Judaism

The Reform Approach to Jewish Tradition

Naming a new baby can be an exciting if daunting task. Choosing a traditional Hebrew name for your daughter can foster a strong, warm connection to tradition, and girls' names in Hebrew also reflect many wonderful meanings.

Every week as the sun sets on Friday evening the Jewish holiday of Shabbat begins. 

Brit milah, which means "covenant of circumcision," is a Jewish ritual performed on a baby boy eight days after he is born. 

Passover (also called Pesach, פֶּסַח) is one of the most central holidays in Judaism, and it is celebrated each year in the spring beginning on the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Nissan.

Although most well-known around the Jewish High Holidays, the cantor in Judaism is often present throughout the year in the synagogue. 

One of the most well-known prayers in Judaism is the ​shema, a blessing that finds its place throughout the daily prayer service and well into the evening hours at bedtime.  

The machzor is the special prayer book used on Rosh Hashanah to lead worshippers through the special Rosh Hashanah prayer service. The main themes of the prayer service are repentance by man and judgment by God, Our King.

The First Temple was destroyed in 586 BCE, and the Second Temple was finalized in 516 BCE. It wasn't until King Herod decided in the 1st century BCE to expand the Temple Mount that the Western Wall, also called the Kotel, was built.

Every week as the sun sets on Friday evening the Jewish holiday of Shabbat begins. This day of rest lasts until Havdalah is said as the sun sets on Saturday and is dedicated to family, community and spiritual renewal.

The Star of David is a six-pointed star made up of two equilateral triangles superimposed over each other. It also is known as a hexagram. In Hebrew, it is called the magen David (מָגֵן דָּוִד), which means the "shield of David."

Many faiths have definitive teachings about the afterlife. But in answer to the question "What happens after we die?" the Torah, the most important religious text for Jews, is surprisingly silent. Nowhere does it discuss the afterlife in detail. 

According to Jewish belief, Jews are the Chosen People because they were chosen to make the idea of one God known to the world.

Pope Francis and the Chief Rabbi of Rome have exchanged greetings on the occasion of the Jewish feast of Pesach, or Passover, that starts on the evening of Wednesday and continues till the evening of April 16, this year.

Jews accounted for one-third of Baghdad’s population by the time of the first world war. Now the community is all but extinct...

“There is no despair in the world at all!” Every month, the Nation of Israel sanctifies the moon. This means that at least once a month, we form a deep bond with our Father in Heaven, the King of Kings.