Ata honen la-adam da'at...,  You grant humans wisdom... This berakha inaugurates the second section of the 'amida, "Request" (baqasha), the blessings in which we ask God...

The third blessing of the 'amida is also the shortest one. In this berakha we state that HaShem is "qadosh"; and that so is...

The second berakha (=blessing) of the 'amida is called geburot, "God's powers". This blessing asserts, in the first place, that God is Omnipotent (Atta gibbor...

Rabbi David ben Yehuda Messer-Leon (דוד מיסיר-ליאון) was born in Venice, Italy, 1470.  He was educated at Naples in the school of his father...

The 'amida consists of nineteen blessings, or short prayers which end with a blessing. The first blessing of the Amida is called "Abot", which...

  ה' שפתי תפתח ופי יגיד תהִלתך Before we begin the 'amida, we recite a very special verse from the book of Psalms, (51:15) "God, open...

 Rabbi Ya'aqob Berab was born in the town of Maqueda, near Toledo, Spain, in 1474.  His teacher was the celebrated rabbi Isaac Abohab, Gaon...

The 'amida is the most important prayer. It was composed by anshe keneset hagedola, the Men of the Great Assembly during the Fifth century...

Last week we explained that prayer, particularly the 'amida, requires kavana, the proper state of mind. When praying the 'amida we don't allow mundane...

The 'amida or Shemona-Esre --also called by our Rabbis "Tefila"-- is the most important prayer. It is said every day, three times a day,...

Rabbi Isaac Delouya (הרב יצחק דלויה) was born in Spain,  around the end of the fifteenth century. The origin of his last name is...

Last week we explained the idea of the hober, a wizard or enchanter who uses spells to invoke supernatural effects (seethis). By "spells" we mean...

In most Israeli cities snow is not very common.  This year, however, there were large amounts of snow, especially in Yerushalayim, and many rabbis referred...

Rabbi Ya'aqob Sasportas was born in Oran, Algeria, in 1610. A prodigious child, at the age of eighteen he was elected as the Dayan ...

We have written in previous HOTD about the views of modern orthodox rabbis regarding the celebration of different American holidays. We have seen that...

MT 'aboda zara 11:10:  "Who should be considered an enchanter? The one that cast spells that have nor meaning in a regular language,...

Astrology,  the supposed influence of the stars on human events, is alluded to in the Hebrew Bible more than once.  In Lev. 19:26 and...

This coming Friday, December 13th we will observe the Tenth of Tebet, a fast day which remind us of three tragic events.  The main...

This coming Friday, December 13th, we will observe the Tenth of Tebet, a fast day which remind us of three tragic events.  The main...

Eating fish and meat together is not restricted by Biblical law. However, the Rabbis considered that mixing fish and meat together could be harmful...