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Biblical Personalities |
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Every biblical personality has a particular meaning in the wheel of life, and since Torah includes every created thing, we can find a faithful representation of the world through its characters. This section tries to shed some light on the biblical personality patterns. |
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Biblical Personalities
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Jewish Festivals and the Calendar
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Just the same as all calendars around the world, the Jewish calendar is sprinkled generously with festivals. Most of these occur on an annual basis, although some are more frequent.
The Jewish calendar is split into 12 months, based on the lunar cycle. To bring it in line with the seasons, however, a thirteenth month, Adar Sheni (literally the "second Adar") is frequently added. The Jewish New Year starts around September, the exact date never being fixed because of differences between the solar and lunar calendar.
The months progress as follows:
Tishri, Cheshvan, Kislev, Tevet, Shevat, Adar, (Adar Sheni), Nisan, Iyar, Sivan, Tammuz, Av, Ellul.
The New Moon which brings in the new month is called "Rosh Chodesh" (translated as "Head (of the) Month"). On Rosh Chodesh, parts of a special prayer called the Hallel (which consists of selected psalms) is read. As a reward for not donating jewellery in the making of the Golden Calf after the Exodus from Egypt, tradition dictates that women need not work on Rosh Chodesh.
A Luach is a booklet which contains all the dates of the festivals so that we know when to observe them.
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Jewish Food
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This section is dedicated to that most loved of Jewish pastimes - preparing food. What can we say about food? It's central to our lives - social as well as religious. Eating it can have good consequences or bad ones (we're talking fall from Eden here, not indigestion!).
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Jewish History
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The Jewish people have had a huge effect on society while nearly always being in a minority. This section deals with the history of the Jewish people from after the history as told in the Torah up to just before the creation of the State of Israel, a period spanning thousands of years. Because of this huge timescale, it is impossible to cover every single aspect of the history, but the most important events are mentioned in the following documents:
- The Kingdoms of Judah and Israel
- Judah Under Roman Rule
- The Post-Roman Era
- The Golden Age of Spain
- Life in Eastern Europe
- The Holocaust
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Jewish Mysticism
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Jewish Prayer
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Although a large number of prayers are recited at home as well as in the synagogue, it is convenient to divide this topic into these two locations, with any that come from both available from either location:
- Prayer at Home
- Prayer in the Synagogue
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Jewish Religious Rituals
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The religious rituals followed by Jews can be divided into two main locations, at home and in the synagogue. Some of the rituals can be performed in either.
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Live classes
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Talmud and Tanach
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The law was handed down to the Israelites from G-d in two forms: The Written Law and the Oral Law. The Written Law, commonly known as The Bible is split into three major segments: The Five Books (or Torah), Nevi'im (the books of the Prophets), and K'toobim (literally, writings, the Newer Books) of the Bible.
The Oral Law was given with the original Torah as a guide on how to fulfill its Mitzvot (commandments). It was first codified by Rabbi Yehuda Hanasi (Judah the Prince) after the fall of the second temple in the first century ce. This original oral law is called the Mishnah and has six books. Later Rabbis wrote a commentary on the Mishnah, called the Gemarah which was in turn commented on by other Rabbis.
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The Messiah
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The fundamental difference between Judaism and Christianity is the belief in the Messiah, the Jews believing that the Messiah is still yet to come.
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Jewish Food 
