods — like apples and honey, challah and tzimmes — to symbolize a sweet new year. (Here are some Rosh Hashanah recipes you may want to try.) Chicken and brisket are frequently served at Rosh Hashanah meals. In Sephardic tradition, a number of foods believed to signify our wishes for the coming year are eaten, such as pomegranates, leeks and pumpkins. All foods that can be eaten year-round are permitted. And the challah? It’s round as a reminder of the never-ending cycle of life.

What do shana tova and gmar hatima tova mean?

Shana tova  means “Have a good year.” A similar expression is L’shana tova umetukah, which means “for a good and sweet year.”  Gmar hatima tova literally means “a good signing/sealing.” This is a traditional greeting during the days from Rosh Hashanah through Yom Kippur, referring to the belief that on Rosh Hashanah our fates are written, or inscribed, in the Book of Life, and on Yom Kippur we are sealed in it.

How long does Rosh Hashanah last?

Traditionally Jews observe two days of Rosh Hashanah. In 2022, Rosh Hashanah begins at sundown on Sunday, Sept. 25 and ends at sundown on Tuesday, Sept. 27. However, many Reform congregations observe only the first day. But the holidays don’t end there: Yom Kippur falls 10 days later, followed by Sukkot and Simchat Torah.

Do I have to belong to a synagogue to go to Rosh Hashanah services?

No, although in most synagogues you will need  to purchase High Holiday tickets in advance. If the cost is prohibitive, you can usually negotiate a lower rate. In addition, a number of congregations and other Jewish institutions offer free services, but you may need to do a little research to find them. Some suggestions to get you started are listed here.

Where can I find a live-stream of Rosh Hashanah services?

While traditional Jews do not use technology on Rosh Hashanah, a growing number of non-Orthodox congregations are broadcasting High Holiday services. Many also stream Shabbat services and make previous services available for streaming anytime on their site or YouTube channel. Learn more about streaming High Holiday services here. You can also learn about how to get the most out attending a Zoom prayer service here.

Is it true that you are supposed to throw bread in the water on Rosh Hashanah?

Yes, during the Tashlich ceremony, usually held on the first day of Rosh Hashanah, Jews symbolically cast off their sins by throwing pieces of bread into a body of water.

What prayers do we read on Rosh Hashanah?

While some of the liturgy is similar to other weekday or Shabbat services, much of it is unique, and several of these prayers are repeated later on Yom Kippur. Arguably the most famous part of Rosh Hashanah services is the blowing of the shofar, and the most famous prayer is Unetanah Tokef, which inspired Leonard Cohen’s “Who By Fire.” A close second is “Avinu Malkeinu,” which means “our father, our king.”

What sections of the Torah are read during Rosh Hashanah services?

On the first day of Rosh Hashanah, most synagogues read Genesis 21:1-21:34, the section where Sarah and Abraham, after years of struggling with infertility, are blessed with a son, Isaac, after which Sarah banishes Hagar, the handmaid who is the mother of Ishmael. The second-day reading, Genesis 22:1-24, continues where the first day left off, with the story of the Akedah, Abraham’s near-sacrifice of Isaac.  (In Reform congregations that observe only one day of Rosh Hashanah, only Genesis 22 is read.)

What is the prayer book for the High Holidays called, and are there any other special Hebrew terms I need to know during the holidays?

The prayer book for the holidays is called the Mahzor, and yes, there are numerous words and terms associated with Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. You may find our Rosh Hashanah glossary and Yom Kippur glossary helpful.

Want to learn more about the High Holidays? Sign up for a special High Holiday prep email series.

The post Rosh Hashanah FAQ: All About the Jewish New Year appeared first on My Jewish Learning.

While Jewish tradition maintains that human life is of infinite value and that its preservation and extension overrides virtually every other religious imperative, relieving pain and allowing for the soul’s peaceful departure are also values well-established in Jewish tradition. Of course there is a moral distinction between hastening death and removing obstacles to its natural progression, but in practice the difference isn’t always easy to discern.

Below is a general overview of a number of issues that commonly arise at life’s end — and how Jewish authorities have weighed in on them. Jewish thinkers often emphasize that specific cases vary substantially and must be considered individually. And while weight is always given to a patient’s wishes, those who are concerned about complying with Jewish law are always urged to consult with trusted advisers.

Artificial Nutrition/Hydration

For patients unable to eat or drink, doctors can provide food and water intravenously or through a feeding tube. This is a common situation faced by those with advanced-stage dementia. Most Orthodox authorities generally consider nutrition, hydration and oxygen — even if artificially provided by a feeding tube or ventilator — to constitute essential human needs that should never be discontinued as long as they are effective. This position is was also reflected in the 1990 paper on end-of-life care authored by Conservative Rabbi Avram Reisner. However, the Conservative movement’s religious law authorities also endorsed a paper by Rabbi Elliot Dorff, who advanced several possible justifications for removing artificial nutrition and hydration for the terminally ill, among them the contention that a medically administered treatment that conveys food and water to the patient by tube is more properly regarded as medicine than as simple food and water.

Hospice

Hospice is a form of medical care for people suffering from terminal illnesses with a life expectancy of six months or less. Patients are typically referred to hospice care when further medical treatment is not expected to reverse the course of their disease and they elect instead to focus on therapies geared toward reducing pain and sustaining the highest quality of life for as long as possible. Jewish hospice programs are typically equipped to provide hospice services while abiding by Jewish traditions. Because hospice focuses on a patient’s quality of life rather than aggressive medical treatment, some Orthodox rabbis do not believe hospice conforms with Jewish tradition. However, not all Jewish authorities agree. Many contemporary Jewish authorities argue that Jewish tradition allows a focus on comfort and pain reduction and the eschewing of aggressive medical interventions in certain circumstances.

Do Not Resuscitate Orders

Known as DNRs, these are legally binding directives signed by doctors ordering medical professionals to withhold CPR or advanced life support in the event a patient’s heart stops functioning. DNRs are typically requested by patients who are elderly or are suffering from an advanced terminal illness that makes it unlikely they would survive CPR without a severely diminished condition. Some Jewish authorities consider these orders extremely problematic, as a patient needing CPR is in acute distress and could be saved, even for a brief period, with proper treatment. But given the often low success rate of resuscitation and the high likelihood of adverse effects for the elderly or those weakened by terminal illness, some authorities permit DNRs under certain conditions. Reisner, in his 1990 paper on treatment for the terminally ill, writes that it is proper to respect a patient’s DNR request in cases where it is not possible to restore “a full measure of life.”

Advance Directives

These are documents specifying a person’s wishes concerning medical care in the event they are unable to make such decisions for themselves and/or appointing a health care proxy to make decisions on their behalf. The laws concerning advance directives vary considerably from state to state. A number of state-specific forms are available here. In addition, both Conservative and Orthodox Jewish versions of advanced directives are available, some of which explicitly state a person’s desire to have Jewish law and custom respected in their health care choices. There is typically also space to name a specific rabbi to be consulted when making such choices.

Experimental Therapies

While most Jewish authorities would require a patient to submit to a therapy if it is known to be effective at curing their condition, this is not the case with respect to experimental treatments whose success rate and potentially adverse side effects are not known. These can include treatments whose effectiveness has yet to be demonstrated in clinical trials, or new drugs whose safety and effectiveness have not yet been established. Jewish authorities from across the denominational spectrum support the right of a patient to refuse treatment that is risky or of unproven value. Equally, a patient who desires to undertake an experimental therapy in the hope of being cured is permitted to do so even if there are risks involved. According to some authorities, this is even the case with a hazardous treatment that may itself result in death. Dorff writes that it is permissible to undertake a hazardous therapy if it presents a “reasonable chance” of cure, even if it simultaneously poses a risk of hastening death if it fails.

Refusing Treatment

Jewish tradition generally requires that every effort be made to sustain and extend life, but that position is not absolute. In cases where diseases are incurable, and medical interventions would be risky, painful, of uncertain efficacy or serve merely to prolong a life of unbearable physical or psychic pain, there is support in Jewish tradition for an individual’s right to reject such treatment. This was the reasoning behind the Reform Rabbinate 2008 ruling that a lung cancer patient did not have to submit to chemotherapy that could extend her life by three months, but only at a cost of significant pain and suffering. Within the liberal denominations, there is broad respect for individual autonomy in making decisions concerning health care, including the right to refuse care if the patient feels it would not be effective or would be too painful. Among Orthodox authorities, there is also support for refusing treatment in situations where it would not cure the patient but would only prolong individual suffering.

Praying to Die

Taking active steps to hasten death are prohibited in Jewish law, but praying for death is another matter. The 14th-century Catalonian Talmud scholar Rabbenu Nissim, commenting on the talmudic story in which the maidservant of Rabbi Yehuda Hanasi prays for his death, observes: “There are times when one should pray for the sick to die, such as when the sick one is suffering greatly from his malady and his condition is terminal.” (Nedarim 40a:2) The Jewish bioethicist J. David Bleich has formulated it this way: “Although man must persist in his efforts to prolong life, he may, nevertheless, express human needs and concerns through the medium of prayer. There is no contradiction whatsoever between acting upon an existing obligation and pleading to be relieved of further responsibility.”

Withdrawing life support

Many Jewish legal experts believe it is permissible to withhold advanced life-support measures from terminally ill patients. However, once such measures have been provided, withdrawing them to let natural death occur becomes more problematic. While there are grounds in Jewish law for withholding advanced life-support measures from terminally ill patients, once such measures have been provided, withdrawing them to let natural death occur becomes more problematic. As a general rule, withdrawing life support is not permitted in traditional readings of Jewish law. However, there are many contemporary Jewish authorities who consider a person to be dead if activity in their brain stem stops. If such a patient were kept “alive” only by means of medical machinery, these authorities would permit those machines to be disconnected. For those seeking to adhere to more traditional interpretations of Jewish law, there have been some interpretations used by rabbinical medical experts, that have been applied to withdraw treatment in cases where a patient is entirely dependent on machines for breathing and blood circulation and has little hope for recovery. However, it must be considered on a case by case basis, informed by accurate information between the physician, rabbi and family.

Organ Donation

Jewish authorities from across the spectrum of religious observance, from Reform to ultra-Orthodox, support the lifesaving potential of organ donation, with some authorities going so far as to suggest that Jewish tradition mandates organ donation. Traditional requirements — such as burying the dead quickly, avoiding defilement or benefit from a dead body — that would seem to preclude organ donation are superseded by its lifesaving potential. The Halachic Organ Donor Society (an organization for Jews who want to strictly comply with Jewish law) offers an organ donor card that specifically states that any transplant procedures be conducted in consultation with the deceased’s rabbi. The Conservative movement has a similar card.

Euthanasia/Assisted Suicide

Most Jewish authorities adamantly reject euthanasia or assisted suicide of any kind. Taking active steps to hasten one’s death is considered tantamount to suicide, while assisting another to do so may be considered murder. A number of Reform rabbis have challenged this view, questioning the validity of the commonly drawn distinction between active measures to hasten death and merely withholding treatment or removing impediments to death. Peter Knobel, a prominent Reform rabbi and past president of the movement’s rabbinical association, has argued that in certain cases, active euthanasia may even be a praiseworthy act, however this remains a decidedly minority view. Over the years, the Reform rabbinate has repeatedly reiterated its opposition to euthanasia and assisted suicide.

Truth-Telling

While honesty is a well-established imperative in Jewish tradition, there is ample precedent for the idea that full disclosure of a terminal diagnosis ought to be withheld from a patient since it may sap their will to live. Various biblical sources are cited in support of this idea, including the prophet Elisha’s response to the query of Ben Haddad, in which the prophet told the king he would recover from his illness though he knew the opposite was true. The Shulchan Aruch rules that, while a person near death is instructed to confess their sins, they must also be reassured that many have confessed their sins and not died. (Yoreh Deah: 338) Bleich has gone so far as to suggest that a doctor not only refrain from conveying information that might cause a patient to despair and thereby hasten their death, but he must continue to “feign medical aid even though there is no medical purpose in his ministrations.”

End-of-life decisions can be challenging, particularly for those who wish to ensure that the decisions comply with traditional Jewish law. And, while there are areas of consensus, there are also differences in how Jewish leaders interpret relevant Jewish teachings and texts. While the article provides an overview, we encourage families concerned with abiding by Jewish practices and beliefs when facing these difficult decisions to consult with trusted spiritual leaders for advice.

Resources

Articles

“Jewish Ritual, Reality and Response at the End of Life: A Guide to Caring for Jewish Patients and Their Families” by Rabbi Mark A. Popovsky

“End of Life: Jewish Perspectives” By Rabbi Elliot Dorff

“Advanced Illness and Orthodox Jewish Law: Approaches to Communication and Medical Decision Making”

Reform movement discussion guide on end-of-life issues

Halachic Guidelines to Assist Patients and their Families in Making “End-of-Life” Medical Decisions

“Does Judaism Allow Organ Donation?”

Advance Directives / Living Wills

Rabbinical Council of America (Modern Orthodox) Health Care Proxy Form

Agudath Israel of America (Haredi Orthodox) Halachic Living Will

Rabbinical Assembly (Conservative movement) medical directive

Jewish living wills for specific states

Halachic Organ Donor Card (HODS)

Conservative movement organ donor card

Organizations

National Institute for Jewish Hospice

Chayim Aruchim: The Center for Culturally Sensitive Health Advocacy and Counseling

Kavod v’Nichum

Chevra Kadisha Registry

National Independent Jewish Funeral Directors

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The post Jewish Perspectives on End-of-Life Care appeared first on My Jewish Learning.

