Torah Cafe

The daily manna was among the most mysterious events that our ancestors experienced while travelling through the desert after having left Egypt. This strange food fell daily and became their primary source of food throughout their 40 years in the desert. What exactly was the Manna? How was it prepared and eaten? What did it taste like? Why did G-d choose to send Manna?

Many Jewish women always keep their hair covered by wearing a wig or sheitel. Why do Jewish women cover their hair? When did this rule begin? When did they start wearing wigs? What is the point of wearing a wig that can often look better than their real hair?  A fascinating discussion about why Jewish women wear wigs.

The Torah is the basic book and teachings of Judaism. Without it, there would be no Judaism. We believe that the Torah was given to us by G-d and contains G-d's instructions for us. How do we know that the Torah is true and its instructions are G-d's instructions?

In Jewish belief, every word in the Torah is exact but be spelled perfectly in the Torah scroll. If one letter is missing or wrong, the whole Torah is not Kosher. Yet the Torah itself has multiple misspelled words that are read differently than they are spelled.  If every word of the Torah is exact, why does the Torah have words that are misspelled? A fascinating discussion about the phenomena of...

Jews have lived in Morocco since the time of the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE. At one point the Moroccan Jewish community numbers more than 250,000 people and today more than 1 million Jews have Moroccan ancestry making it one of the largest Jewish communities with its own distinct customs and culture. A fascinating discussion about the Jews of Morocco. 

The Torah lists many harsh punishments for transgressing various commandments. Among the punishments are capital punishment carried out in various different methods including stoning and burning. The Torah also mandates lashes for other transgressions.  Though all of the Torah's capital punishments or corporal punishments have been discontinued over 2,000 years ago and are therefore not carrie...

The Mishneh Torah, the largest and most important work of the Rambam - Maimonides, is the most comprehensive encyclopedia of Jewish law. A fascinating discussion about the Mishneh Torah, its centrality to Jewish knowledge, how it was written and how one can read through the entire work following a three year Rambam study cycle. 

The Torah tells us that humans were created in the image of G-d. Yet, one of the fundamental beliefs in Judaism is that G-d has no image. How then can we be in the image of G-d? A discussion about the age old question as we discover some of the many answers our sages have given over thousands of years. 

On Passover we celebrate our ancestor's freedom from Egyptian slavery. Today we live in a free country. Yet are we truly free? We may be free from slavery and political oppression but are really free to be ourselves? Could we be enslaved by other internal or external forces? A fascinating discussion about freedom and how we can become truly free.

We all recognize the flat cracker like Matzah but surprisingly, for almost 3,000 years of Jewish history until about 300 years ago, Matzahs looked very different from the flat Matzah cracker that we know so well. What was the original Matzah like? Why did it change after 3,000 years? How did Matzah become a flat cracker?

Over 3,000 years ago our ancestors led by Joshua entered the Land of Israel and settled it. Years later, they were expelled from the land and forced to live in the diaspora. Yet Jews continuously returned to the Land of Israel from the four corners of the earth visiting the Holy Places and attempting to settle the land. A fascinating discussion about the 2,500 year Jewish Aliya - travel...

Jews have lived in Persia (Iran) for more than 2500 years and played a central role in its long history including the story of Purim that took place there. While most Jews have left Iran in recent decades, thousands of Jews continue to live there today.

From the earliest times, music played a central role in Judaism. It was used extensively in the Holy Temple and later in Synagogue liturgy and at important lifecycle and community events. A discussion about the role of music in Judaism and why traditional synagogues today generally do not employ musical instruments.

The Holy Temple in Jerusalem was once one of the wealthiest places in the world with special utensils and furniture made of gold along with stores of gold and other precious metals. What happened to the artifacts from the Holy Temple when it was destroyed? Where did they go? Can we find them today? A fascinating discussion about what happened to the artifacts of the Holy Temple!

Labor and trade unions have been around from the earliest times. In recent history, they have become a central part of the modern industrial and commercial world but their roles and rules of organizing and bargaining rights have been fraught with debate and contention. What does Jewish law and ethics say about unions and collective bargaining rights? A discussion about Jewish e...

Jews gathered in Yeshivas throughout our history to study the Torah. The Beis Medrash, the study hall, is the central location in every Yeshiva but also found in all Jewish communities throughout our history. A fascinating discussion about how Yeshivas developed over our long history and what it is like to go to a Yeshiva today.

A Rebbe is a unique Jewish leader distinct from a rabbi. What is a Rebbe? What is their role? What makes the Rebbe unique? Are there many Rebbes or is there just one Rebbe? How does one become a Rebbe? A fascinating discussion about the meaning of a Rebbe

Every month, we gather and say a blessing and prayers thanking G-d for the moon. The blessing is a very special moment with many unique and unusual prayers included.

One of the hallmarks of the Jewish dress code is that men cover their heads, usually with a Kippah or Yarmulke. Why do Jewish men cover their heads? Why do we use a Kippah? Must it be worn all the time or just in the synagogue? Why don't women wear a Kippah too. A fascinating discussion about the Kippah and Yarmulke.

The Dead Sea Scrolls, possibly the greatest discovery in Jewish history, were largely preserved scrolls from the late Second Temples period (2000 years ago) that were discovered near the Dead Sea about 80 years ago. The Dead Sea scrolls describe the lives of the people who wrote them and lived with them as well as a number of parts of the Tanach (Jewish Scriptures)

For the first 1,000 years of Judaism, the Torah was only available in Hebrew. However, in the thousands of years since, the Torah was translated into Greek, Aramaic, Latin and eventually hundreds of other languages. Some translations were done by Jews, many were done by non-Jews. Some translations were accurate while others corrupted the text. Some translations were seen by Jews as a major accompl...

The Star of David is widely recognized as the symbol of Judaism and the Jewish people. Where did the Star of David come from? What is its significance? When did it become a Jewish symbol? Does it hold mystical powers? A fascinating discussion about the mystery of the Star of David!

Two of the greatest ancient civilizations were the Jews and the Greeks. After the Greek conquest of the Persian Empire, Jews and Greeks lived together all around the Middle East and beyond. The two great civilizations with their respective beliefs, traditions and wisdom influenced each other greatly but also clashed. The most notable clash was the banning of Judaism in the Seleucid Greek...

One of the most important books of Jewish mysticism is called the Tanya. The primary theme of the Tanya is that every person has two souls inside them that battle each other constantly. A fascinating discussion about the Tanya's teachings of the battle of the two souls inside every person.

One of the greatest riddles in history is the strange contradiction between Jewish and Greek sources over the length of the Persian Empire. While Jewish biblical and rabbinic sources speak of a short empire that lasted about 50 years, Greek sources put the Persian Empire as lasting over 200 years. This riddle has troubled historians for hundreds of years with various theories put fo...