Judaism 101

Nowadays, Jewish parents and educators must ask themselves how they can present Torah and mitzvot in a way that speaks to this generation. To many youth today, Judaism’s rich heritage seems outdated, irrelevant and boring.

Nothing beats some preparation to make it a memorable Seder!

The more we know and understand, the more focus and intention we put into our prayers, the more powerful they are.

Our rav also advised me that given the circumstances, I should not rely on an ordinary Kohen, but should specifically find one with a proven lineage to avoid having to do a third pidyon haben in the future.

In Israel, most people are more careful to stress the end of the word (what’s called “mil’ra”), where it usually belongs for Hebrew words.

This highly popular machzor was so widely accepted that it was even quoted in the writings of major poskim, including the Chasam Sofer.

As has been noted elsewhere, Shlomo Tal originally sought to produce Rinat Yisrael based on nusach Sfard so as to unite people who had different traditions, but he found himself ultimately also producing siddurim for Ashkenazim and Mizrachi-Sefardi Jews.

Nowadays, stressing the shva na is an accepted and fairly common element in many siddurim. But when Ishei Yisrael appeared, it wasn’t common at all.

The name Rechovot Hanahar (Streets of the River), derived from its mention in Bereishit 36:31, was interpreted by Kabbalah as referring among other things to the period before Creation, and was also tied to names such as Nahar Shalom – one of the famous books by the Rashash himself.

Phillip Feldheim died in New York City in 1990. Ten years later the first edition of the siddur bearing his name – Tefilat Shai – appeared in Jerusalem.