But what do Jews believe about Jesus?

• For some Jews, the name alone is nearly synonymous with pogroms and Crusades, charges of deicide and centuries of Christian anti-Semitism.
• Other Jews, recently, have come to regard him as a Jewish teacher. This does not mean, however, that they believe, as Christians do, that he was raised from the dead or was the messiah.

While many people now regard Jesus as the founder of Christianity, it is important to note that he did not intend to establish a new religion, at least according to the earliest sources, and he never used the term “Christian.” He was born and lived as a Jew, and his earliest followers were Jews as well. Christianity emerged as a separate religion only in the centuries after Jesus’ death.

Who Was Jesus?

Virtually all of what is known about the historical Jesus comes from the four New Testament Gospels — Matthew, Mark, Luke and John — which scholars believe were written several decades after Jesus’ death.

While there is no archaeological or other physical evidence for his existence, most scholars agree that Jesus did exist and that he was born sometime in the decade before the Common Era and crucified sometime between 26-36 CE (the years when the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate, ruled Judea).

He lived at a time when the Roman Empire ruled what is now Israel and sectarianism was rife, with major tensions among Jews not only over how much to cooperate with the Romans but also how to interpret Torah. It was also, for some, a restive time when displeasure with Roman policies, as well as with the Temple high priests, bred hopes for a messianic redeemer who would throw off the foreign occupiers and restore Jewish sovereignty in the Land of Israel.

Was Jesus the Messiah?

The question “was Jesus the messiah?” requires a prior question: “What is the definition of messiah?” The Prophets (Nevi’im), who wrote hundreds of years before Jesus’ birth, envisioned a messianic age as as a period of universal peace, in which war and hunger are eradicated, and humanity accepts God’s sovereignty. By the first century, the view developed that the messianic age would witness a general resurrection of the dead, the in-gathering of all the Jews, including the 10 lost tribes, to the land of Israel, a final judgment and universal peace.

Some Jews expected the messiah to be a descendant of King David (based on an interpretation of God’s promise to David in 2 Samuel 7 of an eternal kingdom). The Dead Sea Scrolls speak of two messiahs: one a military leader and the other a priest. Still other Jews expected the prophet Elijah, or the angel Michael, or Enoch, or any number of other figures to usher in the messianic age.
Stories in the Gospels about Jesus healing the sick, raising the dead, and proclaiming the imminence of the kingdom of heaven suggest that his followers regarded him as appointed by God to bring about the messianic age.

More than 1,000 years after Jesus’ crucifixion, the medieval sage Maimonides (also known as Rambam) laid out in his Mishneh Torah specific things Jews believe the messiah must accomplish in order to confirm his identity — among them restoring the kingdom of David to its former glory, achieving victory in battle against Israel’s enemies, rebuilding the temple (which the Romans destroyed in 70 CE) and ingathering the exiles to the land of Israel. “And if he’s not successful with this, or if he is killed, it’s known that he is not the one that was promised by the Torah,” Maimonides wrote.

What About Jews for Jesus?

Jews for Jesus is one branch of a wider movement called Messianic Jews. Members of this movement are not accepted as Jewish by the broader Jewish community, even though some adherents may have been born Jewish and their ritual life includes Jewish practices. While an individual Jew could accept Jesus as the messiah and technically remain Jewish — rejection of any core Jewish belief or practice does not negate one’s Jewishness — the beliefs of messianic Jews are theologically incompatible with Judaism.

Did the Jews Kill Jesus?

No. Jesus was executed by the Romans. Crucifixion was a Roman form of execution, not a Jewish one.

For most of Christian history, Jews were held responsible for the death of Jesus. This is because the New Testament tends to place the blame specifically on the Temple leadership and more generally on Jewish people. According to the Gospels, the Roman governor Pontius Pilate was reluctant to execute Jesus but was egged on by bloodthirsty Jews — a scene famously captured in Mel Gibson’s controversial 2004 film “The Passion of the Christ.” According to the Gospel of Matthew, after Pilate washes his hands and declares himself innocent of Jesus’ death, “all the people” (i.e., all the Jews in Jerusalem) respond, “His blood be on us and on our children” (Matthew 27:25).

This “blood cry” and other verses were used to justify centuries of Christian prejudice against Jews. In 1965, the Vatican promulgated a document called “Nostra Aetate” (Latin for “In Our Time”) which stated that Jews in general should not be held responsible for the death of Jesus. This text paved the way for a historic rapprochement between Jews and Catholics. Several Protestant denominations across the globe subsequently adopted similar statements.

Why Was Jesus Killed?

Some have suggested that Jesus was a political rebel who sought the restoration of Jewish sovereignty and was executed by the Romans for sedition — an argument put forth in two recent works: Reza Aslan’s Zealot and Shmuley Boteach’s Kosher Jesus. However, this thesis is not widely accepted by New Testament scholars. Had Rome regarded Jesus as the leader of a band of revolutionaries, it would have rounded up his followers as well. Nor is there any evidence in the New Testament to suggest that Jesus and his followers were zealots interested in an armed rebellion against Rome. More likely is the hypothesis that Romans viewed Jesus as a threat to the peace and killed him because he was gaining adherents who saw him as a messianic figure.

Did Jesus Reject Judaism?

Some have interpreted certain verses in the Gospels as rejections of Jewish belief and practice. In the Gospel of Mark, for example, Jesus is said to have declared forbidden foods “clean” — a verse commonly understood as a rejection of kosher dietary laws — but this is Mark’s extrapolation and not necessarily Jesus’ intention. Jesus and his earliest Jewish followers continued to follow Jewish law.

The New Testament also include numerous verses testifying to Jesus as equal to God and as divine — a belief hard to reconcile with Judaism’s insistence on God’s oneness. However, some Jews at the time found the idea that the divine could take on human form compatible with their tradition. Others might have regarded Jesus as an angel, such as the “Angel of the Lord” who appears in Genesis 16, Genesis 22, Exodus 3 (in the burning bush) and elsewhere.

Are There Jewish Texts that Reference Jesus?

Yes. The first-century Jewish historian Josephus mentions Jesus, although the major reference in his Antiquities of the Jews appears to have been edited and augmented by Christian scribes. There are a few references in the Talmud to “Yeshu,” which many authorities understand as referring to Jesus.

The Talmud tractate Sanhedrin originally recorded that Yeshu the Nazarene was hung on the eve of Passover for the crime of leading Jews astray. This reference was excised from later versions of the Talmud, most likely because of its use by Christians as a pretext for persecution.

In the medieval period, a work called Toledot Yeshu presented an alternative history of Jesus that rejects cardinal Christian beliefs. The work, which is not part of the canon of rabbinic literature, is not widely known.

Maimonides, in his Mishneh Torah, describes Jesus as the failed messiah foreseen by the prophet Daniel. Rather than redeeming Israel, Maimonides writes, Jesus caused Jews to be killed and exiled, changed the Torah and led the world to worship a false God.

Special thanks to Amy-Jill Levine, University Professor of New Testament and Jewish Studies at Vanderbilt Divinity School and College of Arts and Sciences, for her assistance with this article.

To read this article, “What Do Jews Believe About Jesus?” in Spanish (leer en Español), click here.

The post What Do Jews Believe About Jesus? appeared first on My Jewish Learning.

First, you should read our overview article about the basics of converting to Judaism. In particular, be aware that different streams of Judaism have different requirements and standards, and that communal norms vary from country to country. So if it’s important to you that your conversion be recognized in a specific place, such as Israel or the United Kingdom, or in a particular community, you will want to ensure that your conversion process follows its standards. You may also want to do some research to ensure that the rabbi or institution with whom you are working is widely respected and that his or her conversions are widely recognized.

Regardless of which type of conversion they ultimately undergo, most prospective Jews by choice get started by enrolling in Introduction to Judaism or Judaism 101 classes, which are frequently offered at synagogues, Jewish community centers and other Jewish institutions.

For assistance finding such classes near where you live, you may want to:

• Contact your local Jewish federation or Jewish community center.
• Review the Reform movement’s list of upcoming Introduction to Judaism courses here. The movement also offers an online version of this class.
• Check out the Conservative movement’s list of upcoming conversion classes here.
• Contact a local Orthodox congregation or rabbi and ask which class they recommend for prospective converts. Click here for your nearest Orthodox Union -affiliated synagogue To find your nearest Chabad-Lubavitch congregation, click here.
• If you are in Israel, click here for more information about the conversion process there.
• For information about non-Orthodox conversions in Europe visit the World Union for Progressive Judaism site.
• It is also possible now to take classes online — and even go through the entire conversion process online. However, many communities, particularly in Europe, do not recognize online conversions.

If you know of other class directories not listed here, leave information in the comments or email community@myjewishlearning.com.

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The post Converting to Judaism: How to Get Started appeared first on My Jewish Learning.

• There is no Jewish prohibition against owning pets, who belong to 60 percent of American households. And while we know of no studies on Jewish pet ownership, anecdotal evidence suggests that pet ownership is not uncommon among Jews, even in the Orthodox community.
• Today, some Jews have even created Jewish life cycle rituals and mourning rites for pets.
• In addition, numerous articles about the halachic (Jewish law) implications of pet ownership have been published, presumably in response to growing interest in pets among traditionally observant Jews

Below are some common questions about Jews and pets:

Is it true that Orthodox Jews don’t have pets? And what’s the origin of the perception that Judaism is averse to pets?

While there are no studies on Jewish pet ownership, anecdotal reports do suggests that pet ownership is less common among Orthodox Jews than among the general Jewish population. One possible explanation for this may be that Orthodox Jews on average have more children than do other Jews, leaving them with less time and money available to care for pets. Another factor may be the perception that pet ownership is frowned upon or will get in the way of ritual observance.

The idea that observant Jews are averse to keeping household pets may derive, in part, from the fact that dogs — the most common household pet in the United States and many other countries — are the subject of numerous derogatory statements in the Torah and Talmud. Additionally, keeping pets poses a number of challenges for the Sabbath-observant, although none of them is insurmountable. One other factor that has discouraged some Jews from owning dogs is an association with the Holocaust: Natan Slifkin, an Orthodox rabbi who was written extensively about Judaism and animals, has suggested that some European Jews have a “hang-up about dogs” born of the Nazis’ fondness for and use of the animals.

Can Jews own pets and still comply with traditional Jewish laws?

According to many Jewish sources, pet ownership is permissible provided the animals do not pose a danger to people or property.

As biblical sources attest, the Jewish patriarchs were shepherds and kept livestock. Jewish laws concerning treatment of animals — in particular the injunction against animal cruelty and the requirement that kosher animals be slaughtered by hand rather than hunted in the wild — clearly imply that Jews kept domestic animals.

The question of keeping pets for reasons of pleasure, companionship or because they serve some useful purpose is of more recent vintage. Contemporary authorities who have considered the permissibility of keeping pets have looked to talmudic sources that offer somewhat conflicting views about the propriety of keeping animals for non-agricultural purposes. One source in the Talmud (Bava Kamma 80a) states the permissibility of raising certain types of dogs and cats because they keep the house free of vermin — implying that animals may be kept if they perform a useful function. Yet elsewhere, the Talmud stipulates that dogs must be kept chained, which would clearly limit their usefulness. Another talmudic opinion states that those who keep dogs are cursed.

The requirement of chaining dogs persisted in later Jewish legal codes. Maimonides (the 12th-century scholar) reaffirmed that requirement and noted that dogs cause damage that is “substantial and frequent.”  The Shulchan Aruch (a 16th-century code of Jewish law) rules that it is forbidden to own an “evil dog” unless it is kept tied up; if one lives in a border town one can keep a dog (presumably for protection) provided it is let loose only at night — a reflection of the earlier talmudic principle of keeping animals if required for a particular function.

Rabbi Moshe Isserles (a 16th-century Polish rabbi also known as the Rema ), in his commentary on the Shulchan Aruch, takes a slightly more permissive stance, noting that since Jews live dispersed among non-Jews, it’s permitted to own a dog if that’s the common practice of the surrounding culture, but an animal that is liable to harm people must be kept chained.

Rabbi Howard Jachter, who reviewed these precedents in a 1992 essay for the Journal of Halacha and Contemporary Society , asserts that the attitude toward dogs can be extended to all pets and concludes that the prevailing opinion is that pet ownership is permissible so long as the animal does not endanger people or property.

Can I spay or neuter my pet?

Not according to Jewish law. This prohibition is explicit in Leviticus 22:24, which states (regarding male animals): “You shall not offer to the Lord anything [with its testes] bruised or crushed or torn or cut. You shall have no such practices in your own land.” The Shulchan Aruch codifies this rule explicitly. Isserles, in his commentary on the Shulchan Aruch, notes that neutering a female animal is also prohibited.

Over the centuries, rabbinic authorities have proposed various leniencies in this prohibition, but none have been universally accepted. Some permit sterilization if done to alleviate suffering or to save an animal’s life; however in this case the procedure should be done by a non-Jew. In cases where non-sterilization would lead to financial loss, some decisors permitted it if the animal were first sold to a non-Jew and then another non-Jew was designated to perform the procedure. The Israeli Orthodox Rabbi Shlomo Aviner has permitted Jewish veterinarians to spay female animals in case of therapeutic need on the grounds that neutering of females is considered a less serious infraction than neutering males. However neutering merely for convenience or for population control — the most common reason pets are usually neutered — remains forbidden. In 2015, Israel’s agriculture minister floated the idea of suspending a government program to neuter the country’s population of feral cats, apparently out of concern for the injunction against neutering. However, the proposal was not enacted and the program was not suspended.

