Torah Cafe

The most important Jewish find in recent history was the Cairo Geniza, a massive trove of hundreds of thousands of ancient documents and books that entirely rewrote medieval Jewish and Middle Eastern history.  A fascinating discussion about the exciting find and some of the amazing things we learned from it. 

On Jewish festivals, we have a Mitzvah to recite 6 chapters of Psalms expressing our thanks to G-d for the miracles He has performed for us. Reciting these Chapters is called Hallel - praise.  A Chanukah related discussion about the Mitzvah of reciting Hallel.  

Bet Shamai and Bet Hillel were two major Jewish schools in Jerusalem that lasted about 100 years from about 10 BCE to 70 CE. The schools were founded by two great Jewish leaders Hillel and Shamai. There were hundreds of debates of Jewish law between the two prominent schools.  A fascinating discussion about Beit Shamai and Beit Hillel and their important contributions to Judaism and Jewish History...

Jews have a tendency that whenever they speak, they regularly mention G-d or the common Hebrew word Hashem. Where does this come from? Why do we mention G-d so regularly and casually in our conversations? A fascinating conversation about the Jewish custom of regularly mentioning G-d.

In a cryptic story, the Torah tells us how Jacob found himself alone at night and found himself wrestling with a man who dislocated his thigh. Jacob refused to let the man go without a blessing and the man told him that his name will be changed from Jacob to Israel. Clearly this man was no ordinary man and the story has deeper meaning. Most commentaries assume this man was an angel. Who was this a...

The Roman Empire in its different forms lasted for 1,000 years and had a big impact on Jews in our long history. At times the Romans were tolerant and even supportive of Jews at other times they were ruthless including in destroying the second Temple and ending Jewish independence in the land of Israel. Jewish tradition traces Romans back to Jacob's brother Esau who attempted to kill him. A fa...

In one of the most perplexing stories in the Torah, Isaac wanted to bless his older son Esau before his death. However, his younger son Jacob tricked his father into believing that he was Esau and blessing him instead.  How was Jacob allowed to trick his father? Was it ethical for him to take the blessings meant for his brother? A fascinating class about how Jacob was able to trick his father.

It is a jewish custom not to cut a boy's hair until their third birthday and then on their 3 year old birthday. cut their hair short leaving their peyot (sidelocks) visible. What is the reason for this custom and where does it come from? A fascinating discussion about the Upsherin, the 3-year-old haircutting.  Other classes mentioned: Why Do Many Jewish Men Have Beards? https://open.spotify.co...

Not only are we commanded to care for the sick and help them heal, it is an important Mitzvah for us to visit the sick and spend time with them.  A fascinating discussion about the unique Mitzvah of visiting the sick. 

Lot, Abraham's nephew has a notable role in the story of Abraham, traveling with him to Canaan until they eventually separate. Abraham later risks his life to save Lot from captivity and G-d saves him from Sodom before it was destroyed. Who was Lot, why does he play such an important role in Abraham's story and what is his historical impact?

Wine has a prominent role in the Torah and Jewish sources. Wine is found in many stories in Tanach )Scripture) and was part of the service in the Holy Temple. Later, our sages instructed us to recite Kiddush, Havdalah and many other important Jewish prayers and events with a cup of wine. Yet, as an alcoholic drink, there is a clear downside to wine. What is the Torah's view on wine? Why is win...

Any Jewish celebration usually involves Jews forming a circle and dancing. While circle dancing isn't unique to Jews, it is the most common form of jewish dancing particularly among Chassidim who dance almost exclusively in circles.  What is the deeper significance behind the circle and how is it connected to dancing?

On Sukkot, there was a special water pouring ceremony in the Temple in Jerusalem. In preparation for the ceremony, there were great celebrations in the Temple called Simchat Beit Hasho'eva, the Water Drawing Celebration. Though the Temple no longer stands and we no longer have the water pouring ceremony or the celebration, we still celebrate on Sukkot in commemoration.  A fascinating discussio...

