halakhah

Waiting Between Eating Meat and Dairy

Why some Jews wait six hours, while others wait one or three.

Havinenu: A Shortened Version of the Amidah

When and why Jews say an abbreviated Amidah. Full text and translation of Havinenu included.

Is it OK to Blow Out Hanukkah Candles?

What do you do if you need to leave home after lighting your menorah.

The Eight Genders in the Talmud

Judaism has recognized nonbinary persons for millennia.

Who Is Rachel Adler?

How Adler uses feminist ideas to challenge Jewish law.

Yizkor: The Unending Conversation

Yizkor is part of an ongoing conversation with the dead, but what we don't realize is that we constantly converse with the dead in daily life.

Kaddish Initiates Aveilut

After burial Jewish law requires the mourner to turn from despair in the face of death to the affirmation of life.

Halakhah: The Laws of Jewish Life

Halakhah is the "way" a Jew is directed to behave, encompassing civil, criminal and religious law.