Today, most pets adopted from animal shelters are already neutered. Since owning a neutered animal does not pose a problem from the perspective of Jewish law — only taking the active step of performing the procedure or ordering someone else to do it — traditionally observant Jews can avoid the issue by adopting pets that have already been neutered.

Can one care for a pet while observing traditional Shabbat laws?

Shabbat laws pose a number of issues for pet owners. The Talmud declares that animals are muktzeh, the term for items that cannot be handled on the Sabbath because they are used for prohibited activities (such as farming), and the Shulchan Aruch states that one should not move an animal on the Sabbath. However, this does not mean it’s forbidden to feed or play with animals on Shabbat, and in addition, there is some dispute as to whether the muktzeh designation applies to household pets.

The Torah, in Exodus 20:10, requires that an owner allow his animals to rest on Shabbat and Jewish holidays. This ruling is understood to prohibit an animal from performing any act prohibited to a Jew on the Sabbath. (If dogs could turn on lights or cook, for example, an observant Jew would not be able to order their dog to perform these tasks on Shabbat.) Since carrying is prohibited on the Sabbath, this would clearly prohibit having a dog fetch the morning newspaper. Whether a dog may “carry” identifying tags around its neck hinges largely on whether the tags are considered a benefit for the dog or for its owner. Holding a leash while walking a dog is not considered carrying, according to several sources. However, both the Shulchan Aruch and Maimonides rule that the leash must be kept no more than three inches below the hand of the person holding it.

A final concern regards capturing a pet that has gotten loose on the Sabbath. The Mishnah states that one who traps a domesticated animal on the Sabbath is exempt from punishment; however there is some debate over whether that means it is permitted to do so or merely that a violator would not be liable. According to Jachter, if an animal offers only limited resistance to an owner’s attempt to capture it, there are grounds for allowing its capture. However, if an animal offers significant resistance, it cannot be recaptured on the Sabbath. As a result, it’s good practice on the Sabbath not to remove an animal from a leash, or release a bird from a cage, to avoid the problem altogether.

Can you feed your pet non-kosher food?

Yes, with two exceptions. According to the Shulchan Aruch, one cannot derive benefit from a biblically proscribed mixture of milk and meat. Consequently, it is forbidden to feed a pet any food that includes milk and meat. This law applies only to biblically proscribed milk/meat mixtures, which are limited to ingredients from kosher domesticated animals. Non-kosher animal meat mixed with milk, for example, would not be prohibited.

The other exception is Passover, when it is forbidden not only to eat leavened grains, but even to own them or benefit from them. There are a number of possible workarounds for pets, including selling the pet to a non-Jew for the duration of the holiday, making your own pet food, or purchasing kosher-for-Passover pet food. Some kosher certifying agencies, such as Star-K, publish annual lists of kosher-for-Passover pet food brands.

Are there any Jewish laws governing how you treat your pet?

Yes. While Jewish tradition permits human beings to make use of animals, acts of cruelty toward them are expressly prohibited — a principle known as tza’ar baalei chayim. General principles of how Jews ought to treat animals show concern both for the physical suffering of animals — Maimonides forbids using an animal to thresh a field if a thorn is stuck in its mouth, for example — as well as their emotional pain, as evinced by the law barring the taking of eggs from a nest while the mother bird is present. Jewish tradition also dictates that one feed one’s animals before feeding oneself. According to some authorities, this principle may not apply if the animal is capable of securing its own food. According to Slifkin, the permissibility of declawing a cat or removing a dog’s tail is not discussed explicitly by Jewish legal authorities; however the general principle is that causing pain to animals for the benefit of humans is permitted provided the benefit is not trivial and the pain is not too great.

Are there any Jewish rituals for mourning a pet?

The idea of mourning a pet in the way one mourns a relative is deeply controversial, with authorities from even the liberal Reform movement maintaining that reciting Kaddish or performing a Jewish burial rite for a pet is inconsistent with Jewish tradition. In a 1984 responsum, Reform Rabbi Walter Jacob wrote that it would be wrong to recite the Kaddish prayer for a deceased pet — not due to any explicit violation of Jewish law, but because of propriety. “We should not use a prayer which is dear to the heart of every Jew to commemorate a dead animal,” Jacob wrote. A separate Reform responsum rejected burying a pet in a Jewish cemetery, again not citing any explicit legal precedent, but rather asserting that “the whole mood of tradition” counsels against it.

Nevertheless, some rabbis do perform pet burials and a number of Jewish rituals for pet loss have been developed. In 1998, the journal of the Reform movement’s rabbinical association published a ritual for pet loss by veterinarian Ruth Chodrow that includes readings from the Bible, among them several psalms. Other Jewish pet rituals have been published by Rabbi Susan Schein  and Rabbi Janet Offel. Some rabbis who perform such rites say that they should not mimic human funerals.

Can I give my dog a bark mitzvah?

If you must. The first record of a bar/bat-mitzvah ceremony adapted for a dog was (according to Wikipedia) in 1958, but this canine rite of passage seems to have had its 15 minutes of fame only in the Internet era. A search for “bark mitzvah” on YouTube yields over 1,700 results, and articles on the practice have appeared in the New York Times and the Associated Press. Some ceremonies have included Torah scrolls, dogs wearing kippahs, and celebratory parties for the honoree and its canine “friends.” The term was even trademarked with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in 2007.

Not everyone, however, is amused. In a letter to the Times responding to a 1997 mention of a bark mitzvah in its pages, Rabbi Charles Kroloff, who later served as president of the Reform movement’s Central Conference of American Rabbis, wrote: “This is nothing less than a desecration of a cherished Jewish tradition and degrades some of the central principles of Jewish life. I urge readers to reject such practices.”

Human bar/bat mitzvah celebrants seeking ways to incorporate their love of pets and other animals into the “mitzvah,” or community service, projects that are often part of this life cycle event, can find suggestions and a related Jewish curriculum here.

Are there any other Jewish rituals for pets?

In recent years, some Jewish leaders have developed public rituals for pets. Some synagogues now have pet-friendly Shabbat services  while others have created opportunities to bless pets in synagogues. There has also been some effort to revive the practice of Rosh Hashanah LaBehema, the Jewish new year for animals, on the first day of the Hebrew month of Elul. Some contemporary Jewish animal advocates have sought to re-establish the holiday as a time for prayer and reflection on the proper relationship between humans and animals.

Learn more about Jewish rituals and practices related to honoring or caring for animals here.

Do pets (and other animals) have souls?

According to the creation story in Genesis, God blew into Adam the breath of life (nishmat chayim) and he became a living being (nefesh chayah). Both nefesh and neshama are Hebrew terms used for “soul.” From here, some understand that human beings have two types of soul — a nefesh, that equates to one’s animal instincts, and a neshamah, a higher level of consciousness capable of connection with the divine.

Both the Midrash and Maimonides reject the idea that animals have an afterlife in the world to come, the implication being that they do not possess higher immortal soul of human beings. However, the Jewish mystical tradition associated with Rabbi Isaac Luria believes in the transmigration of souls between humans and animals. A human soul that requires further rectification could be reincarnated in the body of an animal. For this reason, Hasidic Jews historically were often exceedingly careful about the kosher slaughter of animals for fear they might house the souls of repentant sinners.

Can I euthanize my pet?

Jewish law prohibits cruelty to animals, but does not prohibit killing them. Virtually all Jewish authorities agree that euthanizing an animal that is suffering is permitted. In, Man and Beast: Our Relationships with Animals in Jewish Law and Thought, Slifkin writes:

According to some authorities there is no restriction on killing animals, provided that one kills them in a painless manner. However, it seems that all would agree that if an animal is suffering, it is permissible to kill it in order to put it out of its misery.

The post Judaism and Pets: Questions and Answers appeared first on My Jewish Learning.

• The practice derives from Leviticus 19:27 in the Torah, which states: “You shall not round off the corners on your head, or destroy the corners of your beard.” According to the 12th-century scholar Maimonides, this prohibition was a way to differentiate Jews from idolatrous priests, who shaved their beards.
• The prohibition on shaving has traditionally been understood as barring the complete removal of the hair with a razor. And because for centuries it was generally too difficult to achieve a close shave without a razor, observant Jewish men tended to be bearded.

According to the historian, Rabbi Berel Wein, beard norms began to change among some Orthodox men in Europe in the 18th and 19th centuries, when chemical depilatories became available, enabling hair removal without a razor.

More recently, the advent of electric shavers makes it possible to achieve a close shave without a razor actually touching the skin. As a result, many men today do shave their beards while continuing to follow Orthodox interpretation of Jewish law. However it remains customary in most ultra-Orthodox circles to retain one’s beard as a sign of piety.

Some Jewish men, particularly Hasidic ones, refrain even from trimming their beards. Although there is no prohibition on trimming one’s beard with scissors, those who avoid it seek to avoid even approaching violating the Torah prohibition on shaving. This practice is influenced by Kabbalistic (Jewish mystical) traditions, which regard the beard as holy. Rabbi Isaac Luria, the kabbalist known by his acronym, the Ari, was said to have been careful not even to touch his beard lest some hairs fall loose.

For Hasidic and some other Orthodox men, the practice of not shaving at all extends to the sidelocks, known in Hebrew as payot (often spelled and pronounced payos, or payes) — literally “corners.” As with beards, practices on payot vary within Orthodoxy. Among Hasidic Jews, payot are often very prominent and sometimes curled, but they are also often tucked discreetly behind the ear. Many observant Jewish men consider it sufficient merely to avoid complete removal of the sideburns.

The rabbis of the Talmud considered beards attractive — referring to them as hadrat panim, the splendor of one’s face. According to a passage in the tractate Bava Metzia, the Talmudic sage Rabbi Yochanan was considered a beautiful man, yet he was not included on a list of rabbis whose beauty reflects that of the biblical patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac and Jacob). The reason, the Talmud offers, is that Rabbi Yochanan did not have a beard.

Some Jewish men who usually do shave nonetheless allow their facial hair to grow during periods of mourning. This is traditionally done for 30 days following the death of a close relative. It is also traditionally observed during two annual periods of communal mourning — the Omer period between the holidays of Passover and Shavuot, when Jews mourn the deaths of the students of the Talmudic sage Rabbi Akiva; and the three weeks between the fast days of the 17th of Tammuz and the Ninth of Av (Tisha B’Av) when Jews mourn the destruction of the ancient temples in Jerusalem.

The post Why Do So Many Orthodox Men Have Beards? appeared first on My Jewish Learning.

The reason traces back to the way the timing of the new Jewish month was determined in ancient times. In those days, the new month was established after two witnesses testified before rabbinical authorities in Israel that they had seen the new moon. After the rabbis had confirmed the testimony, word was sent to Jewish communities throughout Israel and beyond.

Because it took a while for the news to reach far-flung communities, and because other peoples would sometimes interfere with the communication system, the tradition arose of observing the major Jewish festivals for two days outside of Israel, just to be certain the holiday was observed on the correct day. This worked fine for most Jewish holidays, which begin in the middle of the month.

Rosh Hashanah is the only Jewish holiday that begins on the first of the month, so even in Israel Jews could not wait until the confirmed appearance of the new moon to get word that the holiday had begun. Therefore, the tradition was established of observing Rosh Hashanah for two days even in Israel.

Even today,  when we have a set calendar, this tradition persists among most Jews, both in Israel and beyond. However, most Reform and some other liberal Jews have dispensed with the second day of the holiday, as they have with the other two-day holiday observances.

The post Why Does Rosh Hashanah Last for Two Days? appeared first on My Jewish Learning.

Below are some common Jewish words paired with their verbal doppelgangers — words that sound similar, yet have vastly different meanings. To spare you some potential embarrassment, we explain it all in alphabetical order below.

Did we miss some important ones? Comment below or email us at community@myjewishlearning.com.

1. Challah and Kallah

Challah (חלה), pronounced KHAH-luh, is the braided bread traditionally served on Shabbat. Find some great challah recipes here.
Kallah (כּלה), pronounced KAH-luh, is Hebrew for “bride.”

2. Chesed (or Hesed) and Hasid (or Chasid)

Chesed (חסד), pronounced KHEH-sed, is usually translated as “lovingkindness,” and describes acts such as visiting the sick and helping the poor.
Hasid (חסיד), pronounced KHAH-sid,is a Hasidic Jew, someone who is part of an ultra-Orthodox spiritual movement that began in late 18th-century Europe and comes from the same Hebrew root as chesed.

3. Chodesh and Kodesh

Chodesh (חודשׁ), pronounced KHOH-desh, is Hebrew for “month,” and is most often used in the term Rosh Chodesh, the celebration marking the beginning of each new Jewish month.
Kodesh (קודשׁ), pronounced KOH-desh, is Hebrew for “holy,” as in sefer kodesh (holy book), am kodesh (holy people) and limmudei kodesh (holy studies).

