Dear Jew in the City, Why does Hashem need our prayers, especially when He already knows what we want and need? Why is prayer so important? Sincerely, Rachel Dear Rachel, Thanks for your question. Unfortunately, you’ve got things backwards. God is complete and perfect; we’ve got nothing to offer Him that He “needs.” Sure, […]
Dear Jew in the City, Did the Jewish people have any pre-battle prayer in biblical times? Best, Asher Dear Asher, Thanks for your question. Before I answer it, I’d like to address prayer more generally. I once heard a rabbi say that we shouldn’t take Israel’s battles against Muslim countries lightly. This is because we […]
Dear Jew in the City, Is this Hamas war the war of Gog and Magog? How will we recognize it? Sincerely, David Thanks for your question, David. First, let’s address what the war of Gog and Magog is. Many people are under the misconception that “the war of Gog and Magog” refers to a conflict […]
When news broke out of the attacks on Israel over the weekend, Jews everywhere were in shock. Included in that were newlyweds Anastasia and Nahum Mittelman, whose wedding was supposed to take place on Sunday evening at sunset, October 8. The two live in Tel-Aviv and were woken up early Saturday morning by sirens, which […]
This week I’m going to do something different. I’m going take two questions that were submitted separately and combine them into a single post because (a) they’re related and (b) my answers are relatively brief. The first question is: Dear Jew in the City, “Why do we shake the lulav and other arba minim […]
Dear Jew in the City, Why do some people approach Yom Kippur as a day of celebration? Sincerely, David Dear David, Um… because it is? On the surface, Yom Kippur may resemble Tisha b’Av, which is the saddest day in the Jewish calendar. On both of these days we refrain from eating and drinking, bathing, […]
