Torah Cafe

Tashlich is the little understood but widely observed ceremony we do near water on Rosh Hashanah. Learn about the Tashlich ceremony, what it actual is about, as well as its history and customs.

On a Saturday night a week or so before Rosh Hashanah, we go to the synagogue at midnight to recite the special prayers of Selichot. Every morning after that until Rosh Hashanah, we get up early to recite the Selichot. What are Selichot? What is unique about the prayers? Who wrote them? Why are they recited at unusual times?

One of the most influential Jeiwsh leaders in history was Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi (b. 1745), known best as the founder of the Chabad movement and author of the mystical classic Tanya. Rabbi Shneur Zalman was one of the wisest Jewish scholars of all time and a charismatic leader whose movement changed the face of Jewish life in Europe in his day despite ongoing challenges he faced fr...

How do you measure things? Feet, gallons & pounds? Meters, liters and kilograms? Judaism has its own measurement system. Many rules in Judaism require specific weights, lengths or volumes. Torah includes a full system of measurements for all of Jewish law.  Many of those measurements are based on the human body similar to the 'foot' that we use in the 'US customary system'. To accurately...

AI (artificial intelligence) has greatly advanced in recent years. Today, robots can perform many human functions even better than people can. While robots are still not indistinguishable in all ways, that day is not too far off. Could an AI-powered robot might someday be considered a human according to Jewish law? Could it be counted for a minyan? Learn about the history of robots and other...

One of the central commandments in Judaism is to place a Mezuzah on our doorposts. A detailed discussion all about the Mezuzah, how it is made, where it is placed and why we Jews consider the Mezuzah part of our home security system.

Finding the 'right one' can be very challenging and daunting. Some find them immediately while others struggle waiting many years to find the right one or cycle through many partners whom they thought was the right one. What does Judaism say about finding your spouse? Is your spouse, your soulmate? Is finding a spouse our own choice or is it destined by G-d? Is there only one person out...

For 1600 years, Judaism was controlled by the Sanhedrin or Supreme Council until it was disbanded about 1700 years ago. What was the Sanhedrin? How did they function? Why did it disband? And why don't we recreate the Sanhedrin? Learn about the ancient Sanhedrin and its role in Judaism.

King Solomon was one of the most unique leaders of our people and full of contradictions. The wisest of all men who make grave mistakes, the most powerful king who could not control his own home, celebrated for his righteousness yet struggled to do the right thing. Discover the fascinating and strange story of King Solomon.

For more than 2,000 years, there has been constant hatred directed at the Jewish people. At times that hatred was religious (hatred of Judaism), at times it was cultural (hatred of Jewish culture) and sometimes nationalistic (hatred of the Jewish people). The hatred transcends time and place and was expressed by ancient Greeks, Romans and Persians, Christians, Muslims, Europeans, Arabs and even Ja...

Jerusalem is the most important city in Judaism. It was the capital of Israel for close to 3,000 years, the home to the Holy Temple and we face Jerusalem when we pray Learn about Jerusalem: its history, spiritual significance and place in Judaism.

The Thirteen Attributes of Mercy are a collection of thirteen words or phrases that God taught Moses to invoke God's mercy whenever we are in need. Learn about the Thirteen attributes of Mercy, what they mean and what they represent.

Synagogues as we know them did not exist in the days of Moses. How did they begin? Why did Jews start building synagogues to pray in? A discussion about the history and development of the synagogue and its role as a Jewish place for prayer.

The Temple Mount, the site of the two ancient Temple in Jerusalem is Judaism's holiest site. How was the Temple Mount chosen as G-d's special spot on earth? What is the history behind it? Our Temple was destroyed almost 2,000 years ago yet we still consider the spot very holy. What is it's current status in Judaism? Do we allow or encourage Jews to go up  on the mountain today? Should we allo...

One of the greatest Jewish tragedies of all times was the Jewish-Roman War in 66-70CE. In that brutal war, one million Jews were killed, Jerusalem was leveled and the Holy Temple was destroyed. The war led to the exile of our people when most of us were forced out of Israel to wonder from land to land. While there are many accounts of this war, figuring out what actually happened is difficult give...

The Shema Yisrael is a section of the Torah that is the most important prayer in Judaism, and includes the most important beliefs in Jewish faith and many of our central commandments. We recite the prayer twice daily.  Shema has become so central to the Jewish people that it is the climax of the final Ne’ilah prayer of Yom Kippur, and is traditionally a Jew’s last words on earth. A talk about...

Often our society has a negative look on age, seeing youth as an asset. Judaism sees youth as a liability and age as an asset. Learn why Judaism and the Torah put a premium on age.

People often use the English word Bible where referring to our Torah. But is the Torah really the same as the Bible? While there are parts of the Christian Bible that are clearly not part of our Torah, what about the "Old Testament"? Learn about the differences between the Torah and the Bible.

The most complicated part of Kosher laws is the process of preparing Kosher meat from slaughter to checking for disease to cutting out forbidden parts and draining the blood. While in earlier times, our grandparents did most of this themselves, today it is all prepared in the factory so Kosher meat consumers are often oblivious to the complex preparation process. Learn about the entire process of...

Our society today is grappling with the role of law enforcement and community safety. Is law enforcement today effective? Do law enforcement representatives use more force than necessary? Are there safer ways to keep the peace without harming others than current law enforcement practices? How can we keep society safe from harmful elements while avoiding the use of force that can unnecessarily...

The prophet Jeremiah was one of the most important figures in Jewish history. He lived at the very end of the first Jewish kingdom and witnessed the destruction of Jerusalem and the holy Temple. He spent most of his days warning his people of the impeding catastrophe and imploring them to change their ways. A fascinating discussion of Jeremiah the prophet, and the tragic story of his people.

Sacrifice was practiced by Jews from the days of Moses for over 1300 years while the temples stood in Jerusalem. Since the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE we stopped offering sacrifices. Does Judaism today still believe in sacrifice? Why was it practiced in Judaism for so long? Learn about sacrifice in Judaism including why it was practiced for so long, why we no longer practice sacrifice and w...

After the death of Moses, his disciple Joshua, led Israel across the Jordan into the Promised Land leading the conquest of the land from the Canaanites and then dividing the land among the twelve tribes. Learn about the story of Joshua and Israel's conquest of the Promised Land.

One of the strangest commandments in the Torah is the Red Cow. When someone with a dead corpse, they may not enter the Temple in Jerusalem or eat sacrificial meat until they are sprinkled with spring water mixed with ashes from a red cow. The Red Cow commandment is so strange that King Solomon wrote he can understand every commandment except this one. A discussion about this strange Mitzvah and it...

There is a special blessing that the Torah tells us should be used by Kohanim, the priests descending from Aaron (Moses' brother) to bless the people. Thiss Sunday to learn about this blessing, its great power particularly for dreams,  the special hand motions that go with it and the riddle of why it's not done the way it is supposed to be done.