Holidays

Steven Weiner writes on the significance of tears on Tishah Be-Av and how they relate to the thanks of birkat ha-mazon.

Eileen Watts explores how Bernard Malamud's "The German Refugee" amplifies the themes of Tisha B'Av.

Rabbi Josh Rosenfeld offers insight into the nature of the Jewish mystical tradition by examining some of Rashbi's stories. 

Jerome Marcus explores understandings of freedom within halakhah and how they relate to Pesah and Shavuot

Yaakov Jaffe analyzes the multiple meanings of a medieval Jewish poem and popular Shabbat table song.

"Ha lahma anya" is one of the first paragraphs recited at the Seder - and its strange features have been baffling commentators for centuries. Elli Fischer adds his reflections to the mix.

For Jennifer Raskas, the seder narrative reflects on the past and informs the future.

James Diamond takes a fresh approach to Maimonides's Passover theology and "Elijah's Cup."

Leah Cypess imagines the what-ifs of Pesach cleaning.

It is customary to celebrate Tu Bi-Shevat by eating fruits and reciting the She-Hehiyanu blessing on them. This custom, however, has proved challenging in recent years as advances in technology have made it difficult to find new fruit—as defined by halakhah—to say the She-Hehiyanu