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20 Black Jews You Should Know
From Yiddish theater to the rabbinate, Black Jews have risen to prominence and enriched all aspects of Jewish and American life.
Ask the Expert: When Emotions Overwhelm
Is there a Jewish prayer when life feels overwhelming?
The Jews of Kaifeng: China’s Only Native Jewish Community
Tolerance and assimilation led to the near-disappearance of a Chinese Jewish community over 1,000 years old.
7 Things You Should Know About Hebrew
The Jewish people’s traditional language has a storied past.
Praying for the Government
The tradition of praying for the government reflects a recognition that Jewish welfare is bound up with that of the nations in which Jews live.
Next Torah Portion
Summary
In this Torah portion, God tells Moses to have the Israelites set up camp at the Sea of Reeds, but then Pharaoh changes his mind about freeing the Israelites and chases his former slaves. With the Egyptians on the Israelites’ tail, God splits the sea and Moses leads the Israelites through it. When the Egyptians enter, God closes the waters, and the Egyptians drown. Miriam leads all the Israelite women in song and dance to celebrate. Soon after, the Israelites begin to complain about life in the desert. God provides quail and manna to feed them. The Israelites battle the Amalekites and win.
Featured Commentary
Parashat Beshalach: Sustaining Creation Through Song
Why the creation of the Jewish nation in Parashat Beshalach was marked by singing praises to God.
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Daf Yomi
Sanhedrin 51
Burning girls.
Sanhedrin 50
Hierarchies of punishment.
Sanhedrin 49
Yoav the complicated.
STUDY RESOURCES
Recharge Now
Our weekly Shabbat newsletter, Recharge, features a thoughtful, timely essay to enrich your Shabbat. Here are a few of our recent pieces:
Higher Than Speech is Song
The more extraordinary our spiritual experiences, the more they put us beyond the scope of words
From the Sickbed
Sometimes we need the help of others to draw us out from the prison of our suffering.
Finding New Ways In
When our ways of engaging God aren’t working, we must find others.
MORE from MY JEWISH LEARNING
7 Ways the Torah Can Actually Sharpen Your Mind
Engaging with Torah is like yoga for the mind: It keeps our perspectives flexible and creativity strong.
Ask the Expert: Do All Religions Worship the Same God?
Jews don’t have a monopoly on God, but we do privilege and prefer our own access.
Similar Jewish Words You Don’t Want to Mix Up
From kibbitz/kibbutz to mitzvah/mikveh, we round up some easily confused Hebrew and Yiddish terms.
Who Was Moses in the Bible?
The greatest Jewish prophet led the Israelites out of Egypt and received the Torah at Sinai, but he never entered the promised land.
How to Talk to God
The Hasidic prayer practice of hitbodedut — talking to God freely in one’s native tongue — helps to build intimacy over time.
Tikkun Olam: Repairing the World
This phrase with kabbalistic roots has come to connote social justice.