Torah Cafe

The Shema Yisrael is a section of the Torah that is the most important prayer in Judaism, and includes the most important beliefs in Jewish faith and many of our central commandments. We recite the prayer twice daily. 

A talk about the Shema, its meaning and its significance.

Often our society has a negative look on age, seeing youth as an asset. Judaism sees youth as a liability and age as an asset. Learn why Judaism and the Torah put a premium on age.

People often use the English word Bible where referring to our Torah. But is the Torah really the same as the Bible? While there are parts of the Christian Bible that are clearly not part of our Torah, what about the "Old Testament"?

Learn about the differences between the Torah and the Bible.

The most complicated part of Kosher laws is the process of preparing Kosher meat from slaughter to checking for disease to cutting out forbidden parts and draining the blood. While in earlier times, our grandparents did most of this themselves, today it is all prepared in the factory so Kosher meat consumers are often oblivious to the complex preparation process.

Learn about the entire process of preparing Kosher meat with all the details.

Our society today is grappling with the role of law enforcement and community safety. Is law enforcement today effective? Do law enforcement representatives use more force than necessary? Are there safer ways to keep the peace without harming others than current law enforcement practices? How can we keep society safe from harmful elements while avoiding the use of force that can unnecessarily harm both criminals and innocent victims.

A discussion about the role of law enforcement and community safety in Judaism.

The prophet Jeremiah was one of the most important figures in Jewish history. He lived at the very end of the first Jewish kingdom and witnessed the destruction of Jerusalem and the holy Temple. He spent most of his days warning his people of the impeding catastrophe and imploring them to change their ways.

A fascinating discussion of Jeremiah the prophet, and the tragic story of his people.

Sacrifice was practiced by Jews from the days of Moses for over 1300 years while the temples stood in Jerusalem. Since the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE we stopped offering sacrifices. Does Judaism today still believe in sacrifice? Why was it practiced in Judaism for so long?

Learn about sacrifice in Judaism including why it was practiced for so long, why we no longer practice sacrifice and what the purpose of it was.

After the death of Moses, his disciple Joshua, led Israel across the Jordan into the Promised Land leading the conquest of the land from the Canaanites and then dividing the land among the twelve tribes.

Learn about the story of Joshua and Israel's conquest of the Promised Land.

One of the strangest commandments in the Torah is the Red Cow. When someone with a dead corpse, they may not enter the Temple in Jerusalem or eat sacrificial meat until they are sprinkled with spring water mixed with ashes from a red cow.

The Red Cow commandment is so strange that King Solomon wrote he can understand every commandment except this one.

A discussion about this strange Mitzvah and its significance.

There is a special blessing that the Torah tells us should be used by Kohanim, the priests descending from Aaron (Moses' brother) to bless the people. Thiss Sunday to learn about this blessing, its great power particularly for dreams,  the special hand motions that go with it and the riddle of why it's not done the way it is supposed to be done.