Do We Always Say "Amen" at the End of a Berakhah? Originally published October 19-20, 2018.
The leader is repeating the Amidah, at the Fifth Berakhah, which contains “Modim Anahnu Lakh.” Just before “Modim,” the leader says, “Barukh Atah [Hashem], hamahazir shekhinato leTzion.” Do we say “amen” after that berakhah? Or do we all say together “Modim Anahnu Lakh.” Technically we should do both. We say “amen” after a berakhah when […]
What Is Yom HaAliyah? Originally published October 12-13, 2018.
Yom HaAliyah is an Israeli national holiday. It is celebrated both on 10 Nisan and on 7 Heshvan—the latter being the school celebration, occurring this coming Monday evening through Tuesday. The observance commemorates the historic events of 10 Nisan, and thus acknowledges aliyah, immigration to the Jewish state, as a core value of the country. It […]
What Are the Sibylline Oracles? Originally published October 5-6, 2018.
Last week, in our discussion of Gog and Magog, we mentioned the Sibylline Oracles. We wondered about them, too. Sometimes called the pseudo-Sibylline Oracles, these are a collection of prophesies or oracular statements written in Greek hexameter which are ascribed to the Sibyls, who were prophetesses who uttered divine revelations in a frenzied state. Apparently […]
What Is This Gog and Magog? Originally published September 28-29, 2018.
On the Shabbat in the middle of Sukkot (“Shabbat hol hamo’ed Sukkot”) we read a haftarah from the book of Ezekiel (38:18-39:16) discussing Gog of the land of Magog. Gog seems to be a model of an enemy, written to show what will happen to the enemies, but I always leave such interpretation to the […]