4. Chuppah and Chutzpah

Chuppah (חופּה), pronounced KHOO-pah (oo as in book) or khu-PAH, is a Jewish wedding canopy.
Chutzpah (חוצפּה), pronounced KHOOTZ-pah (oo as in book) or khootz-PAH, is Yiddish (and Hebrew) for “nerve” or “audacity.”

5. Eruv and Erev

Eruv (עירוב), pronounced AY-ruhv or ay-RUVE, is a boundary inside of which Shabbat-observant Jews are allowed to carry items or push strollers on Shabbat.
Erev (ערב), pronounced EH-rehv, means “evening,” and commonly refers to the first night of a Jewish holiday and sometimes the day before the holiday, as in Erev Yom Kippur.

6. Hamsa, Hametz and Hummus

Hamsa (חמסה), pronounced HAHM-suh, is a hand-shaped amulet.
Hametz (חמץ), pronounced khah-METZ, is leavened food traditionally avoided during Passover. Learn more about keeping kosher for Passover.
Hummus (חומוס), pronounced KHOOM-oos (oo as in book) or KHOOM-oos (oo as in food) is a chickpea puree popular in Israel and throughout the Middle East. Find hummus recipes here.

7. Kibbitz and Kibbutz

Kibbitz (קבּץ), pronounced KIB-itz, is Yiddish for chat or small talk, as in “I ran into my friend at the store and kibbitzed with her.”
Kibbutz (קיבּוץ), pronounced kee-BOOTZ, is a collectively run residential and economic community in Israel.

8. Kiddush and Kaddish

Kiddush (קידושׁ), pronounced KID-dish or kee-DOOSH (oo as in boot), is the blessing that is said over wine to sanctify Shabbat. (It comes from the same root as kodesh, meaning “holy.”)
Kaddish (קדישׁ), pronounced KAH-dish, usually refers to the Mourner’s Kaddish, an Aramaic prayer said during all Jewish worship services where a minyan is present. (It also shares a root with kodesh.)

9. Mashgiach and Moshiach

Mashgiach (משׁגיח), pronounced mahsh-GHEE-ahkh, is a person who supervises a commercial or institutional kosher kitchen and ensures that dietary laws are observed.
Moshiach (משׁיח), pronounced moe-SHEE-ahkh, is Hebrew for “messiah.”

10. Mikveh and Mitzvah

Mikveh (מקוה), pronounced MIK-vuh or meek-VAH, is a Jewish ritual bath.
Mitzvah (מצוה), pronounced MITZ-vuh or meetz-VAH, is Hebrew for commandment.

11. Seder and Siddur

Seder (סדר), pronounced SAY-der, is a ritual meal that follows a certain order, usually used to refer to the Passover seder (like the one above). However, many Sephardic Jews also have a Rosh Hashanah seder, and the holiday of Tu Bishvat (the birthday of the trees) also has a seder.
Siddur (סידור), pronounced SIDD-er or see-DOHR, is a Jewish prayer book. Like seder, it derives from the Hebrew root samech (ס), dalet (ד), reysh (ר), which means “order.”

12. Sheitel, Shtetl, Shtiebel and Shtreimel

Sheitel (שייטל), pronounced SHAY-tull, is Yiddish for a wig that some Orthodox women wear to cover their hair after they marry.
Shtetl (שׁטעטל), pronounced SHTEH-tull, is the term for a historic Eastern European village with a significant Jewish community.
Shtiebel (שטיבל), pronounced SHTEE-bull, is a small synagogue, usually referring to a small ultra-Orthodox synagogue.
Shtreimel (שטריימל), pronounced SHTRY-mull, is a type of fur hat worn by some Hasidic men.

13. Simcha and Smicha

Simcha (שׂמחה), pronounced SIM-khuh or seem-KHAH, is Hebrew for “joy” and is used to refer to a joyous Jewish occasion, such as a wedding or bar/bat mitzvah.
Smicha (סמיכה), pronounced SMEE-khuh or smee-KHAH, is Hebrew for rabbinic ordination.

14. Tisha B’Av, Tu Bishvat and Tu B’Av

Tisha B’Av (תשׁע בּאב), pronounced TISH-uh bahv, is the ninth of the Jewish month of Av, a day of mourning commemorating the destruction of the ancient temples in Jerusalem.
Tu Bishvat (ט״ו בּשׁבט), pronounced too bish-VAHT (oo as in boot), is the 15th of the Jewish month of Shevat, a holiday celebrating trees.
Tu B’Av (ט״ו בּאב), pronounced too buh-AHV, is the 15th of the Jewish month of Av, a day celebrating romantic love that is often referred to as “the Jewish Valentine’s Day.”

15. Yizkor and Yahrzeit

Yizkor (יזכּור), pronounced YIZ-kohr, is the memorial service that is part of four Jewish holidays: Yom Kippur, Passover, Sukkot and Shavuot.
Yahrzeit (יארצייט), pronounced YAHR-tzight or YOHR-tzight, is the Yiddish word for the anniversary of a death. Learn how to mark a yahrzeit.

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The post Similar Jewish Words You Don’t Want to Mix Up appeared first on My Jewish Learning.

Why do Jews place stones on graves?

Does Judaism allow cremation?

Can a person with a tattoo be buried in a Jewish cemetery?

Can a person who has committed suicide be buried in a Jewish cemetery?

Can a non-Jew be buried in a Jewish cemetery?

Does Judaism allow autopsies?

Does Judaism allow organ donations?

Does Judaism allow open-casket funerals?

Does Jewish law ever allow embalming?

What exactly happens during shiva?

Why do Jewish funerals usually take place so soon after the death, and is it OK to wait longer to allow family members to travel?

Why do Jews place stones on graves?

A variety of explanations for this tradition are discussed in the video below. Learn more here.

Does Judaism allow cremation?

While Jewish tradition is strongly anti-cremation, many Jews do choose this over burial, and many Jewish funeral homes and clergy will assist with the funeral and its aftermath regardless. Learn more here.

Can a person with a tattoo be buried in a Jewish cemetery?

Yes. The misperception that tattoos bar their wearers from Jewish burial is so common has seeped into the wider culture, referenced  by Larry David in an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm and prompting even the New York Times to consider the question. Though some individual Jewish burial societies may decline to bury tattooed Jews, the practice does not appear to be a common one and there is nothing in Jewish law that calls for denying a Jewish burial to an individual with a tattoo.  Learn more here.

Can a person who has committed suicide be buried in a Jewish cemetery?

Yes, in most cases. Although traditional Jewish law rules that mourning rites should not be observed for those who take their own lives, most contemporary rabbis look for any basis on which to disqualify an apparent suicide so as to allow for traditional burial. Learn more about Judaism and suicide here.

Can a non-Jew be buried in a Jewish cemetery?

There are many laws and customs governing the burial of Jews separately from non-Jews. Traditional Jewish cemeteries that adhere to these practices often permit burial only of those who are Jewish as defined by the longstanding traditional definition (that is, born of a Jewish mother or converted to Judaism under the auspices of Jewish law).

Cemeteries or special parts of cemeteries owned by non-Orthodox congregations or other Jewish institutions often allow somewhat more latitude in determining who is a Jew and/or who may be buried where; some allow non-Jews to be buried anywhere in the cemetery so long as the tombstone doesn’t bear symbols of other religions, while other cemeteries have special sections in which Jews and non-Jewish spouses may be buried together. Learn more about mourning a non-Jewish loved one here.

Does Judaism allow autopsies?

Jewish tradition forbids autopsies in a general way on the grounds that the body is sacred. However, they are permitted in two specific cases: where the law requires it, or if it could help others who are immediately suffering from the same disease or condition. Learn more about autopsies and Jewish law here.

Does Judaism allow organ donations?

Yes. Despite the common misperception that Judaism opposes organ donations, on the whole there is widespread support for organ donation across the spectrum of Jewish observance, from Reform to haredi Orthodox. Some authorities, citing the injunction in Leviticus 19 not to stand idly by the blood of one’s neighbor, go further in suggesting that Jewish tradition mandates organ donation in certain circumstances. Learn more here.

Does Judaism allow open-casket funerals?

The practice of open-casket funerals and public viewings of the dead is not a traditional Jewish practice and runs counter to a number of Jewish legal and philosophical principles. The Mishnah in Pirkei Avot records the opinion of Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar, who counseled that one should not console your friend “at the time when his deceased lies before him.” This statement is often understood to suggest that Judaism does not consider rituals like a wake or a public viewing of the dead to be comforting to mourners. The Talmud also says that gazing upon the dead causes one to forget the Torah they learned.

Open caskets are also typically accompanied by some sort of cosmetic procedure and/or embalming to prevent the body’s decay. Both these actions are considered inconsistent with the prohibition of desecrating a dead body, known in Hebrew as nivul hamet. This prohibition is derived from the verse in Deuteronomy that prohibits leaving the body of an executed man overnight. The Talmud expounds on what qualifies as desecration of the dead to include post-mortem procedures that tamper with a body.

Moreover, various philosophical and mystical objections have been lodged against the practice, among them the idea that a person’s body is merely the container for their true self — their soul. In this view, placing a body on display so one can pay their respects doesn’t honor the deceased; it merely objectifies the container in which the deceased’s personhood once resided. The Jewish mystical tradition believes that the departure of a soul from the body is spiritually painful and that anything that prolongs that process, such as embalming, would aggravate the soul’s pain.

Learn more about Jewish funerals here.

What to expect at a Jewish funeral.

How to plan a Jewish funeral.

Does traditional Judaism ever allow embalming?

There are instances in which embalming would be allowed, such as where a body is being transported over a long distance or if there’s an unavoidable delay in burial. It may also be permitted if it is required by civil authorities. This is the explanation sometimes invoked to explain the embalming of Jacob and Joseph when they died in Egypt, as recorded in the 50th chapter of Genesis.

Why do Jewish funerals usually take place so soon after the death, and is it OK to wait longer to allow family members to travel?

Traditional Jewish law requires that a person be buried within 24 hours. The source for this requirement is Deuteronomy, which states that the body of an executed man impaled on a stake must not be left overnight because it is an “affront” to God. The Shulchan Aruch establishes this as a general principle but also delineates a number of situations that would justify a delay, including allowing time for relatives to assemble or to gather burial shrouds. In addition, circumstances sometimes necessitate a delay, such as when a person dies on the eve of the Sabbath. Since burial is prohibited on the Sabbath, burial is often delayed until after. Today, many non-Orthodox Jewish families delay the funeral several days in order to allow loved ones who live far away to be there for the event. Others opt to have a speedy funeral, but then hold a memorial service at a later date when more people can attend.

What exactly happens during shiva?

The shiva period is the first seven days after burial, when mourners traditionally stay home and receive visitors. While there are numerous laws and customs associated with shiva, many non-Orthodox Jewish families choose to observe some, but not all of these practices. For example, a family might sit shiva for fewer than seven days or might specify visiting times so that individuals do not feel obligated to have visitors in the house throughout the day. Learn more about shiva here.

Sign up for a Journey Through Grief & Mourning: Whether you have lost a loved one recently or just want to learn the basics of Jewish mourning rituals, this 8-part email series will guide you through everything you need to know and help you feel supported and comforted at a difficult time.

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The post Jewish Mourning FAQ appeared first on My Jewish Learning.

In addition to the myriad editions of the Hebrew Bible (also known as the Tanach) available in book form, the entire Bible can be read in Hebrew and English on Sefaria, an online resource that enables users to search by keyword and provides links to commentaries and other related materials. Below, we outline the contents of the Bible, with links to our articles about each section.

Bible Overview

Torah

Prophets (Nevi’im)

Writings (Ketuvim)

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Overview

Along with the numerous articles linked to throughout this guide, the following provide some general information about the Bible, its origins, scholarship on it and the Jewish tradition of commentary.

What is the Hebrew Bible (Tanach)?

Approaches to Bible Commentary

Creating the Canon

Women in the Bible

Did God Write the Bible?

Did Moses Write the Torah?

Modern Source Criticism of the Torah

Torah

The Torah is divided into the five books below, and each book is divided into about 10 portions. There are 54 portions in total, and the Jewish community reads one a week over an annual cycle that begins each fall on the holiday of Simchat Torah. To find out this week’s portion, visit My Jewish Learning’s homepage. We also have a special index page for each portion, which includes a detailed summary of both the portion its related Haftarah reading; a quiz, links to the full text and  commentaries from a variety of perspectives.

The full list of portions can be found here.

Learn more about what a Torah portion is.

Why the Torah is read on an annual cycle.

Where to find more commentaries on the weekly Torah portion.

How to write a dvar Torah, or commentary on a Torah portion.

Genesis (Bereshit)

Genesis Quiz

Exodus (Shemot)

Exodus Quiz

Leviticus (Vayikra)

Leviticus Quiz

Numbers (Bamidbar)

Numbers Quiz

Deuteronomy (Devarim)

Deuteronomy Quiz

Prophets (Nevi’im)

Each week a reading from the Prophets, called a Haftarah, is read after the Torah reading. Each Torah portion is paired with a specific Haftarah, which is listed on My Jewish Learning’s page for that portion.

The Latter Prophets

Joshua

Judges

Samuel

Kings

Isaiah

Jeremiah

Ezekiel

Hosea

Joel

Amos

Obadiah

Jonah (read on Yom Kippur)

Our Prophets, Ourselves: Jonah, Judgment and the Act of Repentance

Jonah’s Lesson in Divine Mercy

Why We Read Jonah on Yom Kippur

Jonah, the Jew

Jonah: Success or Failure?

