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Shehechiyanu
The ''Shehecheyanu'' ''berakhah'' (blessing) (, "Who has given us life") is a common Jewish prayer to celebrate special occasions. It expresses gratitude to God for new and unusual experiences or possessions.Isaac Klein, ''A Guide to Jewish Religious Practice'', The Jewish Theological Seminary of America, New York, 1979, p. 48: "Whenever we experience something new, such as eating fruit for the first time in its season, the advent of a holiday, or a joyous occasion in the family, we recite שֶׁהֶחֱיָנוּ וְקִיְּמָנוּ וְהִגִיעָנוּ לַזְּמַן הַזֶּה" The blessing was recorded in the Talmud over 1500 years ago. Recitation The blessing of ''Shehecheyanu'' is recited in thanks or commemoration of: *Generally, when doing or experiencing something that occurs infrequently from which one derives pleasure or benefit. *The beginning of a holiday, including Passover, Shavuot, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, Simhat Torah and Hanukkah, but not ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Berakhah
In Judaism, a ''berakhah'', ''bracha'', ', ' (; pl. , ''berakhot'', '; "benediction," "blessing") is a formula of blessing or thanksgiving, recited in public or private, usually before the performance of a commandment, or the enjoyment of food or fragrance, and in praise on various occasions. The function of a ''berakhah'' is to acknowledge God as the source of all blessing. It can be both a declaration of dependence and an expression of gratitude for God and his gifts. Berakhot also have an educational function to transform a variety of everyday actions and occurrences into religious experiences designed to increase awareness of God at all times. For this purpose, the Talmudic sage Rabbi Meir declared that it was the duty of every Jew to recite one hundred ''berakhot'' every day. The Mishnah of tractate Berakhot, and the gemara in both Talmuds, contain detailed rabbinical discussions of ''berakhot'', upon which the laws and practice of reciting blessings are founded. ''Bera ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Book Of Esther
The Book of Esther (; ; ), also known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as "the Scroll" ("the wikt:מגילה, Megillah"), is a book in the third section (, "Writings") of the Hebrew Bible. It is one of the Five Megillot, Five Scrolls () in the Hebrew Bible and later became part of the Christian Old Testament. The book relates the story of a Jews, Jewish woman in Achaemenid Empire, Persia, born as Hadassah but known as Esther, who becomes queen of Persia and thwarts a genocide of her people. The story takes place during the reign of King Ahasuerus in the Achaemenid Empire, First Persian Empire. Queen Vashti, the wife of King Ahasuerus, is banished from the court for disobeying the king's orders. A beauty pageant is held to find a new queen, and Esther, a young Jewish woman living in Persia, is chosen as the new queen. Esther's cousin Mordecai, who is a Jewish leader, discovers a plot to kill all of the Jews in the empire by Haman, one of the king's advisors. Mordecai urges Esther to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rabbinical Assembly
The Rabbinical Assembly (RA) is the international association of Conservative rabbis. The RA was founded in 1901 to shape the ideology, programs, and practices of the Conservative movement. It publishes prayerbooks and books of Jewish interest, and oversees the work of the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards for the Conservative movement. It organizes conferences and coordinates the Joint Placement Commission of the Conservative movement. Members of the RA serve as rabbis, educators, community workers and military and hospital chaplains around the world. Rabbis ordained by Jewish Theological Seminary of America (New York, New York), the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies at the American Jewish University (Los Angeles, California), The Seminario Rabínico Latinoamericano (Buenos Aires, Argentina), The Zacharias Frankel College (Berlin, Germany) and The Schechter Rabbinical Seminary (Jerusalem, Israel) automatically become members of the RA upon their ordination. Rabbis whos ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jules Harlow
