FEATURED PHOTO: Rabbi Tuly Weisz shakes the Biblical four species at the ICEJ Feast of Tabernacles Conference.
Three times a year—on the festival of Pesach, on the festival of Shavuot, and on the festival of Sukkot—all your males shall appear before Hashem your God in the place that He will choose. They shall not appear before Hashem empty-handed Deuteronomy 16:16 (The Israel Bible™)
That book is “our most cherished possession,” writes Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, the noted British theologian and member of the House of Lords. “We stand in its presence as if it were a king. We dance with it as if it were a bride. We kiss it as if it were a friend. If, God forbid, one is damaged beyond repair, we mourn it as if it were a member of the family.” If a Torah scroll is accidentally dropped, everyone who witnesses it is expected to fast in penance. When a synagogue is burned, whether by accident or by arson, there is an immediate, palpable anxiety to know whether the Torah scrolls were saved or lost.
Community of Lavi in northern Israel has become world’s top producer of furniture for Jewish houses of worship, exporting its carpentry products to over 70 countries
A worker in Kibbutz Lavi's carpentry factory. (Screenshot/Channel 13)
Kibbutz Lavi, whose founders included children evacuated from Germany to the United Kingdom as part of the Kindertransport program before the Holocaust, has become the main provider worldwide of furniture for synagogues.
The community, in the lower Galilee, has exported its products to over 6,000 synagogues in 70 countries and has made furniture for most synagogues in Israel.
The 'Give Us Our Portion' project was created from a weekly meeting of writing artists and composers who embark on a journey of listening and sharing a lot of truth to each other.
The uniting factor the book "And Give Us Our Portion" which is published in a monthly edition with excerpts from the Gemara. Each artist will bring his or her own little truth to text and presentation and make it feel complete. The project's artists and composers have chosen to dedicate all of the proceeds to the activities of the "Or at Home" association, which brings the mezuzah light to every demanding person at no cost.
Participants in alphabet order: Eyal Golan - Itay Levi - Eliad-Barbie - David Bar Dor - Harel Skaat - Talisman - Yoav Yitzhak - Yishai Ribo- Yishay Levi - Maor Edri - Maor Tyton - Moshe Peretz - Nathan Goshen - Eden Hasson - Eden Meiri - Idan Yaniv - Pe'er Tasi - Kobi Afllo - Kobi Peretz - Rotem Cohen - Rami Kleinstein - Shlomi Shabbat.
The Western Wall Heritage Foundation announced Tuesday that some 2.5 million people visited the Western Wall during the Hebrew month of Tishrei this year.
“Many hundreds of thousands” of people participated in the Selichot (penitential) prayer services held towards the end of the Hebrew month of Elul and in the Ten Days of Repentance between Rosh HaShana and Yom Kippur.
FEATURED PHOTO: Doves circle above worshippers at the Kotel (Shutterstock).
But the dove could not find a resting place for its foot, and returned to him to the ark, for there was water over all the earth. So putting out his hand, he took it into the ark with him Genesis 8:9 (The Israel Bible™)
v’-lo ma-tz’-AH ha-yo-NAH ma-NO-akh l’-khaf rag-LAH va-TA-shov ay-LAV el ha-tay-VAH kee MA-yim al p’-NAY khol ha-A-retz va-yish-LAKH ya-DO va-yi-ka-KHE-ha va-ya-VAY o-TAH ay-LAV el ha-tay-VAH
The Jewish people are often compared to the dove. Once a dove meets her mate, she never leaves him for another, and a dove, even when her offspring are taken, will never abandon her nest. In a similar fashion, the Children of Israel are faithful to God. The dove that Noach sent foreshadows the journey of the Jewish people throughout history. Just as the dove found no rest for the sole of its foot, so the Jews will find no solace in exile. Just as the dove returned to the ark seeking shelter, so the Jews will return from exile to the Land of Israel. Like Noach’s dove, the people have remained faithful to Hashem, and now, after thousands of years of absence, have returned to His land.
Aharon Razael - The Ballad Of The Returning (in Tshuvah)
When he left everything, he didn't look back
Flowed like a river, he knew no rest
She only came to tell him, so happy for You
He said: I've found a way, she said: the way found You
He sat aside, his heart thirsty to hear
Clear like river, he doesn't stop sipping
And suddenly he remembers the grass and fields of childhood
Even if will want to forget, they always accompany him
The violin on the wall the wind blows in it
He listens to an ancient melody that opens the heart
The violin on the wall the wind blows in it
He listens to an ancient melody that only he understands
Slowly the heart opens, some gate opens as well
Sweet like a river, secretive like a forest
And he falls asleep a bit on the book dreaming : he's on his Father's knees
About a day that comes to watch the brilliance
The violin...
She didn't look for an answer (Tshuva), ran away but he surprised
We came to the river said to her and proposed
If I haven't told all the story, it's only the beginning of the act
Searched their way home and found eachother
The violin on the wall the wind blows in it
And he listens to an ancient melody that already did hers