Who Was Billy Wilder? Originally Published June 21-22, 2019.
Born Samuel Wilder on June 22, 1906, in Sucha, Galicia, Austria-Hungary, which is now Sucha Beskidzka, Malopolskie, Poland, Billy Wilder would go on to become a world-renowned filmmaker, director, screenwriter, producer, artist, and journalist. His parents ran a cafe in Sucha’s train station. His mother, grandmother, and stepfather would die in the Holocaust. His brother […]
What Is the Shekhinah? Originally Published June 14-15, 2019.
Deriving from the Hebrew for “presence,” Shekhinah has been used to indicate the presence of God in the world. Early on it was used in the Aramaic, “Shekhinta” (as found in Targum Onkelos), and was used as a substitute for a part of God — “you cannot see My face and live” would become “you […]
Torah Tidbits. Originally Published June 7-8, 2019.
Over the course of investigating for this column, miscellaneous points have jumped out. Here are some of them. The use of letters of the Hebrew alphabet to represent numbers is not found in the Bible. The first traces of it are found on Maccabean coins. Some persons honor a lifted Sefer Torah by holding one […]
Back to Ethiopia? Originally Published May 30 - June 1, 2019.
A couple weeks ago we were discussing Kush and where it was and is. 28 Iyyar, corresponding this year to Sunday, June 2, 2019, is Remembrance Day for Ethiopian Jews. The date was already (since 1968) Yom Yerushalayim, Jerusalem Unification Day, celebrating the reunification after the Six-Day War in 1967. The remembrance is for the thousands […]
What Is "Shomer Shabbat"? Originally Published May 17-18, 2019.
“Shomer Shabbat” (שׁוֹמֵר שַׁבָּת) is a term used to describe a person who “keeps” the Sabbath. In Ashkenazic Hebrew the name of the seventh day may be pronounced “Shabbos.” You may recall a few weeks ago when we discussed the term “shamar” as meaning to guard, protect, keep. This is another usage of it. There […]
Where is "Kush," Which Is Mentioned in Today's Haftarah? Originally published May 10-11, 2019.
“Kushi’im” are mentioned in the haftarah for Kedoshim (this week), translated in our Etz Hayim humash as “Ethiopians.” In the haftarah on the eighth day of Pesah and again the other day on Yom HaAtsma’ut, we read that God will redeem “the other part of his people from Assyria, as also from Egypt, Pathros, Nubia…,” […]
What Are These Fences? Originally Published April 25, 2019.
Rabbis speak about “fences.” What are these fences? (Of course, Fences is a play by August Wilson, in which your correspondent’s Uncle Herb Glickman (z”l) is mentioned, but we digress.) Rabbis specifically speak of “making a fence around the Torah,” “asu seyag laTorah.” It actually appears in the very first paragraph of Pirkei Avot: “Moshe […]
What is Tal? Originally Published on April 19-20, 2019.
As a part of the Musaf service on the first day of Pesah, as we repeat the Amidah, we say a prayer for dew, Tefillat Tal. At the end of Sukkot we pray for rain; at the beginning of Passover we pray for dew. After Passover, anything more than dew might be harmful to our […]
What Is Shabbat HaGadol? Originally Published April 12-13, 2019.
Shabbat Hagadol is the name given to the Shabbat just prior to Passover. “Hagadol” is “the great,” modifying “Shabbat.” Some rabbis have explained this connection by referencing the penultimate line in this week’s haftarah, which says “Lo, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before the coming of the awesome [great], fearful day of […]