Staying up Shavuot Night– I know that many people stay up the entire night of Shavuot, and my synagogue is arranging a schedule of classes throughout the night. To me it seems a bit crazy attempting to stay awake at so unproductive a time.…More »
Was Shavuot Originally an Agricultural Holiday?– I am somewhat perplexed about the holiday of Shavuot. The Torah describes it as an agricultural holiday, celebrating the harvest. It doesn’t seem to have anything to do with the giving of the Torah. Did Shavuot become associated with this…More »
How Can There be a Mitzvah to Believe in Hashem?– We have been studying the Ten Commandments in school, and something really struck me. The first commandment is to believe in God. This got me thinking. How can we be commanded to believe in God? If a person does believe…More »
Vision of God of Exodus 24:10-11– What is the meaning of Exodus 24:10-11 – that Moses and the elders saw God when He descended upon Mount Sinai, and He had a sapphire brickwork under His feet? The next verse then states that the great ones of…More »
King David Descended from Lot’s Daughters– Yesterday I was reading in Genesis the story of Lot’s daughters who bore children from him and begat the nations of Amon and Moab. It then struck me that since King David’s great-grandmother was Ruth the Moabite, it means that…More »
Ruth and Shavuot– I attended synagogue services on the holiday of Shavuot morning, and we spent a half-hour reading the Book of Ruth. Is there any special connection between Ruth and Shavuot?More »
Ruth's Conversion as Moabite?– I have a question about the Book of Ruth. As a Moabite, why was Ruth allowed to convert to Judaism, given the biblical injunction against accepting converts from the Moabite nation?More »
Identifying as a Jew