VIDEO: What’s the Book of Jonah Really About?

Micah

Nahum

Habakkuk

Zephaniah

Haggai

Zechariah

Malachi

Writings (Ketuvim)

Many of the books, or chapters, in Ketuvim, are associated with Jewish holidays, when they are read. In these cases, the holiday is listed in parentheses after the book name below.

Psalms

Psalms As the Ultimate Self-Help Tool

Proverbs

Job

The Book of Job and the Paradox of Suffering

The Book of Job: A Whirlwind of Confusion

Song of Songs (Passover)

Ruth (Shavuot)

Lamentations (Tisha B’Av)

Ecclesiastes (Sukkot)

Esther (Purim)

Daniel

Ezra

Nehemiah

I Chronicles

II Chronicles

The post Your Guide to Reading the Hebrew Bible appeared first on My Jewish Learning.

Numerous options are available through universities; organizations such as YIVO (Yidishe Vissenshaftliche Institut), the Yiddish Book Center, and Worker’s Circle; and even on your phone.

Books
Online Courses
Semester-Long In-Person Courses
Immersion Programs
Apps
Enrichment

Advice Before You Begin

Before starting, consider what your goals are and how much time and money you can realistically invest. Do you want to be able to converse with Yiddish-speaking family and friends? Are you a student whose most pressing need is to be able to decode texts for a paper or project? Do you want to be able to read family records? Or do you just want the challenge of learning a new language?

If you don’t necessarily want to speak the language, a book may suffice. If you care more about speaking than reading, an in-person or online course in which you can interact with others verbally will be a better bet. Since Yiddish descends from medieval German and borrows Hebrew vocabulary and the Hebrew alphabet, having a background in Hebrew or German, is definitely an advantage when beginning your Yiddish studies. Beware though that if you already speak German, you may have to ”relearn” words and grammar. Similarly, if you learned Modern Hebrew, you will have to get used to Ashkenazi pronunciations and inflections.

Cost and time are also important factors. While immersion programs can be among the most efficient and fun ways to learn any language, they are also the most expensive, especially when you factor in travel, room and board. Online classes can cost a few hundred dollars, but books may clock in under $50. Self-paced classes may be the obvious choice for those with unpredictable schedules, while courses held at specific days and times may work better for those who are able to clear out blocks of time from their schedule and who need the structure in order to stay on task.

Below are various resources for learning Yiddish. Prices are subject to change. You may also want to inquire locally about courses offered at universities, synagogues and Jewish community centers near you. If you know of other useful resources or have feedback about any of those listed, leave a comment below or email community@myjewishlearning.com.

Books

Assimil Yiddish with Ease (Nadia Dehan-Rotschild)
The Assimil method is to learn a new language “through the listening of audio cd’s and the reading of an accompanying book, one side native language, one side foreign language…It begins with a long passive phase of only reading and listening, and eventually adds active exercises.” This book teaches basic grammar and a vocabulary of about 2,000-3,000 words.

Colloquial Yiddish (Lily Kahn)
This textbook “offers a step-by-step approach to Yiddish as it is spoken and written today.” It includes grammar and vocabulary exercises and comes with a full answer key and mp3 dialogues.

Yiddish: An Introduction to the Language, Literature and Culture (Sheva Zucker)
This series teaches Yiddish literacy, grammar and vocabulary in an accessible, straightforward way. It also utilizes excerpts from classic Yiddish literature to help teach the language and familiarize students with the monuments of Yiddish culture.

Online Courses

Gratz College

Gratz College offers courses in Yiddish language for college credit taught via videoconference, including beginners, advanced beginners, and (in some semesters) intermediate levels. Courses are open to non-matriculated students, and qualified high school juniors and seniors may also enroll for college credit at a discounted rate.

Workers Circle

Worker’s Circle is “New York’s leading center for Yiddish language instruction, and the largest provider of Yiddish language classes in the U.S. outside of academic institutions.” They provide Yiddish classes at all levels.

Semester-Long In-Person Courses

Columbia University (New York City)

Columbia University in Manhattan offers degree programs in Yiddish Studies. Available classes include Elementary Yiddish I and II, Intermediate Yiddish I and II, Yiddish for Academic Purposes, and Reading-Yiddish Literature. Note that all classes may not be available during all semesters. Non-matriculated students may take one class per semester.

Rutgers University (New Brunswick, New Jersey)

Rutgers offers in-person courses on Yiddish language, culture, and literature at its campus in New Brunswick, New Jersey. There are currently no Yiddish classes planned for the Spring 2018 semester, but keep your eyes open for a class or two in Fall 2018. Courses are open to non-matriculated students, and those over the age of 62 may audit courses.

Universität Salzburg (Salzburg, Austria)

Salzburg University’s Jewish Cultural History program is unique among Jewish studies programs in Europe because it allows students to focus on secular Jewish cultural history as opposed to having only a religious focus. Three semesters of Yiddish instruction are part of the master’s track program, and students have the chance to work with experts in Yiddish literature. While one may enter the master’s degree program, courses are open to non-matriculated students.

Workers Circle (New York City)

Workman’s Circle is “New York’s leading center for Yiddish language instruction, and the largest provider of Yiddish language classes in the U.S. outside of academic institutions.” They provide Yiddish classes at all levels.

YIVO (New York City)

YIVO offers an array of in-person courses, from beginner to advanced, at its Manhattan headquarters. Courses generally meet once a week for 10 weeks, 15 West 16th Street in Manhattan. YIVO members $250, non-members $325. Membership $54/year. Yivo.org

Immersion Programs

The Naomi Prawer Kadar International Yiddish Summer Program

Tel Aviv, Israel

A four-week immersion program held at Israel’s Tel Aviv University. Students attend Yiddish courses and participate in workshops and excursions. Instruction is geared towards both native English and Hebrew speakers, and students of all nationalities are welcome to apply. Program dates for 2018 are June 28-July 25. Students earn four college credits upon completion of program. Full-time students enrolled in degree programs are eligible for a scholarship. Tuition is $1,450, plus a $60 registration fee. Housing is an additional $800.

Uriel Weinreich Program in Yiddish Language, Literature & Culture

New York City

This Manhattan-based six-week summer immersion program is sponsored by the YIVO Institute and Bard College. Courses range from absolute beginner to advanced and include instruction not only in reading, writing and speaking, but also in the history and culture of Yiddish. Sign up for YIVO’s newsletter to keep up to date on upcoming registration dates and deadlines. Tuition is $6,000. Scholarships are available and students needing housing can stay at the International House, where prices range from $900-$1,300 for the six weeks.

Yiddish Book Center
Amherst, Massachusetts

The Yiddish Book Center offers both a one-week winter immersion program and a seven-week summer immersion program in Amherst, Massachusetts. The one-week program, YiddishSchool, is geared towards beginner, advanced beginner and intermediate learners, and is open to all age groups. The 2018 YiddishSchool program runs April 22-27. Tuition plus a room shared with one other person is $1,100 ($375 extra for private room.) Tuition for commuters is $750. Registration limited to Yiddish Book Center members.

The seven-week program also takes place in Amherst. Students may stay in dormitory suites at Hampshire College, which is within walking distance of the Yiddish Book Center. Students can earn up to six college credits. The program is available to undergraduate and graduate students between ages 18 and 26. Tuition is free; however, housing is $1,400, and students are also expected to cover the cost of meals. Stipends that cover costs such as food as well as free housing available to participants in the Yiddish Book Center’s internship program.

Yiddish Farm
Goshen, New York

About 65 miles outside of New York City, the Yiddish Farm in Goshen, New York, offers a two-week summer program, but also offers shorter-term volunteering and learning opportunities. For the summer immersion program, which runs April 23-June 13 in 2018, participants are expected to reside on the farm and perform work there. Students of all ages, ethnicities, and religions are welcome to participate, although the farm is shomer shabbes (Shabbat-observant). English is allowed to be spoken the first week of the course, but after that, only Yiddish is allowed, regardless of proficiency level. College credits are available for $200 per credit. The summer program costs $1,999 ($2,999 for those requiring a private room). Volunteering is free, but participants must pay for housing if required.

Apps

The apps below are not the only ones on the App Store and Google Play, but we selected them because they were recommended by individual educators. Most cost under $10, and some are free. (Note that prices are subject to change.) If you’ve had a good or bad experience using these apps or recommend other ones, let us know!

Pocket Polyglot Yiddish

This iOS app uses digital flashcards, audio recordings of native speakers and multiple-choice quizzes. Words and phrases are grouped by topic, and learning is self-paced. Available for iOS and Android. ($2.99)

Radio Yiddish Pour Tous

This free app enables you to listen to Yiddish music, including klezmer. Available for iOS and Android.
uTalk Classic Learn Yiddish. uTalk teaches essential everyday Yiddish words and phrases. Vocabulary is reinforced through quizzes, images and other tools. This app even enables you to record yourself and compare your pronunciation to that of native speakers! Available for iOS. ($7.99)

Yiddish Slang Dictionary and Quiz

This free app teaches Yiddish slang, as well as Yiddish words that you could use as slang. Available for both iOS and Android.

Tools for Enrichment

Yiddish Music on iTunes

Many Yiddish songs and albums are available for purchase on iTunes. A few notable works include selections by contemporary Montreal-based klezmer band Shtreiml as well as traditional songs such as “Oyfn Pripetshok.”

Teglicher Forverts

A free Yiddish-language e-mail newsletter published by the Yiddish Daily Forward. Content is about Jewish news and current global events. The website is navigable in both Yiddish and English, and a print version is also available.

Yiddish Book Center

On the Yiddish Book Center’s website, you can browse and read a variety of Yiddish works in the original. The digitized collection includes classics of Yiddish literature, such as S. Ansky’s drama Der Dybbuk, as well as Yiddish translations of English-language literature, such as Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book (Dos Bukh Fun Dzshongl). You also can download and print out PDFs free of charge.

Yiddish Pop

This website, from makers of Brainpop, offers short videos with recurring characters who have adventures, all in Yiddish. Each video is accompanied by a vocabulary list, grammar information, and exercises. The website also includes animated flashcards, grammar games, and lesson plans for teachers.

YIVO

In addition to its Yiddish-language courses, YIVO offers online and in-person courses in English that teach about Yiddish culture, literature and history, including Introduction to Old Yiddish (in-person), Folksong, Demons, and the Evil Eye: Folklore of Ashkenaz (online), and Discovering Ashkenaz: Jewish Life in Eastern Europe (online). More are in development. Sign up for its newsletter to receive updates on classes. Prices for in-person classes are $250 for members and $325 for non-members. Prices for online classes are $45-$80 for YIVO members and $60-$110 for non-members.

The post How to Learn Yiddish appeared first on My Jewish Learning.

Daf yomi (pronounced dahf YOH-mee)  is an international program to read the entire Babylonian Talmud — the main text of rabbinic Judaism — in seven and a half years at the rate of one page a day. Tens of thousands of Jews study daf yomi worldwide, and they are all quite literally on the same page — following a schedule fixed in 1923 in Poland by Rabbi Meir Shapiro, the founder of daf yomi, who envisioned the whole world as a vast Talmudic classroom connected by a global network of conversational threads.

The current Daf Yomi cycle began on January 5, 2020. Sign up here for an accessible daily Daf Yomi email from My Jewish Learning!

A page a day doesn’t sound too daunting, until you consider that each Talmudic page is actually a double-sided folio comprised of multigenerational conversations among the rabbis of the first few centuries of the Common Era, dealing with everything from what to do if your camel knocks over a candle and sets a store on fire  to the consequences of embarrassing another person while he is naked.

The Talmud is divided into 37 volumes, known as tractates, each of which deals with different aspects of Jewish law, from vows to marriage to the logistics of offering sacrifices in the ancient Temple. But the subjects of the tractates are in part only nominal, because the Talmud is a highly discursive text, proceeding by association rather than by any rational scheme. Every page presupposes knowledge of other pages, which is why it is difficult to start learning without prior background. But every page connects to conversations on other pages, and so once you have started learning, it’s almost impossible to stop.

Here are answers to some frequently asked questions by those who are thinking about embarking on this wild seven-and-a-half year journey through one of the most quirky, irreverent, surprising and intriguing works in the Jewish literary canon:

Do I need to be religious — or Jewish — to study Talmud?
Can I study Talmud even if I have little or no Hebrew background?
What version of the Talmud do you recommend I use, and where can I find it?
What resources and study aides are most helpful?
Does it make sense to start in the middle of a daf yomi cycle, or should I wait for the next cycle to begin?
One page a day, seven days a week, is quite a relentless pace. Do you have any tips for staying on schedule? What if I fall behind?
What keeps you going on days when you have no motivation to learn or begin to lose interest?
How do you keep track of everything you learn?
What might I get out of studying daf yomi?

1. Do I need to be religious — or Jewish — to study Talmud?

Absolutely not! The Talmud deals with all aspects of Jewish life, but you don’t need to be a practicing observant Jew to appreciate the subjects under discussion, many of which have broader and more universal resonance, such as what our obligations are when we chance upon an object that someone else has lost. Although the Talmudic rabbis followed the Torah’s commandments, their theological orientation was often so bold and heretical that some of their statements may be best appreciated by those who are not themselves devout. And unlike later works that followed from it, the Talmud is not a law code intended to tell Jews how to behave but a record of rabbinic legal conversations in which many of the questions are left open and unresolved. It is a text for those who are living the questions rather than those who have found the answers. And so if you are a thinking, questioning person who does not take anything at face value, then Talmud study may be for you.