Teshuvah - Return is one of the most powerful gifts that G-d has given to us. It allows us to clean up our missteps and mistakes and allows us to return to our true deeper selves. How can we do Teshuva - Return? What are the steps of Teshuvah? How can we connect to our deeper selves? A fascinating discussion about the unique gift of Teshuvah.

On the first eve of Rosh Hashanah, there is a custom to eat a number of special foods, some of which are universally eaten by all Jewish communities and some that are unique to specific communities.  A fascinating discussion about the special foods that we eat on Rosh Hashanah Eve. 

People often argue that we should live and let live. We should not bother others about things that they do that do not directly harm anyone else. What is the Jewish approach? Should we let everyone decide their values on their own and respect those decisions or do we have a moral responsibility to ensure everyone else acts as they should? A fascinating discussion about the Jewish approach to the q...

In 1897, Rabbi Shalom Ber, the Rebbe of Lubavitch opened a new Yeshiva - school for advanced Jewish learning called Tomchei Temimim. The school was unique as the first Chassidic Yeshiva that studied Chassidus in additional to the Talmud and Halacha (Jewish Law) studied in all Yeshivas. In the years since, the Yeshiva has graduated tens of thousands of students, many of whom became leaders and buil...

Chacham Yosef Chayim of Baghdad was the greatest rabbi and sage of the Iraqi Jewish community and perhaps the entire Sephardic world in the 19th century. Chacham Yosef Chayim's became known by the name of one of the countless books he authored Ben Ish Chai. He became famous as a master scholar, Halachic (legal) expert, Kabbalist, preacher, author and Jewish leader. 

As humanity has developed and industrialized, we became increasingly concerned about the impact of our development and industrialization on the environment. Many believe that we are not concerned enough and much more needs to be done to care for and avoid harm to the environment. What is the Jewish view on caring for the environment? Do we have a responsibility towards the environment? Should we b...

While the Torah gives us signs to recognize Kosher animals and fish, the Torah doesn't list any signs of Kosher birds. What signs then make a bird Kosher? Which common birds are kosher to eat? A fascinating class about which birds are Kosher.  Link for Jewish Belief in Sacrifice Class Spodify https://open.spotify.com/episode/0Y8ytem9XHTMs3CkVqRyyw Apple https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/do...

The Soviet Union moved quickly to almost entirely stamp out Judaism across the massive country within a decade of coming to power. By the 1930's virtually all major Jewish leaders in the world's largest Jewish community had either been killed, fled or went into hiding.  One Jewish leader, Rabbi Levik Schneerson, the Rabbi of Dnipro in Ukraine survived and almost single handedly kept the Je...

In 1240, the Talmud was put on trial in Paris for blasphemy where it was convicted of being burned. On June 17, 1242, 24 wagon loads with more than 10,000 Jewish manuscripts were burned in Paris in the Place de Grève.  Why was the Talmud burned? How did it survive? And what was the impact of Jews and Christians in Europe? A fascinating Tisha B'av themed discussion about the burning of the Talm...

When praying in different synagogues, one would notice that there are considerable variations between the prayers and prayer books (siddurim) in different Jewish communities. The different variations for prayer are called Nuscha'ot Why are there so many variations of the prayers? Where did these differences come from? How does someone choose which prayer variation they should follow? J A fasci...

Just a few decades after the destruction of Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem, Emperor Cyrus of Persia gave the Jews permission to return to Jerusalem and rebuild Jerusalem and the Temple. The euphoria didn't last long, soon after they started building the Temple, permission was rescinded A fascinating discussion about the starts and stops of the building of the Second Temple and the fulfillme...

One of the most horrific episodes of jewish history began in 1827, when Czar Nicholas of Russia decreed that Jewish communities supply boys for his army. These boys would be taken at young ages and pressured to convert to Orthodox Christianity. They would have to remain in the army under horrific conditions for decades until they reached their early 40's.  The Cantonist Decree (as it was calle...