26
votes
Accepted
Best way to explain to my boss that I cannot attend a team summit because it is on Rosh Hashana or any other Jewish Holiday
I have faced this problem several times - sometimes a holiday and sometimes Shabbat (directly, or not having time to get home). How I handle it depends in part on whether the plans can still be ...
15
votes
Holidays Beginning at sundown of the previous day
For the entirety of Jewish History, Judaism has kept to a day that begins at sunset on the previous 'secular/non-Jewish date'. Therefore, all meals eaten after sundown would be considered to already ...
15
votes
Best way to explain to my boss that I cannot attend a team summit because it is on Rosh Hashana or any other Jewish Holiday
I have faced this issue many times myself - or advised younger colleagues facing the same. A few thoughts
I have found it critical to be very clear, direct and consistent. If you can explain that you ...
13
votes
Accepted
How can I identify which dates Jewish holidays/special days fall on?
HebCal is a full Hebrew calendar that provides lists of all the Jewish holidays, for any year.
In the interest of full disclosure, i have done volunteer programming for them, but am not officially ...
12
votes
Accepted
How to have an easier time with Yom Tov?
Yeah, especially when a diaspora yom tov is adjacent to Shabbat, it sometimes feels like a long slog. I sometimes feel like I'm fighting an uphill battle because I didn't do this from birth -- it isn'...
11
votes
Accepted
Why don't we add in other korbanot on holidays?
The Shulchan Arukh rules (OC 48) that one should include the verses related to the Shabbat offerings in the morning because they, unlike the verses for Rosh Chodesh and Yom Tov, are not going to be ...
11
votes
Accepted
What is the closing psalm at Chabad services about?
I believe that what you are referring to is part of the daily break-down of the Torah, Sefer Tanya and the book of Psalms that Lubavitchers refer to as Chitas (which stands, of course, for "Chumash, ...
10
votes
Accepted
Who made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem on the three Regalim?
See the Mishna in Chagigah (Perek 1 - Chapter 1) :
פרק א - משנה א הַכֹּל חַיָּבִין בָּרְאִיָּה, חוּץ מֵחֵרֵשׁ, שׁוֹטֶה
וְקָטָן, וְטֻמְטוּם, וְאַנְדְּרוֹגִינוֹס, וְנָשִׁים, וַעֲבָדִים
שֶׁאֵינָם ...
10
votes
Accepted
Why some biblical holidays don't occur on certain days of the week?
The current fixed calendar is arranged (by adding or taking out an extra day in Marcheshvan or Kislev) such that Yom Kippur can't fall on Friday or Sunday (so there won't be two days in a row where no ...
10
votes
Holidays Beginning at sundown of the previous day
Holidays don't begin before the date they are on. They are only on the date they are on. That date starts and ends at sundown. Many holiday rituals occur after sundown at the beginning of the holiday.
...
9
votes
How to have an easier time with Yom Tov?
I will start with the disclaimer that when I became religious, Yom Tov was a highlight for me, so I don't know how you will relate to what makes Yom Tov exciting for me.
I am generally more of an ...
9
votes
Accepted
What would be a case where a shul would read from the Torah for five consecutive days?
If Rosh Hashanah falls on Thursday, then both days of Rosh Hashanah the Torah reading for R.H. would be read, the following day would be Shabbos so the Parsha would be read, and Tzom Gedaliah would be ...
8
votes
Accepted
Does the Date of Sukkot Correspond to Any Particular Event?
The Tur (O.C. 625) indicates that you are correct in your question, as he explains why Sukkos isn't in the spring, since we got the huts after we left Egypt in the spring, and it should be then that ...
8
votes
Accepted
What is the greatest number of holiday days falling on weekdays in a year?
Between Purim and the next Shemini Atzeret the calendar is completely fixed (no leap years, leap days, etc.). The four possibilities are:
Purim (F), Pesach (S-Sh), Shavuot (M), Tisha b'Av (S), Rosh ...
7
votes
What is Ya'aleh Veyavo about?
Rashi to Shabbos 24a s.v. ואמר מעין המאורע בעבודה says that Ya'aleh Veyavo is to request mercy on Israel and Jerusalem to return the Temple service to its place and to be able to do the sacrifices of ...