2. Can I study Talmud even if I have little or no Hebrew background?

Yes. The Talmud is actually written in a combination of Hebrew and Aramaic, which was the lingua franca of Jews living in Babylon (now Iraq) during the first few centuries CE. But it is available in multiple English translations, both in print and online. Many passages in the Talmud involve Midrash (rabbinic interpretations of biblical passages) and a close reading of biblical sources; certainly knowledge of Hebrew is helpful in appreciating the linguistic connections the Talmud frequently draws. But Talmud can be studied on many levels – it is often compared to a sea because of its vastness and depth, and as with a sea, you can skim the surface, swim underwater, or become a deep-sea diver and learn about all the flora and fauna on the ocean floor. You can learn superficially or deeply, and yes, some of that depends on your level of Hebrew.

3. What version of the Talmud do you recommend I use, and where can I find it?

The version of the Talmud that has become most standard and most widely studied in traditional settings is the Vilna Shas, first printed in 1835. This is what people commonly imagine when they picture a page of Talmud — a block of Hebrew text in the center of the page surrounded by marginal commentaries. But there are also more accessible versions of the text, such as the modern Hebrew edition published with the very helpful commentary of Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz, which is currently being translated into English as the Koren Talmud Bavli and available for free online at Sefaria.org. (Sefaria also offers a direct link to the current day’s page of Talmud from its homepage.) Artscroll publishes a translation that will be best suited to traditional Jews, and the Soncino commentary—available for free online at www.halakhah.com — is readable if somewhat archaic.

4. What resources and study aides are most helpful?

There is a vast array of English-language daf yomi podcasts consisting of recordings of daf yomi classes taught by rabbis and other scholars ranging in length from the five-minute daf yomi shiur (lesson) to lessons that are well over an hour long. The standard daf yomi podcast is probably about 45-50 minutes. One very accessible, clear explication of the daily page, is Michelle Farber’s dafyomi4women, which, though taught by a woman to a group of women in Raanana, Israel, is as valuable for men as for women. A number of websites, such as the Orthodox Union’s Daf Yomi Resources Page, offer various supplemental materials, such as summaries and commentaries, for the daf yomi.

And finally, if you are interested in reading secondary sources that will introduce you to the world of the rabbis and the nature of Talmud as a literary genre, you might consider such books as Ruth Calderon’s A Bride for One Night, a collection of fictional tales based on Talmudic narratives; Binyamin Lau’s The Sages, a collection and interpretation of stories about various Talmudic figures, organized chronologically; and my own book, If All the Seas Were Ink, a memoir of seven and a half years of daf yomi study that is at once a guided tour of the Talmud and a deeply personal tale of love and loss.

5. Does it make sense to start in the middle of a daf yomi cycle, or should I wait for the next cycle to begin?

A new daf yomi cycle begins only once every seven and a half years — the next cycle begins on June 8, 2027. But we begin a new tractate covering a new topic every few months, and so you can start at the beginning of a tractate without feeling lost. Numerous daf yomi calendars, such as this one, are available online, and you can also download daf yomi calendars to your phone.

6. One page a day, seven days a week, is quite a relentless pace. Do you have any tips for staying on schedule? What if I fall behind?

The key to sticking with daf yomi is to find a way to incorporate a bit of learning into your schedule every day, but this learning can take many forms. The rabbis in Tractate Taanit teach that “a person should always be pliable like a reed, and not rigid like a cedar” (Taanit 20a). It helps to be flexible about what it means to learn the page. Some days you may be able to sit down and read the page itself, along with related commentaries and study aides; other days you may have time to listen to a podcast while driving to work or folding the laundry. The point is learning every day, not how you do it. If you fall behind, it helps to have a specific day of the week designated for catching up. It also helps to learn with a study partner or as part of a class, because then you are accountable to someone else. Of course, you are always accountable to the schedule of daf yomi, which is sort of like a treadmill — it just keeps moving forwards, and you need to keep running. It is exhausting at times, but it also keeps you on your toes.

7. What keeps you going on days when you have no motivation to learn or begin to lose interest?

A commitment to learning daf yomi is sort of like a marriage — you’re in the relationship for the long haul, even if most days there are no passionate sparks. Sometimes it’s hard to find anything meaningful or relevant on the page, but perhaps it helps to imagine those pages as the context for the more exciting material that will follow a few days later. Without the context, you cannot fully appreciate that fabulous story about the man who mistakes his wife for a prostitute, or the unicorns that could not fit into Noah’s ark. On pages where the topics seems less interesting, it sometimes it helps to pay attention not just to what the rabbis are saying, but to how they transition from one subject to the next, such that a discussion of sex with a virgin suddenly morphs into a discussion of how to avoid hearing something untoward by sticking one’s fingers in one’s ears—as if to suggest that all acts of penetration are one and the same. To learn daf yomi, you have to allow yourself to be carried along for the ride — and while it’s almost never smooth sailing, some days are certainly bumpier than others.

8. How do you keep track of everything you learn?

Learning daf yomi is a bit like zooming through a safari on a motorcycle – there is so much to take in, and yet you are moving ahead at a rapid clip. There are many ways to take stock without slowing down. You might write about something you’ve learned (see, for instance, my own daf yomi limericks), or draw a picture summarizing something on the daf (see these incredible sketches). You may simply write notes in the margins, summarizing what you have learned. In my case, many years of marginal notes scribbled in my volumes of Talmud became the basis of a memoir, If All the Seas Were Ink.

9. What might I get out of studying daf yomi?

When I first started learning, I didn’t think the Talmud could possibly have anything to say to me personally. But I discovered that when you learn deeply and allow yourself to listen carefully to what the text has to say, you find yourself living against the backdrop of the Talmud — such that the text is a commentary on life, and life is a commentary on the text. The rabbis teach in Tractate Eruvin (54a) that “one who is walking alone his way and has no companion should occupy himself with the study of Torah.” At first the Talmud was my companion during a rather lonely stretch of life. But through my study of Talmud, I overcame a difficult period in my life and found a way forward. And so I followed the Talmud, but the Talmud has also followed me through the various twists and turns my life has taken — through divorce, dating, aliyah (immigration to Israel) marriage, pregnancy and motherhood. I invite you to join me in this journey.

The post 9 Things to Know About the Daf Yomi (Daily Page of Talmud) appeared first on My Jewish Learning.

Unlike the Indian tea chai, which is pronounced with the “ch” sound of “chocolate,” the Hebrew chai is pronounced with the same “kh” sound as in challah. Both words  rhyme with “high,” however.

Chai also refers to the number 18. That’s because each Hebrew letter has a numerical equivalent, and the sum of chet (numerical value of 8) and yud (numerical value of 10) is 18. As a result of its connection to the word for life, the number 18 is considered a special number in Jewish tradition. For this reason, Jews frequently make gifts or charitable contributions in multiples of $18.

In Hebrew, chai is often referred to in the plural form, chaim (חים), hence the boy’s name Chaim and the toast l’chaim (לחים), which, as anyone who has seen Fiddler on the Roof knows, means “to life.”

Chai pendants and other chai jewelry can be purchased at Judaica stores, many jewelry stores and online.

The post What Is the Meaning of Chai? appeared first on My Jewish Learning.

Acronyms — in Hebrew, Aramaic and transliteration — appear frequently in Jewish correspondence, books, spoken conversation and even on gravestones. Famous rabbis are frequently referred to by their acronyms. Even books themselves, like the Hebrew Bible are often identified in this abbreviated manner.

Modern Hebrew has its own ever-growing roster of acronyms, such as its FBI equivalent, Shabak (שׁבּ״כּ), also known as the Shin Bet. (Stands for for Sherut Habitakhon Haklali, or General Security Service.)

Below are some of the most common acronyms and abbreviations organized alphabetically (in English transliteration) by category. If no English initials appear, that means English initials aren’t used for this term. Did we miss an important one? Leave it in the comments below or email us at community@myjewishlearning.org.

General Acronyms and Abbreviations
On Gravestones
Rabbis and Sages
Modern Hebrew

General Acronyms and Abbreviations

A”H
ע״ה

Stands for: alav hashalom (עליו השלום), aleha hashalom (עליה השׁלום) or aleihem hashalom (עליהם השלום)
Pronounced: ah-LAHV hah-shah-LOHM, ah-lay-HAH hah-shah-LOHM
What it means: Hebrew for “peace be upon him.” Alternately “upon her” or “upon them.”
When it’s used: Following the name of someone who is dead.

BD”E
בּד״א

Stands for: Baruch dayan emet (ברוך דיין  אמת)
Pronounced:bah-ROOKH dah-YAHN eh-METT
What it means: Hebrew for “blessed is the true judge.”
When it’s used: Commonly said to a mourner upon learning of their loss.

B’’H
בּ״ה

Stands for: B’ezrat hashem (בּעזרת השׁם)
Pronounced: b’ez-RAHT hah-SHEM.
What it means: Hebrew for “with God’s help.”
Note: This acronym also stands for Baruch HaShem (בּרוך השׁם) or Blessed is God.

BS’’D
בּס׳׳ד

Stands for: B’siyata dishmaya (בסיעתא דשמיא)
Pronounced: bah-SAHD.
What it means: Aramaic for “with the help of Heaven.”
When it’s used: Some traditional Jews put these letters on the upper corner of every piece of written material.

IY”H
אי״ה

Stands for: Im yirtzeh hashem (אם ירצה השׁם)
Pronounced: eem yeer-TZEH hah-SHEM
What it means: Hebrew for “if it will be God’s will” or “if it is God’s will.”

N”Y
נ״י

Stands for: Nehro (נרו) or nehrah (נרה) yair (יאיר)
Pronounced: noon yood (the two Hebrew letters), or neh-ee-ROH yah-EER (for a man), neh-ee-RAH yah-EER (for a woman)
What it means: Hebrew for “his/her candle should burn bright.”
When it’s used: When writing a letter to someone who is alive. As in, “Dear David N”Y, How are you?….”

Shlita

שׁליט״א

Stands for: Sh’yichyeh l’orekh yamim tovim amen. ( שׁיחיה לאורך יומים טובים אמן
Pronounced: SHLEE-tuh
What it means: May he (or she) live for many good days, Amen.
When it’s used: Often said after the name of a prominent living rabbi.

Shotz
שׁ״צ

Stands for: Shaliach tzibur (שׁליח ציבּור)
Pronounced: SHAHTZ or shah-LEE-ahkh tzee-BOHR
What it means: Hebrew for the person leading a prayer service (literally “public emissary”).

Tanach
תנ״ך

Stands for: Torah (תורה), Nevi’im (נביאים), Ketuvim (כּתובים) — known in English as Torah (also Five Books of Moses), Prophets and Writings
Pronounced: tah-NAKH
What it means: The Hebrew Bible, which Christians refer to as the Old Testament.

Z’’L
ז״ל

Stands for: Zichrono (זכרונו) [for a man] or zichrona (זכרונה) [for a woman] l’bracha (לבּרכה)
Pronounced: zahl, or zee-chroh-NOH luh-brah-KHAH or zee-chroh-NAH luh-brah-KHAH
What it means: Hebrew literally for “memories for blessing,” usually translated to “may his or her memory be a blessing.”
When it’s used: Usually appears in parentheses after the name of a person who is deceased.

On Gravestones and in Cemeteries

N”E
נ״ע

Stands for: Nucha (נוחה) [for a woman] or nucho (נוחו) [for a man] eden (עדן).
Pronounced: noon ayin (the names of these two Hebrew letters) or noo-KHAH EH-den (for women) or noo-KHOH EH-den (for men)
What it means: Hebrew for “Let his/her rest be paradise (Eden).”

P”N
פּ״נ

Stands for: Po nikhbar (פּה נקבּר)
Pronounced: pay noon (the two Hebrew letters) or POH neek-BAHR
What it means: Hebrew for “here lies” or “here is buried.” A variation on this is pay tet (פּ״ט), which stands for  po tamun, “here is hidden.”

TNZBH

תנצבּ״ה

Stands for: Tehi nishmato tzrura btzror hachayim (תהי נשׁמתו צרורה בּצרור החיים)
Pronounced: tuh-HEE neesh-mah-TOE tzroo-RAH beh-TZROHR ha-khaye-EEM
What it means: Hebrew for “May his/her soul be bound up in the bond of life.”

Rabbis and Sages

Besht

בּשׁ״ט

Stands for: Ba’al Shem Tov (בּעל שׁם טוב)
Pronounced: Besht
What it means: Hebrew for “the owner/master of a good name,” this was the title given to Israel ben Eliezer (1698‑1760), the founder of Hasidic Judaism.

Rambam
רמבּ״ם

Stands for: Rabbi Moshe (Moses) Ben Maimon, also commonly known as Maimonides, the prolific and influential 12th-century scholar originally from Spain.
Pronounced: RAHM-bahm

Ramban
רמבּ״ן

Stands for: Rabbi Moshe (Moses) Ben Nahman, also commonly known as Nahmanides, a 13th-century Spanish scholar.

