WHO WAS THE FIRST FACEBOOK -- USER? It is, by all means, a fascinating story—told in this week’s Haftarah, in the book of Joshua. Joshua sends two spies to reconnoiter the land, and particularly the city of Jericho. The spies arrive in Jericho and go to the home of “Rachav,” who according to the Talmud for forty years served as an immoral, promiscuous individual. At the age of fifty, Rachav converted to Judaism! And she now used these three items—the flax, the window and the rope—to … [Read more...]
WHAT IS THE SECRET TO TIME MANAGEMENT?
June 6, 2014 by
A man stopped at a rural gas station. He stood by his car and he watched a couple of men working along the roadside. One man would dig a hole—three feet deep—and then move on. The other man came along behind and filled in the hole. While one was digging a new hole, the other was about 25 feet behind filling in the old. The men worked right past the fellow and went on down the road. "Hold it, hold it," he said to the men. "Can you tell me what's going on here with this digging?" "Well, we work … [Read more...]
Hanukkah, ה or חנוכה, Ḥănukkāh celebrated December 8 – 16, 2012
December 5, 2012 by
Alternative spellings: Spelling variations due to transliteration of Hebrew Chet Nun Vav Kaf Hey In Hebrew, the word Hanukkah is written חֲנֻכָּה or חנוכה (Ḥănukkāh). It is most commonly transliterated to English as Chanukah or Hanukkah, the former because the sound represented by "CH" ([χ], similar to the Scottish pronunciation of "loch") does not exist in the English language. Furthermore, the letter "chet" (ח), which is the first letter in the Hebrew spelling, is pronounced … [Read more...]
