Torah Cafe

One of the core Jewish beliefs (and perhaps most challenging) is that all who died will come back to life in a future time. Why do we believe in resurrection? Who will come back to life? How will we all come back to life? What will it be like?

A discussion about the important Jewish belief in resurrection.

What is the process of making Kosher wine? What makes wine non-Kosher? Why do some only drink wine that is Mevushal? A fascinating discussion about what makes wine kosher

Jewish traditions tell us of 70 nations who speak 70 languages. Who are those 70 nations? What are the 70 languages? How did they form? What relationship do they have to modern nations and languages?

Learn about the historic 70 nations and what they mean to us today.

Simchat Torah is the most joyous day in the Jewish calendar when we celebrate the completion of the Torah by dancing in the synagogue with the Torah scrolls. When did we start celebrating Simchat Torah? Why do we celebrate by dancing with the Torah scrolls?

A fascinating discussion about the celebration of Simchat Torah

The Torah commands us to hold 4 kinds of plants together on the festival of Sukkot. How do we identify them? What do we do with them? What is the significance?

A fascinating discussion about the story behind the Lulav and Etrog that we shake on Sukkot.

One of the strangest (and for many problematic) customs is Kapparot. In its traditional form, Kapparot is when people swing chickens around their heads and then slaughter them as a form of atonement (Kappara) before Yom Kippur.

Many people find the tradition of Kapparot very disturbing. Where did this strange custom come from? Why is it done? How does Judaism allow the chicken to suffer and be killed because of our sins?

A fascinating and illuminating discussion about the strange tradition of Kapparot.

One of the most fascinating and most challenging stories in the Torah is the story of creation found at the very beginning. The story is the basis of the most fundamental belief in Judaism; that we were created by G-d. Yet not only are there so many details that do not match modern science, many of the details don't make sense at face value and contradict each other.

The year of 5782 which will be a Shemitta year, the seventh year in a seven year cycle. The Shemitta year is a holy year when farmers cannot work the land in Israel and certain loans are absolved.

We often think of G-d as punishing us whenever we do something wrong. But is that really true? Does every bad person get punished? Why do good people seem to get punished too? Is G-d really vengeful that he punishes us for every infraction?

A fascinating discussion about the Jewish belief in punishment.

One of the most fascinating Mitzvot (Commandments) in the Torah is the Command of Shiluch Hakan, sending a bird away from her nest.