Pronounced: RAHM-bahn

Rashi
רשׁ״י

Stands for: Rabbi Shlomo (Solomon) Yitzchaki, the 11th-century French scholar best known for his comprehensive Bible commentaries.
Pronounced: RAH-shee

Modern Hebrew

Motzash
מוצ”ש

Stands for: motz-AY sha-BAHT (מוצאי שׁבּת)

Pronounced: moh-TZASH

What it means: Saturday night, after Shabbat officially ends.

Ramat Kal

רמטכ”ל‎

Stands for: ROHSH ha-mah-TEH ha-klah-LEE (ראשׁ המטה הכללי)
Pronounced: RAH-mat KAHL
What it means: Chief of staff, or commander-in-chief of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF)

Sofash

סופ״שׁ

Stands for: sohf shah-VOO-ah (סוף שׁבוע)
Pronounced: soh-FAHSH
What it means: Weekend

Tzahal

צה״ל

Stands for: Tzava hahagana l’Israel (צבא ההגנה לישראל)
Pronounced: TZAH-hall
What it means: The Israel Defense Forces (IDF)

The post A Guide to Jewish Acronyms and Abbreviations appeared first on My Jewish Learning.

• This tradition of burial in Israel is grounded in a number of Jewish sources, the best-known of which may be the teaching that during the time of the messiah, all Jews will be resurrected from the dead, and according to statements in the Midrash, those buried in Israel will be resurrected first. Those buried elsewhere will be brought to the holy land through underground tunnels, according to statements in the Talmud and elsewhere.
• The practice has its roots in the Bible, which records the patriarch Jacob’s insistence (in Parashat Vayechi) that his son Joseph swear not to bury him in Egypt, but instead to bury him with his forbearers in Hebron. Though exhuming the body of a Jew who has been buried is normally barred by Jewish law, an exception is made for reinterment in Israel.
• For some Jews, being buried in Israel is considered a symbolic statement of eternal attachment to the Jewish homeland. According to the Israeli Foreign Ministry, 1,590 people who died abroad were buried in Israel in 2016, a figure that includes Israeli citizens who died while they were out of the country. Some 4,900 Americans were buried in Israel between 2006-2016, and even more (5,100) from France.

How To Arrange for Burial in Israel

Burial in Israel requires both the purchase of a burial plot as well as the logistical arrangements necessary to prepare, transport and inter the body.

Plots can often be purchased directly from a cemetery, but it’s often easier to use an intermediary. A number of American synagogues and Jewish organizations own blocks of cemetery plots that they resell to their members, and at least one organization, Achuzat Kever, assists Jews from abroad who seek to purchase burial plots in Israel.

Once a plot is secured, arrangements for the body must be made. Some Jewish funeral homes in the United States offer the following services to those wishing to be buried in Israel:

• Ritual preparation of the body for burial, known as tahara (usually done before the body is transported to Israel).
• Arranging the necessary legal paperwork, including death certificates and authorization from the local Israeli consulate.
• Transport of the remains to an air cargo facility.

Arrangements must also be made to have the body received at the airport in Israel and transported to the cemetery for interment. Typically, this is done by the burial society associated with the cemetery where the plot was purchased.

Where in Israel are Burial Plots Available?

Jerusalem has always been the most sought-after location for burial in Israel, but space in the city is increasingly hard to come by and prices are substantial. The city has two major cemeteries — one in eastern Jerusalem, on the Mount of Olives overlooking the Old City, and the other, Har Hamenuchot, at the western entrance to the city. Lack of space at Har Hamenuchot has prompted the building of a massive underground catacombs to meet demand.

Beit Shemesh, a city roughly 20 miles to the west of the Israeli capital, has emerged as a popular alternative. Various Jewish organizations from around the world have reserved sections of the city’s privately owned Eretz Hachaim cemetery, which will also sell plots directly to consumers from its Brooklyn office. Burial plots are available in other Israeli cities as well;, however increasing space pressure has made it difficult to secure a plot in certain locations.

How Much Does Burial in Israel Cost?

The price of a burial plot varies considerably. Plots in the millennia-old Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives with its direct views of the Temple Mount are the most coveted of all and can run in the tens of thousands of dollars. One New York-based group offers plots on the Mount of Olives for $19,000 each, but some people in the Jewish funeral industry say they have heard of particularly choice locations in the cemetery selling for more than twice that amount. Plots in Beit Shemesh’s Eretz Hachaim cost around $8,000. Additionally, the funeral and transportation arrangements in Israel often run around $2,000, and one must also factor in the costs of preparation and airport transfer of the body in the United States. In the New York area, preparing a body and transporting it to Israel typically costs between $3,000-$5,000. From locations in the United States without direct flights to Israel, it can cost as much as $10,000.

Can Non-Orthodox Jews Be Buried in Israel?

Traditional Jewish law generally prohibits burying Jews and non-Jews together. Therefore, those wishing to be buried in a Jewish cemetery in Israel will typically have to demonstrate they are Jewish according to Jewish law — generally by having some Orthodox rabbinic body vouch for the deceased’s Jewish status. In the case of a non-Orthodox Jew, or someone who is not Jewish according to Orthodox Jewish law, this can occasionally present an obstacle to Jewish burial in Israel, though in practice this situation is said to arise only rarely. Civil cemeteries, a recent development in Israel, offer alternatives to individuals who for whatever reason are unable to secure burial in a religious cemetery. ITIM, a religious pluralism organization in Israel, offers assistance in navigating the religious bureaucracy surrounding burial.

Can Non-Jews Be Buried in Israel?

Israel has numerous Christian and Muslim cemeteries, which serve the local Muslim and Christian populations, but it is rare for people from overseas to request burial in them and we were unable to identify any organizations or businesses that assist in this process.

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Looking for a way to say Mourner’s Kaddish in a minyan? My Jewish Learning’s daily online minyan gives mourners and others an opportunity to say Kaddish in community and learn from leading rabbis.

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Jewish Organizations

Jewish Federation Finder 
A Jewish federation is the central Jewish philanthropy in most communities, raising and allocating funds for a wide range of programs and agencies. Most Jewish federations can help you locate other Jewish institutions, such as schools, summer camps, social service providers, synagogues and senior homes in your community. Many can also help you find Jewish businesses, such as kosher restaurants and Jewish funeral homes, in your area.

Jewish Community Center Finder 
Jewish community centers, often referred to as JCCs or as “Jewish Ys” offer a range of facilities, classes and programs. They welcome non-Jewish, as well as Jewish, members.

Jewish Publications
In most cities with a sizable Jewish populations, at least one local Jewish newspaper is published weekly or monthly. For national or international Jewish news, we recommend you visit our partner site JTA. Note that this directory, maintained by the American Jewish Press Association, does not contain contact information and also lists the names of local Jewish freelance journalists.

Synagogues

To learn more about the various denominations, also known as streams or movements, of Judaism, read our Guide to Jewish Denominations.

Chabad-Lubavitch Directory 
Chabad, a Hasidic group that emphasizes outreach to Jews of all backgrounds, operates Jewish institutions in more locations around the world than any other single organization. Its local representatives (known as shluchim, or emissaries) often help tourists and other visitors find kosher food and hospitality for Shabbat and Jewish holidays.

Find a Reform Congregation
Directory of synagogues affiliated with the Reform movement.

Find a Conservative Congregation
Directory of synagogues affiliated with the Conservative movement.

Find an Orthodox (non-Chabad) Congregation and Mikveh
Directory of synagogues and mikvehs (also known as mikve’ot) affiliated with the Orthodox Union.

Find a Reconstructionist Congregation
Directory of synagogues affiliated with the Reconstructionist movement.

Find a Secular Humanistic Jewish Community
Directory of groups affiliated with the Society for Humanistic Judaism.

Did we miss an important resource? Email us at community@myjewishlearning.org, or leave the information in the comments section below.

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Although we joke that we should advise people to read every article on our site, the fact is that Judaism is a huge and overwhelming topic. And the problem is not a shortage of readily available information. Rather, it’s that there are so many articles, resources and books out there that it is difficult to know where and how to begin. Not to mention that books vary greatly in quality.

We still encourage you to read the articles on My Jewish Learning. However, we know that sometimes you want a good old-fashioned book that you can hold in your hands, snuggle up with at bedtime and read from start to finish. So we asked a bunch of Jewish educators to recommend the best Introduction to Judaism/Judaism 101 books out there. The most popular suggestions are listed below, in order of the most recently published/updated. Did we miss a great book, or do you have feedback about one of the books we listed? Email us at community@myjewishlearning.com or comment below.

1) Here All Along: Finding Meaning, Spirituality, and a Deeper Connection to Life — in Judaism (2019) by Sarah Hurwitz

2) My Jewish Year: 18 Holidays, One Wandering Jew (2018) by Abigail Pogrebin

3)Essential Judaism: A Complete Guide to Beliefs, Customs and Rituals (Updated in 2016) by George Robinson

4) Judaism’s 10 Best Ideas: A Brief Guide for Seekers (2014) by Arthur Green

5) Living Judaism: The Complete Guide to Jewish Belief, Tradition and Practice (Reprinted in 2010) by Wayne Dosick

6) Jewish Literacy: The Most Important Things to Know about the Jewish Religion, Its People and Its History (Updated in 2008) by Joseph Telushkin

7) Living a Jewish Life: Jewish Traditions, Customs and Values for Today’s Families (Updated in 2007) by Anita Diamant

8) A Book of Life: Embracing Judaism as a Spiritual Practice (2006) by Michael Strassfeld

9) The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Understanding Judaism (Updated in 2003) by Benjamin Blech

10) It’s a Mitzvah: Step-By-Step to Jewish Living (1995) by Bradley Shavit Artson

11) To Life! A Celebration of Jewish Being and Thinking (1994) by Harold Kushner

12) The Jewish Way: Living the Holidays (1993) by Irving Greenberg

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The Bible records many Israelites with piercings, including perhaps most famously the matriarch Rebecca, who was given a nose ring to celebrate her engagement with Isaac. Historically, in Jewish communities, ear and nose piercings have not been uncommon. For example, in the contemporary Western world, many Jewish women have ear piercings. And nostril piercings have historically been popular in the Jewish communities of Kurdistan and India.

Some contemporary authorities have raised concerns that body piercing can be considered a damaging body modification (prohibited by Jewish law) and others worry that certain kinds of piercings can run afoul of Jewish values of modesty (tzniut) and respect for the body as created in the divine image (b’tzelem elohim). However, most rabbinic authorities give some weight to contemporary mores, in particular the fact that body piercing is understood today not as a sign of bodily denigration, but as an act of adornment.

Is piercing discussed in the Bible?

Yes. In the Book of Exodus, the Torah prescribes that if a Hebrew slave declares that he loves his master and does not want to be set free, the master should pierce the slave’s ear with an awl. The association of ear piercing with slavery is sometimes taken as an indication that the Torah does not look favorably upon the practice. However, other references make clear that body piercing for aesthetic reasons was practiced in biblical times. In the Book of Genesis, Abraham’s servant Eliezer gives a gift of a nose ring to Rebecca, whom he hopes will become Isaac’s wife (Genesis 24:22). When the Israelites beseech Aaron to create the golden calf, Aaron responds by instructing them to take “the gold rings that are on the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me” — an indication that ear piercing was a practice among Israelite men as well as women (Exodus 32:2). In Ezekiel 16:12, both nostril and ear piercings are mentioned. Ornamental ear piercing is also mentioned as a common practice in the Talmud.

Is body piercing permitted by Jewish law?

The main halachic (Jewish law) issue raised by body piercing is the prohibition on wounding, which is derived from the prohibition in Deuteronomy 25:3 that when meting out a punishment of lashes, the guilty party may not be given more than 40 lashes. (On this verse, Maimonides comments that if the Torah was careful not to allow additional lashes for a sinner, how much more so for a righteous person.) Some rabbinic authorities have raised objections to cosmetic surgery on the grounds that it constitutes a violation of this principle, a position that could theoretically be extended to body piercing. (A secondary problem, which could also theoretically be applied to body piercing, is a philosophical objection to cosmetic surgery because it implies dissatisfaction with the way God created the human body.) Other rabbinic authorities, notably Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, a leading American halachic authority of the 20th century, saw no problem with cosmetic surgery, since the intent is not to wound but to beautify. On the whole, the prohibition on damaging the body is not broadly understood to bar the piercing of ears for aesthetic purposes.

Is there a difference between piercing ears and piercing other parts of the body?

Traditional Jewish law offers no obvious basis for differentiating between various kinds of body piercing. In a 1997 responsum on the question of body piercing, Conservative Rabbi Alan Lucas asserts that it is “hard to argue …that there is a substantive difference between the nonpermanent piercing of the ear for fashion purposes and the non-permanent piercing of the eyebrow, navel or even nipple.” Lucas goes on to note that health risks are associated with piercing certain sensitive body parts and that only “medically qualified” individuals should perform piercings.

Are there types of piercing that Judaism frowns upon?

Though there is no explicit blanket prohibition on body piercing, rabbis from all three of the major Jewish denominations have raised a number of concerns about the practice.

One of them is that excessive piercing is inconsistent with Jewish values. “The way we treat our bodies, including the manner in which we ‘adorn’ them, is a statement of our attitude toward our relationship with God and our duties under the covenant,” a Reform responsum from the late 1990s on the matter reads. “Let us consider, therefore, what sort of statement we make about ourselves and our bodies when we inject pigment into our skin, when we pierce our flesh with needles, wire, studs and spikes. Let us ask ourselves whether this is truly the way that we Jews, commanded to pursue and to practice holiness, should aspire to ‘beautify’ and ‘adorn’ ourselves.”

