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 ...
Monica Cellio's user avatar
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 ...
רבות מחשבות's user avatar
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 ...
mbloch's user avatar
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12 votes
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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'...
Monica Cellio's user avatar
11 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 ...
Double AA's user avatar
  • 97.4k
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, ...
Shimon bM's user avatar
  • 18.8k
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. ...
Double AA's user avatar
  • 97.4k
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 ...
Y     e     z's user avatar
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 ...
Jay's user avatar
  • 6,487
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 ...
Double AA's user avatar
  • 97.4k
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 ...
Alex's user avatar
  • 49.1k
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 ...
alicht's user avatar
  • 12k
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 ...
Double AA's user avatar
  • 97.4k
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,...
Isaac Moses's user avatar
  • 47.8k
6 votes

How to have an easier time with Yom Tov?

B"H, I have solved my problem. I will post my experience here in case it could help anyone else. It turns out that what was making Yom Tov impossible for me was the fact that I lived alone and spent ...
SAH's user avatar
  • 19.6k
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.
DanF's user avatar
  • 70.1k
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 ...
David Mescheloff's user avatar
5 votes

How to have an easier time with Yom Tov?

I sympathize with your story, but let's focus on the questions you stated: Does everyone actually cheat? Absolutely not. Most people who keep Yom Tov follow the normative Halacha. Why don't you hear ...
LN6595's user avatar
  • 5,310
5 votes
Accepted

Why do we mention the Rosh Chodesh korbanot in pesukei dezimra?

To publicize that it's rosh chodesh. Rama, OC 48. (Everyone already knows it's yom tov by yom tov morning. MB there, citing the L'vush. And on Shabas, as you mention in the question, we don't read the ...
msh210's user avatar
  • 73.5k
5 votes

Why is Yom Tov Seven Days? Shavuot One?

Rambam discusses the different day lengths of the three holidays in Guide for the Perplexed 3:43. Quotes are from the Friedlander translation: Sukkot The Feast of Tabernacles, which is a feast of ...
Alex's user avatar
  • 49.1k
5 votes
Accepted

Any Jewish holidays especially associated with gift giving?

As DanF already answered, there's a requirement to give gifts on Purim. And as Joel K mentioned in a comment on the question, N'chemya 8:10–12 discusses gift-giving on Rosh Hashana (the date is ...
msh210's user avatar
  • 73.5k
4 votes

Why do we mention the Rosh Chodesh korbanot in pesukei dezimra?

R' Eliezer ben Nathan (120) was asked this question. He answered that since Rosh Chodesh is a workday, not everyone will be present in synagogue to hear the Torah reading.
Double AA's user avatar
  • 97.4k
4 votes

Source for this Remez expansion of יד שחט דם

I haven't seen it inside, but a few people have told me this is written in the kisvei Hagr"a. A chavrusa told me he heard Rav Yisroel Reisman say it in a shiur b'shem Hagra; that's the best I've been ...
Binyomin's user avatar
  • 2,961
4 votes

What to do in a case of no siddur available and additions to the Shemoneh Esrei?

Rav Shlomo Zalman was asked what should one do who does not have a siddur available and it is shabbos or yom tov,and he only knows the weekday shmoneh esrei by heart.Rav Shlomo Zalman answered that he ...
sam's user avatar
  • 41.1k
4 votes

Chasidic Sefarim on the Moadim

Nesivos Sholom Moadim volume, from the Slonimer Rebbe. Also there are Lubavitcher Rebbe Moadim Sichos.
jj2's user avatar
  • 1,194
4 votes

Chasidic Sefarim on the Moadim

You can add the Shem MiShmuel by Rabbi Shmuel Bornsztain, the second Sochatchover Rebbe, to your list. Also, the Maharal MiPrague predates Hassidism but has been described as a forefather of Chassidus ...
Loewian's user avatar
  • 17.7k
4 votes

Chasidic Sefarim on the Moadim

Bnai Yissaschar is based on the months and thoroughly goes through each Yom Tov.
Gershon Gold's user avatar
4 votes
Accepted

Source for Shir Shel Yom of the Gra

(Note that even with the list in Maseches Sofrim, there are a few days with arguments or multiple psalms which indicate that these choices were not absolute.) Not perfect, but the best I could do... ...
רבות מחשבות's user avatar
4 votes
Accepted

What Feast Day/Holy Day is spoken of in Judith 16, and is it still observed today?

Professor Yehoshua M. Grintz in his annotated edition of Yehudit, wrote on the Vulgate's addition to the ending of the book: "...במאה הד' לספירה לא נמצאה מכבר בידי העם אלא נוסחה ארמית...נוסחה זו ...
Harel13's user avatar
  • 24.9k
3 votes

Chasidic Sefarim on the Moadim

This 17 volume set covers everything you're looking for. Each sefer covers both halacha, customs and Chassidic insights as explained by the Lubavitcher Rebbe. There are extensive footnotes to look up ...
Yaacov Deane's user avatar
  • 14.3k

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