7
votes
Does the Date of Sukkot Correspond to Any Particular Event?
The Gra (commentary to Canticles 1:4) explains that the Clouds of Glory returned to the Jewish camp on 15 Tishrei after leaving due to the sin of the Golden Calf.
(He reasons that Moshe came down with ...
7
votes
Accepted
Why don't we care if the Pesach pilgrims get rained on?
Daf Al Hadaf brings this question from Kovetz Bais Hillel
He brings a few answers, two of them are below.
Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Auerbach answers that when Jews went to Jerusalem for Succos they were ...
7
votes
Accepted
Is Hanukkah a holiday or a festival? Is there a difference?
I don't think there's a formal English terminology what people would call "festival" vs. "holiday", but there certainly are distinctions.
The Jewish holidays such as Passover, Sukkot [booths], Rosh ...
7
votes
Why did we keep the tradition of blowing shofar but not silver trumpets?
In the Sefer Hachinuch, mitzvah # 484 is blowing the trumpets. As always, the author concludes the discussion by telling us when the mitzvah is applicable. In this case he writes that the mitzvah of ...
7
votes
Best way to explain to my boss that I cannot attend a team summit because it is on Rosh Hashana or any other Jewish Holiday
myjewishlearning.com has an article titled "How Do I Ask for the High Holidays Off?" which addresses how to handle this:
First, provide straightforward information. Say, “You probably know I’m ...
7
votes
Mincha torah reading before a chag
Shulchan Arukh OC 292:1
במנחה אומרים אשרי ובא לציון ואני תפלתי וגו' ומוציאין ספר תורה וקורין ג' אנשים י' פסוקים מפרשה הבאה ואפילו חל יום טוב להיות בשבת קורין בפרשה הבאה ולא בשל יום טוב.
At Mincha ...
6
votes
Accepted
What makes something a chag or not?
According to most philologists/etymologists, the Biblical Hebrew word חג means something similar to a festive pilgrimage or gathering. It is thus related to the modern similar-sounding Arabic word ...
6
votes
What is Ya'aleh Veyavo about?
FWIW, I can give you an idea that I developed with a friend of mine. I don't have an actual source, though this idea is based (however loosely) on the Ramban.
In short: Ya'aleh Veyavo is a prayer ...
6
votes
Hallel on Yom Nicanor
I will try to answer the first question on whether Hallel was recited on Yom Nicanor, using classical and rabbinic evidence.
There are no sources that record the recitation of Hallel in the ...
6
votes
Accepted
Is Nehemiah 8 describing a particular Jewish feast day?
The first day of the seventh month is the holiday Rosh Hashanah. It is known as the day when the world was created, and is also the Day of Judgement. It is still a festive holiday, with many unique ...
6
votes
Recommendation for good "complete siddur" (siddur shalem)
Artscroll's סידור יצחק יאיר is a good choice, as a good, complete siddur with a clear print. It is the standard siddur used in most shuls. You can buy them in practically any Jewish book store, or ...
6
votes
How to have an easier time with Yom Tov?
My parents were observant from before I was born, and I have been Shabbat- and Yom-Tov-observant my whole life. I can honestly say that I don't believe I have ever intentionally violated either. So no,...
6
votes
Any Jewish holidays especially associated with gift giving?
Purim.
There is a mitzvah to give one gift containing two foods to someone.
Additionally, one must give gifts to two poor people.
5
votes
What is Ya'aleh Veyavo about?
I have long understood ya'aleh v'yavo to be an application of the pasuk in Bemidbar 10:10, וּבְיוֹם שִׂמְחַתְכֶם וּבְמוֹעֲדֵיכֶם וּבְרָאשֵׁי חָדְשֵׁיכֶם וּתְקַעְתֶּם בַּחֲצֹצְרֹת עַל עֹלֹתֵיכֶם וְעַל ...
5
votes
For how many years was Aliya L'Regel kept?
Only the years we had a Mishkan (year 2 of the Exodus) through a few years after Shelomo's reign.
Rashi (Qoheles 1:1) quotes a tradition that Shelomo haMelekh calls himself Qoheles at the beginning ...
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