Holidays 480 articles

It has been revered since Biblical times as a symbol of fertility, good health and immortality. Celebrated by King Solomon in the Song of Songs, this tangy, many-seeded fruit with its...

There’s an old joke in the Jewish community: The High Holidays are always either early or late; they’re never on time! Well, this year they’re late (Rosh Hashanah begins at sundown...

One morning last week I awoke to a mercifully cloudy sky. After six weeks of blazing sunshine and unrelenting heat, the grey canopy above my head offered both a measure of...

The day specifically mentioned in the Torah as the day of atonement is the tenth of Tishrei, Yom Kippur, but the entire ten days from Rosh HaShanah until Yom Kippur are...

15th of Av is a festive day on which we don’t say Tachanun. The mishna at the end of Taanit mentions the various joyful customs and historical events which took place...

Jews tend to be peddlers, even when we have no things to sell. Yesterday, I met a young man who was trying to make a deal, a shidduch. He was sufficiently...

The Three Weeks between the 17th of Tammuz and the 9th of Av are a time of special mourning for the Jewish people, but it’s not always possible to conjure up...

The following story is true, however the names and details have been fictionalized. The pounding in Shlomo’s head wouldn’t stop, but it was easily drowned out by the pain in his...

Chorma. The name doesn’t ring many bells – but it is a sad place – a very sad place. It’s another good reason to read Devarim before Tisha B’av. Here’s the...

The Shulchan Aruch notes that we are obligated to fast on Tisha B’Av because of the terrible events that occurred on that day (Orach Chayim 549:1). The Mishnah Brura (based on...