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Learn more about the Jewish beliefs and observances by clicking through the different links on this page.
Shauvos
Shavuos, the Festival of Weeks, commemorates the Giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai seven weeks after the Exodus from Egypt.
G-d offers the Torah to the Jewish People, promising a special relationship with Him if they accept it. “We will do and we will hear,” declare the people, committed to do what G-d asks even before they hear what it is.
When the great day arrives, Mount Sinai is aflame and wreathed in smoke, while thunder, lightning and the sound of a Shofar announce the momentous event. G-d Himself speaks to the entire nation – the only time in history that this occurs. After G-d utters the Ten Commandments, Moses ascends the mountain, where he stays for forty days to hear the rest of G-d’s teachings.
Like other Biblical holidays, Shavuos is a day of rest like Shabbat, with allowance for certain activities associated with food preparation.
Several time-honored customs enhance the beauty of this holy day:
-All night Torah study
-Eating Dairy
-Leaves and Flowers
Synagogue and home are adorned with leaves and flowers, signifying:
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Mount Sinai, which was adorned by greenery.
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The story of Moses: on this day, he was placed in a basket among the reeds of the Nile.
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A king who spares an entire garden because of one beautiful rose. So, too, Hashem allows the whole world to endure because of the Torah.
The Tenth of Teveth
The Tenth of Teveth is one of four fast days commemorating the destruction of the Temple.* On this day, the Babylonian King Nevuchadnetzar (Nebuchadnezzar) laid siege to the city of Jerusalem, resulting in its capture two and half years later, and with it the destruction of the First Temple. The Tenth of Teveth marks the first event in the tragic history of Exile and Dispersion that has befallen the Jewish People.
The purpose of a fast is to inspire repentance. By reflecting on the tragedies of the past and present, we will hopefully resolve to improve ourselves, and merit a brighter future for ourselves and coming generations. In particular, our Torah teachers note that the Second Temple was destroyed because of hatred without cause, and we are therefore encouraged to work on increasing our love for each other.
Like all fast days (except Yom Kippur and the Ninth of Av), this is a daytime-only fast; eating and drinking are prohibited between dawn nightfall. Allowances are made in cases of illness, and a rabbi should be consulted if one has difficulty fasting. To find out precise times for starting and ending the fast in your zip code, visit www.myzmanim.com, or call 718.331.TIME (8463).
Purim
Purim celebrates the miraculous salvation of the Jewish people from the decree of annihilation issued by the ruler of the Persian empire (in approximately year 360 B.C.E.)
Matanot L'Evyonim - Gifts for the poor
One of the special Mitzvos of Purim is Matanot L'Evyonim - Gifts for the Poor. Od Yosef Chai is a wonderful organization that will distribute your charity to poor families on Purim day. To donate to the poor and fulfill the Mitzvah of Matanot L'evyonim through Od Yosef Chai, please click here.
Three Weeks and Nine Days
Tisha B'Av - A Day of Mourning, A Day of HopeThe Three Weeks between the Fast of the 17th of Tammuz and the Fast of the 9th of Av (Tish'ah B'av) are a time to mourn for the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem. We avoid:
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Haircuts
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Weddings
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Music
During the last Nine Days of the Three Weeks - from the first of Av until the ninth of Av - mourning is intensified. We avoid:
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Meat and poultry (but not fish)
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Wine and grape juice (but not other alcoholic beverages)
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Laundering, and wearing freshly laundered clothing
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Pleasurable bathing and showering
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Nonessential construction work, home improvements and significant purchases
Exceptions are made in honor of the Sabbath: for example, we are allowed to wear freshly-cleaned Sabbath finery and eat festive Sabbath meals of meat wine.
As many of these rules are nuanced (e.g. the restrictions on bathing and laundering), please consult a rabbi for practical applications.
During this time of year, it is recommended to avoid any activities involving an element of risk, since this is an inauspicious time for the Jewish People.
Tisha B'Av
The fast of Tisha B’av commemorates five tragic events in Jewish history:
1) The Jews should have entered the Promised Land soon after leaving Egypt. However, a negative report from the Ten Spies succeeded in demoralizing the people, and they lost courage and refused to enter the Land. The night that they cried and expressed their lack of faith was the night of Tishah B'av. As a result, that generation lost the chance to enter the land; it was the next generation who would do so, after forty years' wandering in the desert.
2) The Temple in Jerusalem, planned by King David and built by his son King Solomon, was destroyed by the Babylonian King Nevuchadnetzar, after standing for 410 years. The Jews endured a seventy-year exile in Babylonia.
3) The Second Temple, built by Ezra and returnees from the Babylonian Exile, was destroyed by the Roman Emperor Vespasian and his son Titus, after standing for 420 years.
4) The city of Beitar, headquarters of the great leader Bar Kochba, fell to the Romans, who massacred the inhabitants. At one time, as great a scholar as Rabbi Akiva believed Bar Kochba could be the Messiah who would free the Jews from Roman oppression. The ultimate fall of the city of Beitar was considered a tragedy on the scale of the Destruction of the Temple.
5) A Roman ruler named Turnus-Rufus plowed the ground where the Temple has once stood, fulfilling the Biblical prophecy, "Zion shall be plowed over like a field."
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