On the Other Hand: Ten Minutes of Torah -- Passover II: Song of Songs
On Passover, it's traditional to read from Song of Songs, with themes of love and spring running throughout. This week, Rabbi Rick Jacobs reminds us that the themes in this megillah (scroll) match the themes of Passover - of beauty, renewal, and rebirth are key to the seas
On the Other Hand: Ten Minutes of Torah -- Passover: Our Obligations When in Power and When Powerless
This week is Passover and Rabbi Rick Jacobs, with special guest Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg, discuss the Torah portion read on Passover, focusing especially on the themes of power and powerlessness. What are we obligated to do when we are in a position of powerlessness?
On the Other Hand: Ten Minutes of Torah - Special Edition: the Jewish Calendar
In this week's special edition of On The Other Hand: Ten Minutes of Torah, Rabbi Rick Jacobs, President of the Union for Reform Judaism, talks about the Jewish calendar, including how we mark time and how we find meaning.
Three ways to listen:
Why is caring for the environment emphasized on Tu BiShvat?
Tu BiShvat is a minor festival whose provenance dates only to the time of the Second Temple. However, the kabbalists who clustered around the great fifteenth-century mystic Isaac Luria of Safed placed great weight on the holiday, creating new festivities, gatherings at which hymns were sung, fruit (particularly carob) was eaten, and four cups of wine were taken (as in the Passover seder).
What goes on the seder plate?
The shank bone symbolizes the paschal offering brought to the Temple in Jerusalem in ancient times.