Navigating the Intersections of Faith, Knowledge, and Reason.
So quickly after Rosh HaShanah, the New Year, and in the midst of starting the school year with all its schedule changes and additional activities, we also came to the threshold of Sukkoth. We built a Sukkah and prepared our feast. We joined one another for dinner out of doors. I must admit that Sukkoth…
This blog post is a little bit overdue since we celebrated the Hebrew calendar New Year last week. But, it comes instead on the eve of Yom Kippur, which marks a day of fasting to purify oneself for the coming year. One of the most interesting things about this year, Hebrew Year 5782, is a…
This week, we celebrated the Shavu’ot. This Jewish holiday comes seven weeks after Passover. It is a celebration of the harvest and centers on remembering when Moses gave the Torah. The holiday is marked by decorating with flowers and feasting on bread and other delicious food. Shavu’ot, or the Festival of Weeks, is a harvest…
33 days after the Passover, the Jewish holiday Lag Ba’Omer marks halfway to Shavuot. This Jewish holiday takes the form of a celebration by bonfire, featuring s’mores, outdoor games, and campfire songs (about fire). Admittedly, this Jewish holiday was not on my radar at all when I subscribed to this year of Jewish holidays in…
16—How many years I have studied the Bible as a scholar, resulting in to Masters degrees and one PhD. 12—How many years I have spent teaching University students about the Hebrew Bible. 0—Number of times I have tried to celebrate a year’s worth of Jewish holidays. This year, I was very accurately targeted with an…