The Lucas paper raises a similar point: “Body piercing is not prohibited, although legitimate concerns regarding tzniut [modesty] and other traditional Jewish values should be taken into consideration and guide one’s choices.”

Orthodox authorities raise a number of additional issues with body piercing, though none are universally understood to unambiguously prohibit the practice. These include the prohibition loosely defined as “following the ways of the gentiles,” a principle derived from a number of verses in Leviticus understood broadly to forbid imitating the ways of non-Jewish peoples. For this reason, some Orthodox authorities urge those considering a piercing to reflect on their motivations for doing so. There are also concerns specifically about men getting piercings based on the biblical prohibition (in Deuteronomy 22:5) against men wearing women’s attire. In societies where it’s common for both men and women to be pierced, this would presumably not be a serious concern.

Does body piercing preclude burial in a Jewish cemetery?

No. It is a common misconception that body modification — tattoos in particular — disqualifies one from a traditional Jewish burial. This is not the case. Though some individual Jewish burial societies may decline to bury individuals for any number of reasons, there is nothing in Jewish law that calls for denying a Jewish burial to someone with a tattoo or a piercing.

The post Can A Jew Get Body Piercings? appeared first on My Jewish Learning.

Though more Israelis have died in wars, the per capita death rate from terrorism in Israel is high, and the threat is acutely felt throughout the country. Security measures are widely in evidence, from guards at the entrances to public facilities to an ingrained national reflex to call attention to unattended bags. Decades of hard-won experience have also burnished Israel’s image as a global leader in counterterrorism. Israel’s national airline, El Al, and its principal international airport are routinely cited as the most secure in the world.

When did terrorism in Israel begin?

According to the Israeli government, Arab terrorism targeting Jews traces back to the 1920s, when a series of riots gripped the land, which was then under British rule — most famously, perhaps, the 1929 Hebron massacre, which resulted in the deaths of nearly 70 Jews. Following Israel’s establishment in 1948, Palestinian guerrilla fighters known as fedayeen mounted cross-border raids that resulted in hundreds of Israeli deaths and prompted a number of reprisal attacks by the Israel Defense Forces in the 1950s and ‘60s.

Terrorism grew more sophisticated in the 1960s, with Palestinians launching a number of attacks on Israeli targets abroad and carrying out deadly bombings at home. In the 1970s, Palestinians successfully pulled off a number of high-profile attacks, including the 1972 murder of 11 members of the Israeli Olympic team in Munich, Germany, the 1976 hijacking to Uganda’s Entebbe Airport of an Air France plane en route from Tel Aviv to Paris, and the infamous 1974 attack on a school in the northern Israeli town of Maalot that culminated in the deaths of more than two-dozen people, 22 of them children.

In the 1990s, the first suicide bombings were carried out by members of the militant Palestinian group Hamas. According to data from the University of Chicago, 114 such attacks, in which the assailant blows himself (or herself) up, have been carried out in Israel since 1994, resulting in the deaths of 721 people (including the perpetrators).

Who perpetrates terrorist attacks in Israel?

In nearly all cases, terrorist attacks in Israel are carried out by Palestinian extremist groups, though the particular perpetrators have changed over time. Prior to 1967, most terrorist attacks were carried out by loosely organized groups of militants. After 1967, Palestinian terrorism grew more organized, with most of the high-profile attacks carried out by affiliate groups of the Palestine Liberation Organization, founded in 1964 to wage armed struggle against Israel. The first high-profile attacks, in the late 1960s, were carried out by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a secular group responsible for a series of attacks on El Al planes in the late 1960s. A number of splinter groups from the PFLP also executed deadly raids during that period, including the 1972 attack that killed 26 people at Lod Airport (now called Ben Gurion Airport) and the Avivim school bus massacre in 1970 that killed 12. Black September, a group of Palestinian fighters who took their name from the 1970 conflict that resulted in the expulsion of the PLO from Jordan, was behind the 1972 Munich attack. Fatah, the largest PLO faction, carried out the 1978 coastal road massacre, in which 38 Israeli civilians were killed.

As part of the Oslo peace process in 1993, PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat, in a letter to Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, recognized Israel’s right to exist in peace and security and further pledged that “the PLO renounces the use of terrorism and other acts of violence and will assume responsibility over all PLO elements and personnel in order to assure their compliance, prevent violations and discipline violators.” In the wake of the letter, terrorist violence against Israel was largely carried out by other Palestinian groups, although Israeli leaders have long alleged that Arafat never truly renounced violence and that he continued to incite and direct terrorist actions against Israeli civilians.

Two groups founded in the 1980s became major sources of terrorist violence in the 1990s and beyond and marked a shift from the avowedly secular Palestinian militants of the 1960s and ‘70s to an Islamic religious violence aimed at liberating Muslim lands from Jews. Hamas, which was founded in 1987 as an offshoot of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, emerged as a major terrorist group after it carried out the first suicide bombings on Israeli targets in the mid-1990s. During the Second Intifada, Hamas was responsible for a number of high-casualty suicide attacks, including the Sbarro restaurant bombing in Jerusalem in 2001 (15 killed), the Dolphinarium disco bombing in Tel Aviv in 2001 (21 killed) and the 2002 bombing of a Passover seder at a Netanya hotel (30 killed).

Another Islamic terrorist group, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, founded in 1981, is financially supported by Iran and is linked to Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed militant group active in Lebanon. Islamic Jihad was responsible for the Maxim restaurant suicide bombing in Haifa in 2003 (21 killed) as well as a number of bus bombings. Numerous other smaller Islamic terrorist groups have also carried out deadly attacks on Israeli targets in the last two decades.

Beginning in 2015, Israelis began to face a new form of terrorism perpetrated by so-called “lone wolf” attackers — individuals with no established connection to a recognized terror group. Known informally as the stabbing intifada, the unrest that began in the fall of 2015 featured a number of attacks by people who wielded knives at civilians or rammed vehicles into pedestrians. Some of the attacks were carried out by Hamas cells, but others were perpetrated by individuals with no known terrorist affiliation.

What motivates Palestinian terrorism?

According to many Palestinians and their supporters, violence against Israel is driven principally by opposition to Israeli occupation of lands they believe are Palestinian. While some Palestinians specify that this means the West Bank, others believe terrorism is a legitimate form of resistance to Israel’s sovereignty anywhere in the Middle East. In a 2015 op-ed in the Guardian newspaper, Marwan Barghouti, a Palestinian activist currently serving multiple life sentences for murder in an Israeli prison, wrote that the “root causes” of violence in the region is “the denial of Palestinian freedom.” Some Israelis have also endorsed a version of this view, including, in 2016, the mayor of Tel Aviv Ron Huldai.

In a 2008 report to the U.N. Human Rights Council, Special Rapporteur John Dugard wrote of Palestinian terrorism: “While such acts cannot be justified, they must be understood as being a painful but inevitable consequence of colonialism, apartheid or occupation.” In July 2017, the Trump administration’s annual terrorism report asserted that “continued drivers of violence” include, among other things, Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank and lost hope in the eventual establishment of a Palestinian state — claims that drew immediate criticism from American Jewish groups.

To many Israelis and their supporters, this is nonsense. Far from being motivated by a desire to end the occupation, Palestinians are, according to this argument, truly driven by a continuing failure to come to terms with the legitimacy of a Jewish state in the Middle East. Many Israelis note, for instance, that violence against Jews predated not only the occupation of the West Bank, which began after the 1967 Six-Day War, but even prior to the establishment of Israel in 1948. They further note that Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, the dismantling of all settlements there and the relocation of thousands of Israeli settlers did not bring an end to violence emerging from the coastal territory and aimed at Israeli population centers. These Israelis further argue that violence against Israeli civilians is not intended to bring about peaceful coexistence, citing as evidence Hamas’ longstanding refusal to recognize Israel’s legitimacy and right to exist.

Israeli leaders have routinely placed blame for terrorist activity on the Palestinian leadership, which it accuses of inciting violence against civilians by praising terrorists and demonizing Israelis in official media and educational materials. In 2016, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that terrorist attacks “don’t come because of [Palestinian] despair and the frustration over the inability to build. They come because of [Palestinian] despair and the frustration over inability to destroy.”

What has Israel done to protect itself?

Over the years, Israel has developed a broad range of counterterrorism strategies that are often regarded as the best in the world. Following the spate of airplane hijackings in the late 1960s, Israel implemented stringent aviation security protocols that successfully brought the practice to a halt. Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport employs multiple rings of security, beginning with perimeter inspections of entering vehicles by armed guards and including sophisticated screening technologies for people and baggage. Security personnel attempt to identify potential attackers for more extensive screening based on observed behavior or how they respond in an interview with a security officer, something to which all passengers are subjected. Though Israeli officials tend not to discuss such security measures, the process is widely understood to focus greater scrutiny on Arab and Muslim passengers, a practice that has drawn protests from civil rights groups. Similar methods are employed by El Al security personnel at airports around the world.

Israel’s counterterrorism strategy has both offensive and defensive components. Israeli intelligence and security agencies continually act to undermine terrorist groups, remove key terrorist figures through arrests and targeted killings, and foil emerging plots. Defensively, Israel has employed a number of controversial — some say counterproductive — measures, including the use of traffic checkpoints and the construction of a miles-long security barrier in the West Bank. On the home front, the Iron Dome missile defense system has proven extremely effective at taking out rockets fired at Israeli population centers. Meanwhile, Israel has successfully inculcated a culture of preparedness and caution that extends into virtually every aspect of civilian life. Nearly every public gathering place is protected by a guard or a metal detector — and often both. Bomb squads are routinely summoned when unattended items are spotted — known in Hebrew as a “hefetz hashud,” or suspicious object.

Are acts of terror ever committed by Jews?

Yes. Prior to Israel’s establishment, a number of Jewish militias carried out attacks that resulted in civilian deaths. Though much of the violence was targeted at British military personnel, many civilians died in those attacks. Palestinian Arabs were also directly targeted in reprisal attacks.

Among the most notorious acts of Jewish terrorism in pre-state Israel was the bombing in 1946 of the King David Hotel in Jerusalem, where British authorities then ruling the area had their headquarters. Dozens were killed and over 100 injured in the attack, which was carried out by the Irgun, a paramilitary group that split from the larger Haganah. In 1948, in the weeks leading up to Israel’s establishment and the outbreak of the War of Independence, the Irgun participated in the infamous Deir Yassin massacre, in which over 100 Palestinians were killed in an Arab village near Jerusalem. The Lehi (sometimes known as the Stern Gang), which also participated in the Deir Yassin killings, was responsible for a number of attacks in the 1940s that killed civilians as well as British soldiers.

In the decades since Israel’s establishment, a number of Jewish groups, many of them associated with Israel’s settler movement, have committed acts of violence against Palestinians. The most deadly attack came in 1994, when American-born physician Baruch Goldstein opened fire on Muslim worshippers at the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron, killing 29 people before being beaten to death. Goldstein was a member of Kach, a movement associated with the American-born Israeli rabbi Meir Kahane who was assassinated in New York in 1990. Both Kach and its offshoot Kahane Chai (“Kahane Lives”) are designated as foreign terrorist organizations by the U.S. State Department. Kach was officially outlawed in Israel in 1994, but the group still has supporters. In 2005, an Israeli army deserter believed to be a Kach supporter opened fire on a bus carrying Arab Israelis, killing four.

Israeli settlers have also been behind the so-called “price tag” attacks, which began in the early 2000s and were so named because they aimed to exact a price for Palestinian violence against Israeli civilians. Many of these attacks were acts of vandalism or harassment; however they included fatal attacks as well. In 2014, Israeli settlers abducted and murdered a Palestinian teenager, Mohammed Abu Khdeir, apparently in response to the abduction and murder of three Israeli teenagers some weeks earlier. That same year, the State Department mentioned price tag attacks in its annual terrorism report.  In 2015, three Palestinians, including an 18-month-old boy, were killed in the village of Duma when their home was firebombed by Jewish settlers.

Does terrorism make Israel risky for tourists?

Not really. Though terrorist attacks dominate the news, and foreign governments will occasionally warn their citizens about traveling to Israel at times of unrest, statistically the likelihood of being killed or injured in a terrorist attack in Israel remains small. According to the Israeli government, only 122 foreigners have been killed in attacks in Israel, a tiny fraction of the millions of tourists who typically visit Israel each year. Even in peaceful periods, foreign travel warnings will typically specify particular areas to avoid — among them the Gaza Strip and adjacent areas, as well as certain areas of the West Bank and along Israel’s northern border with Syria and Lebanon. Travel warnings also note the possibility of random violence and urge heightened awareness and the avoidance of crowds.

A few high-profile deaths have drawn attention to the dangers for tourists. In 2016, American military veteran Taylor Force died in a stabbing attack in Tel Aviv while in Israel with a study group from Vanderbilt University. In 2002, a bombing at a Hebrew University cafeteria in Jerusalem resulted in the deaths of nine individuals, including several American students. The 1995 death of American Alisa Flatow in a bus bombing led to a lawsuit by her family that resulted in a landmark $248 million dollar judgement against the government of Iran, which an American federal judge ruled was complicit in Flatow’s death. In 2017, the parents of an American killed in 1996 sued two Chicago-based Palestinian groups in an effort to recover a $156 million judgement against a number of Palestinian organizations.

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