Sefer Torah

Man charged with setting fire to Mississippi synagogue targeted it due to its ‘Jewish ties’

Stephen Spencer Pittman was charged on Monday with maliciously damaging or destroying a building by means of fire or an explosive, according to an affidavit filed in US District Court in Mississippi.

TEXT MESSAGES between the arson suspect Stephen Spencer Pittman and his father during the attack on Jan. 10, 2025.
A Yemenite synagogue in central Israel was desecrated, and many of the institute's prayer books were shredded, worshippers discovered just before Shabbat came in last week.

Police arrest 29-year-old suspect in vandalism of Torah scrolls at Kadima synagogue

HAROLD SILVERMAN with the Calais Torah scroll at the dedication ceremony in Kibbutz Sde Eliyahu, Sept. 1999.

A Torah scroll destined for its kibbutz destination

 Rabbi Jeffrey Fox, left, teaches a class in Jewish law at Maharat, the first yeshiva to ordain women to serve as Orthodox clergy.

Two congregations, two opinions as Torahs hit the floor at separate NYC services


Parashat Tetzaveh: One end, a variety of means

One of the unique items of clothing belonging to the kohen gadol, the high priest, was called Hoshen HaMishpat, which the kohen wore on his chest.

‘PRIESTS OF the Tabernacle,’ with high priest at center, wearing the ‘hoshen hamishpat.’ (Illustration from the 1897 ‘Bible Pictures and What They Teach Us,

Sefaria turns a female page

Online Jewish text platform adds commentary by Nechama Leibowitz, its first woman scholar, as it expands its accessible library.

The Nechama Leibowitz page on the Sefaria website collects the scholar's teachings on Torah and Judaism

Simhat Torah: Ending and beginning – Torah without stop

In this way, we acknowledge that even if we completed the yearly cycle of Torah reading, we still have much more learning in store.

A SIMHAT Torah flag, waved jauntily during hakafot.

2 Torah scrolls stolen from Hawaiian synagogue

Other valuable items, such as silver ritual objects, were left in the sanctuary, according to reports.

Torah scroll

Chief Rabbi calls for return of Torah lessons at IDF training complex

Several dozen IDF soldiers would attend the Torah lesson every week.

An IDF soldier prays near the Gaza border

On the divine compromise

God therefore precisely chose the exact words, stories and laws in order to best give over the Divine directive.

THIS RELIEF at Beit Hatfutsot – The Museum of the Jewish People in Tel Aviv – likens the development of Oral Law to a river’s course. According to the museum, ‘it starts as a small stream (upper part) whose gentle  ow gradually becomes a strong current in the spiritual landscape of the Jewish people

The mission of Rachel’s nurse Deborah

This journey was full of hardships.

ALBRECHT DÜRER’S engraving of Adam and Eve from 1504AN ELDERLY Isaac blesses Jacob with Rebekah in the background in this 1638 painting by Dutch artist Govert Flinck

Les tribulations d’un Sefer Torah

L’histoire d’un rouleau sacré qui a survécu à l’Europe nazie

Ruines de la synagogue de Hombourg