Jewels of Torah

Jewels of Torah Jewels of Torah provides quality Jewish programming, with lessons, cultural events, and discussions. Everyone is welcome!

Questions, suggestions, and comments are always appreciated, and requests for specific topics may also be sent in.

05/09/2026

The custom of eating certain foods on the night of Rosh haShana is just that: a custom. It is by no means obligatory, so don't drive yourself mad trying to locate hard-to-find items or forcing yourself to eat anything you don't like. Certainly don't force yourself to go broke paying exorbitant prices for exotic or unusual items.
Also, and far more important: these foods are SYMBOLIC. Don't for a second think that eating apples in sugar or honey will cause you to have a good and sweet year; it just doesn't work that way. It is up to you to make the best of your year, and to ask the One who can give you a good year to do so. The apple is there to help you remember that, nothing more--as are all the other traditional foods.

16/08/2026

Hope everyone's off to a great start with the first day of seliḥoth!

03/07/2026

Pineḥas acted in what I'm sure many of his contemporaries considered a rather unsavoury manner, yet God rewarded him for it. Contrast that with Shaul, who sought to make himself a King whom his subjects would appreciate--for which God sacked him.
Lesson: Tora is not a popularity contest. It's admirable to act in a way that is pleasing to your fellow human, but not if it comes at the expense of fulfilling the command of your Creator.

08/06/2026

One of the greatest perversions in modern Jewry is the idea that Tora is something you learn. It's not; it's something you DO.
So many have this idea that a ben Tora is someone who learns heavily, perhaps even as the equivalent of a full-time job. That's not a ben Tora: a real ben Tora is someone who LIVES it.

20/05/2026

Last day of Sefira! Hope you all had an enjoyable period counting up the days.

05/05/2026

Happy 33rd day of the ʻ Omer! Do you know the significance of today?

It separates the 32nd from the 34th.

25/04/2026

Jewish life is not nearly so hard as everyone always tries to make it out to be. Yes, it is true that sometimes the answer is just 'no'... but not nearly as often as most people like to make it seem.

19/04/2026

Reminder: those little symbols on the package do not determine kashruth. HALACHA determines kashruth.

13/04/2026

The concept of the segulla, as understood by the majority of modern Jewry, is complete nonsense: it's superstition at best, borderline idolatry at worst. There is no divine cause-and-effect to them whatsoever, and it is arrogance of the highest degree to think you can force the Creator to obey your will by saying door magic words or by baking your bread in a certain shape. In Real Life, unfortunately, THERE ARE NO CHEAT CODES. You might as well try ↑↑↓↓⟵⟶⟵⟶BA for all the good it'll do you.

13/04/2026

The ʻOmer is a most joyous time of the year: a counting from one festival to another. Tradition teaches that it is also a commemoration of the practice of our ancestors who were so excited, upon receiving their freedom from servitude in Egypt, to learn they were going to receive the Tora in seven weeks that they literally counted the days leading up to it.
Mourning during this time is not halacha, but is part-Talmudic practice based upon misunderstanding. It is therefore in the category of minhag taʻuth: a mistaken custom. As such, there is NO need to continue it. Go enjoy yourself.

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