Israel tradition

The life-changing magic of washing your hands (on Passover)

One element of the washing is called “shifshuf yadayim,” which literally means “rubbing the hands,” and is initially described in the Tosefta (Yadaim 1:2), a 2nd-century CE compilation of Torah law.

‘WE’VE ALL heard that we need to wash our hands to help hamper the spread of coronavirus, but the exact precautionary measures can be confusing at best and conflicting at worst.’
 A WOMAN examines the influx of matzah boxes in a supermarket on Wednesday in Jerusalem ahead of the Passover holiday.

Passover, tradition and the value of money

 ‘MY JERUSALEM’ historical photographs taken by Aviv Yitzhaki.

This week in Jerusalem: Tradition, tradition!

EXALTING IN Sukkot at the Western Wall

The hour of great people


The dichotomy of freedom

There are so many rules and regulations dictating how to observe Passover properly that it boggles the mind how anyone can feel free at a time like this.

Love puzzle

Tradition Today: The true lesson of the Exodus

As we celebrate our Seder and eat our matza this Passover, let us remember that the main lesson the Torah teaches concerning the Exodus is how we treat strangers in our midst.

Israelis and fellow community members attend a memorial ceremony in Tel Aviv for Habtom Zarhum, an Eritrean migrant who was mistaken for a gunman at a shooting attack in Beersheba, in October 2015

The tradition we keep, keeps us

A Yad Vashem online exhibition looks at Passover traditions before, during and after the Holocaust.

Making Matza

A melody for matza

All elements must be perfect, to avoid any sin.

Making Matza

The socialist haggadot

Kibbutz Haggadot from the last century offer a fascinating historical window into life in the Yishuv.

The 1951 Hashomer Hatza’ir Movement Kibbutz Haggada

Beautifying mitzvot

On display at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem is some of the stunning Judaica in the Jewish Art and Life wing.

The Amsterdam Haggada

The splitting of the Red Sea and the State of Israel

It is most important to realize that it is not the conventional understanding of a miracle that is of importance here.

The establishment of the State of Israel

Profaning the mikve, our sacred space

To legislate the mikve is to profane it.

Pool of a medieval mikve in Speyer, Germany, dating back to 1128

Finding Esther

Iranian Jews also make a pilgrimage to the graves in Hamadan where Esther and Mordecai are buried.

VIEWS OF the interior of the mausoleum of Esther and Mordecai in Hamadan. A Cultural Heritage Organization plaque identifies the location.

Intrigue in Shushan

What is it, then, that we celebrate in the frivolity of Purim?

‘The Triumph of Mordecai’ (1624) by Pieter Pietersz Lastman, in the Rembrandt House Museum in Amsterdam