Why Must Women Light Sabbath Candles Long before the Sabbath Begins? If people would take the time to look at the bulletin of an Orthodox Synagogue, they would find something very curious. The women are instructed [...]
Why must women start the Sabbath before Men? If people would take the time to look at the bulletin of an Orthodox Synagogue, they would find something very curious. The women are instructed to light candles several minutes before the men are scheduled to attend the Mincha service,[1] and Mincha takes place [...]
The Sabbath that disappeared and the one that moved My wife Dina and I took an extended 78-day cruise from February 2, 2015 until April 21, 2015 on Queen Victoria beginning and returning to Fort Lauderdale, Florida. During the cruise we went through the Panama Canal and visited over two dozen places [...]
Why Are 39 Labors Prohibited on the Sabbath?[1] People familiar with the Jewish Sabbath laws know that the Hebrew Bible, the Torah, doesn’t list the activities prohibited on the Sabbath; rabbis instituted these laws and say that the laws are “hinted” in the Torah.[2] These hints are based on two of many [...]
The Sabbath: The Peaceful Day Provoked Sadducees and Pharisees As I wrote in my recent book “Mysteries of Judaism,” all the biblical holidays were changed by the rabbis because of the conditions of their time, especially because the temple was destroyed in 70 CE and sacrifices, which were an [...]
By Israel Drazin Numbers 19 tells how people who became impure because of contact with a dead human must be sprinkled with ashes of a red heifer before they can enter the tabernacle.[1] Among other particulars of the law, verse 9 states, “A man who is clean should gather the ashes of [...]
By Israel Drazin The biblical portions of Vayakeil and Pekudei, Exodus 35:1- 40:38, have many biblical laws and a host of descriptions of the ancient tabernacle, the Mishkan, used by the Israelites during their forty-year desert wanderings. I will discuss the Sabbath and the Cherubim. Why does the Torah single out [...]
By Israel Drazin It is certainly true that most Jews today, including most rabbis, see a distinction between ritual and social laws. The first focuses on God and the second on people. In the Ten Commandments, for example, the laws forbidding idols and those requiring rest on the Sabbath are seen by most Jews [...]
