What does the Jews’ covenant with God mean?
We live our lives as a tapestry of relationships: with parents, siblings, partners and other relatives; with friends, neighbors, and colleagues; with the larger world and the environment; and with God.
What happens on each night of Hanukkah?
Two blessings are chanted or recited every night of Hanukkah. The first is a blessing over the candles themselves. The second blessing expresses thanks for the miracle of deliverance. A third blessing—the Shehecheyanu prayer, marking all joyous occasions in Jewish life—is chanted or recited only on the first night.
What is a menorah, or a hanukkiyah?
A menorah is a candelabra, and can be used for Hanukkah if it has nine stems. Another word for a Hanukkah menorah is hanukkiyah. A hanukkiyah has one stem for each of the eight days of Hanukkah, and one for the shamash, or “the helper candle” that is used to light the other candles. Candles are added each night from right to left and they are lit from left to right.
What is a dreidel?
The word dreidel derives from a German word meaning “spinning top,” and is the toy used in a Hanukkah game adapted from an old German gambling game. Hanukkah was one of the few times of the year when rabbis permitted games of chance. The four sides of the top bear four Hebrew letters: nun, gimmel, hey, and shin. Players begin by putting into a central pot or “kitty” a certain number of coins, chocolate money known as gelt, nuts, buttons or other small objects.
What is a latke?
A latke is a potato pancake fried in oil, and is a traditional food eaten to celebrate the miracle of the oil in the story of Hanukkah. Foods cooked in oil serve as a symbol of the legend of the jar of oil that lasted for eight days.
What is gelt?
Gelt is chocolate coins given to Jewish children on the festival of Hanukkah. They are usually wrapped in gold foil, and their history can be traced back to the decision of the Hasmoneans to mint their own nation’s coins after their military victory over the Greek Syrians. Gelt is often used to gamble with in the game of dreidel.
What is the Reform Jewish perspective on abortion?
Due to our fundamental belief in the sanctity of life and the Jewish value of kavod ha’briyot, respect for human dignity, Reform Judaism holds that abortion is both a medical and spiritual decision that should be made by the individual within whose body the fetus is growing.
Is it true that you cannot be buried in a Jewish cemetery if you have a tattoo?
While the Jewish community might still be divided over tattoos, the prohibition against burying a tattooed person in a Jewish cemetery is a myth. Caring for the body after death is also a mitzvah, and we don't exclude people in our communities from that care simply because of markings on the skin.
I have a Jewish mother and a Christian father. What am I?
As you may know from watching the news, the issue of who is a Jew is a hotly debated one nowadays. There is no simple answer.