Julius Edwin Harlow (June 28, 1931 – February 12, 2024) was an American Conservative rabbi and liturgist. Birth Harlow was born in Sioux City, Iowa, to Henry and Lena Harlow ( Lipman) in 1931. Career In 1952, he earned a B.A. at Morningside University (then Morningside College) in Sioux City, and from there went to New York City to study at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, where he received his ''semikhah''—his rabbinical ordination—in 1959. He then became a staff member of the Rabbinical Assembly (RA), the international organization of rabbis in Conservative Judaism. Harlow soon began work as a liturgist on the RA's prayerbook committee, working with Rabbi Gershon Hadas on new ''siddurim'' (Jewish prayerbooks) for use in Conservative congregations. Under the editorship of Hadas, the two printed the ''Weekday Prayer Book'' in 1961. Harlow took a greater role by editing and translating the movement's ''mahzor'' (the ''siddur'' Jews use specifically for Rosh Has ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Siddur Sim Shalom
Siddur Sim Shalom () refers to any siddur in a family of ''siddurim'', Jewish prayerbooks, and related commentaries, published by the Rabbinical Assembly and the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism. There are four versions of the prayerbook, and two detailed commentaries that themselves contain the entire siddur. The commentaries are known as ''Or Hadash'' ("A New Light"). Original 1985 edition The original ''Siddur Sim Shalom'' was edited by Rabbi Jules Harlow, and published in 1985. It succeeded the movement's first Shabbat siddur, ''Sabbath and Festival Prayer Book'' (''Siddur Tefilot Yisrael''), by Rabbi Morris Silverman, edited by a commission chaired by Rabbi Robert Gordis and first published in 1946. ''Siddur Sim Shalom'' contained greater discussion of the beliefs and theology of Conservative Judaism. It contains services for weekdays, Shabbat and Jewish festivals. In accord with Conservative theology it contains prayers and services for Israel Independence ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mesorah Publications
ArtScroll is an imprint of translations, books and commentaries from an Orthodox Jewish perspective published by Mesorah Publications, Ltd., a publishing company based in Rahway, New Jersey. Rabbi Nosson Scherman is the general editor. ArtScroll's first president, Rabbi Meir Zlotowitz (July 13, 1943 – June 24, 2017) was succeeded by his oldest son, Rabbi Gedaliah Zlotowitz, whose name is listed secondarily in new publications as general editor, after that of Rabbi Scherman. History In 1975, Rabbi Meir Zlotowitz, a graduate of Mesivtha Tifereth Jerusalem, was director of a high-end graphics studio in New York. The firm, ArtScroll Studios, produced ketubot, brochures, invitations, and awards. Rabbi Nosson Scherman, then principal of Yeshiva Karlin Stolin Boro Park, was approached by Zlotowitz who had helped him write copy for brochures and journals in the past, and they collaborated on a few projects. In late 1975, Zlotowitz wrote an English translation and commentary ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
ArtScroll Siddur
ArtScroll is an imprint of translations, books and commentaries from an Orthodox Jewish perspective published by Mesorah Publications, Ltd., a publishing company based in Rahway, New Jersey. Rabbi Nosson Scherman is the general editor. ArtScroll's first president, Rabbi Meir Zlotowitz (July 13, 1943 – June 24, 2017) was succeeded by his oldest son, Rabbi Gedaliah Zlotowitz, whose name is listed secondarily in new publications as general editor, after that of Rabbi Scherman. History In 1975, Rabbi Meir Zlotowitz, a graduate of Mesivtha Tifereth Jerusalem, was director of a high-end graphics studio in New York. The firm, ArtScroll Studios, produced ketubot, brochures, invitations, and awards. Rabbi Nosson Scherman, then principal of Yeshiva Karlin Stolin Boro Park, was approached by Zlotowitz who had helped him write copy for brochures and journals in the past, and they collaborated on a few projects. In late 1975, Zlotowitz wrote an English translation and commentary on the Bo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nosson Scherman
Rabbi Nosson Scherman (, born 1935, Newark, New Jersey) is an American Haredi rabbi best known as the general editor of ArtScroll/Mesorah Publications. He is widely considered to be the father of modern-day English Torah literature. Early life Scherman was born and raised in Newark, New Jersey, where his parents ran a small grocery store. He attended public school, but in the afternoons joined a Talmud Torah started in 1942 by Rabbi Shalom Ber Gordon, a shaliach of the sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok Schneersohn.Horowitz, Rebbetzin Faigie. "A Nostalic Look at Jewish Newark". ''Hamodia'' Magazine, 28 June 2012, pp. 14– 18. Rabbi Gordon influenced many of the 200 boys in his afternoon Talmud Torah to enroll in yeshiva, including young Nosson Scherman, who became a dormitory student at Yeshiva Torah Vodaas at around age 10. Afterwards, he studied in Beth Medrash Elyon in Spring Valley, New York Scherman worked as a rabbi (teacher) for about eight years at ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sephardim
