Mitzvot

Hanukkah Candles

Jewish Holidays

Jewish Holidays Jewish holidays, also known as Jewish festivals or Yamim Tovim (ימים טובים‎, lit. ‘Good Days’, or singular יום טוב Yom Tov, in transliterated Hebrew, are holidays observed in Judaism and by Jews throughout the Hebrew calendar. They include religious, cultural and national elements, derived from three sources: biblical mitzvot (“commandments”); rabbinic mandates; Jewish history and the history of the State of Israel....

[De Rouwdagen] De treurdagen (The mourning days) by Jan Voerman, ca 1884

613 Commandments

613 Commandments The Jewish tradition that there are 613 commandments (תרי״ג מצוות‎, romanized: taryag mitzvot) or mitzvot in the Torah (also known as the Law of Moses) began in the 3rd century CE, when Rabbi Simlai mentioned it in a sermon that is recorded in Talmud Makkot 23b. Although there have been a lot of attempts...

An 18th-century Megillat Esther (Scroll of Esther) on the miracles of Purim

Purim

Purim Purim (פּוּרִים) Pûrîm “lots“, from the word פור pur, translated as ‘lot’ in the Esther, perhaps related to Akkadian pūru ‘stone, urn’; also called the Festival of Lots) is a Jewish holiday that commemorates the saving of the Jewish people from Haman, an Achaemenid Persian Empire official who was planning to kill all the Jews, as...

Complete set of Tanakh Hebrew Scrolls shown in Glen Rose, Texas

The Torah

The Torah The Torah is Judaism’s most important text. It is composed of the Five Books of Moses and also contains the 613 commandments (mitzvot) and the Ten Commandments. The word “Torah” means “to teach.” Five books of story, law, and poetry Main article: Oral Torah For Jews, the concept...

Torah reading

Torah

The Torah The Torah (תּוֹרָה, “Instruction”, “Teaching” or “Law”) has a range of meanings. It can most specifically mean the first five books (Pentateuch) of the 24 books of the Tanakh, and it is usually printed with the rabbinic commentaries (perushim). It can mean the continued narrative from the Book of Genesis to...

Old Books

Midrash Halakha

Midrash Halakha Midrash halakha (הֲלָכָה) was the ancient Judaic rabbinic method of Torah study that expounded upon the traditionally received 613 Mitzvot (commandments) by identifying their sources in the Hebrew Bible, and by interpreting these passages as proofs of the laws’ authenticity. Midrash more generally also refers to the non-legal interpretation...