Torah Cafe

Each year on Sukkot for over 3,000 years, we have taken an Etrog along with three other plants to shake together on the festival. The Etrog is a very unusual fruit and obtaining a real Etrog each year was a challenge in many Jewish communities across the Jewish diaspora.A discussion about the extraordinary Etrog and the other plants for Sukkot as well as the history of our people's use of this amazing fruit.

Today, Yom Kippur is marked by fasting and all-day prayer in the synagogue. when the Holy Temple stood in Jerusalem, Yom Kippur was marked by a unique service performed by the Kohen Gadol, the High Priest. The highlight of the service was when he entered the Holy of Holies where the Ark of the Covenant stood. Today, we read in detail about the service in the ancient temple during our Yom Kippur prayers while mourning the loss of the Temple and praying for its restoration. 

Kol Nidrei is for many the most important prayer of the year. However the prayer itself was once extremely controversial. Many Jewish scholars and rabbis called for removing the prayer, others made changes to it. A fascinating history of the Kol Nidrei prayer and the controversy behind it. 

We believe that G-d is our Creator and in our prayers often refer to Him as our father. However, on Rosh Hashanah, we mostly refer to G-d as our King. What does it mean that G-d is a King? Is there an advantage to being a Monarch? How does G-d's role as King connect to Rosh Hashanah? A fascinating discussion about G-d role as a king. 

Poetry has always played a central role in Judaism. Jewish poetry began in the Tanach (the Hebrew scriptures), which contain the earliest known poetry. Later in the early Middle Ages, Jewish poets developed extensive liturgical poems that became central to our prayers and served as a model copied by Christian and Muslim poets. A fascinating discussion about Piyyut, early Jewish poetry and how it influenced all subsequent poetry.