Sephardic Jews, also known as Sephardi Jews or Sephardim, and rarely as Iberian Peninsular Jews, are a Jewish diaspora population associated with the historic Jewish communities of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) and their descendants. The term "Sephardic" comes from '' Sepharad'', the Hebrew word for Iberia. These communities flourished for centuries in Iberia until they were expelled in the late 15th century. Over time, "Sephardic" has also come to refer more broadly to Jews, particularly in the Middle East and North Africa, who adopted Sephardic religious customs and legal traditions, often due to the influence of exiles. In some cases, Ashkenazi Jews who settled in Sephardic communities and adopted their liturgy are also included under this term. Today, Sephardic Jews form a major component of world Jewry, with the largest population living in Israel. The earliest documented Jewish presence in the Iberian Peninsula dates to the Roman period, beginning in the fi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ashkenazi Jews
Ashkenazi Jews ( ; also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim) form a distinct subgroup of the Jewish diaspora, that emerged in the Holy Roman Empire around the end of the first millennium CE. They traditionally speak Yiddish, a language that originated in the 9th century, and largely migrated towards northern and eastern Europe during the late Middle Ages due to persecution. Hebrew was primarily used as a literary and sacred language until its 20th-century revival as a common language in Israel. Ashkenazim adapted their traditions to Europe and underwent a transformation in their interpretation of Judaism. In the late 18th and 19th centuries, Jews who remained in or returned to historical German lands experienced a cultural reorientation. Under the influence of the Haskalah and the struggle for emancipation, as well as the intellectual and cultural ferment in urban centres, some gradually abandoned Yiddish in favor of German and developed new forms of Jewish relig ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brit Milah
The ''brit milah'' (, , ; "Covenant (religion), covenant of circumcision") or ''bris'' (, ) is Religion and circumcision, the ceremony of circumcision in Judaism and Samaritanism, during which the foreskin is surgically removed. According to the Book of Genesis, God commanded the Patriarchs (Bible), biblical patriarch Abraham to be circumcised, an act to be followed by his descendants on the eighth day of life, symbolizing Covenant of the pieces, the covenant between God in Judaism, God and the Jewish people. Today, it is generally performed by a mohel on the eighth day after the infant's birth and is followed by a celebratory meal known as ''seudat mitzvah''. ''Brit Milah'' is considered among the 613 commandments, most important and central commandments in Judaism, and the rite has played a central role in Jewish history, the formation and history of Jewish culture, Jewish civilization. The Talmud, when discussing the importance of ''brit milah'', considers it equal to all ot ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Birkat Hachama
''Birkat Hachama'' (, "Blessing of the Sun") refers to a rare Jewish blessing that is recited to the Creator, thanking God for creating the sun. The blessing is recited when the Sun completes its cycle every 28 years on a Tuesday at sundown. Jewish tradition says that when the Sun completes this cycle, it has returned to its position when the world was created. Because the blessing needs to be said when the Sun is visible, the blessing is postponed to the following day, on Wednesday morning. According to Judaism, the Sun has a 28-year solar cycle known as ''machzor gadol'' (, "the great cycle"). A solar year is estimated as 365.25 days and the "Blessing of the Sun", being said at the beginning of this cycle, is thus recited every 10,227 (28 times 365.25) days. The last time that it was recited was on April 8, 2009 (14 ''Nisan'' 5769 on the Hebrew calendar.) From an astronomical point of view, there is nothing special to these dates; e.g. the Sun, Moon, planets and stars will not ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
