Mitzvot & Jewish Customs

Why the obsession with such insignificant details as how many ounces of matza do I eat, which spoon did I use for milk and which for meat, what is the right way to tie my shoelaces? It seems to me that this misses the bigger picture by focusing on minutiae

I find it interesting that when we do have an explanation for a particular custom, there's usually more than one reason. And when we don't have a reason, we nevertheless continue with the tradition...

When you use something physical, it gets “used up” and diminished. With spiritual things, the very opposite is the case

I love the Shabbat experience, but why so many restrictions? All that "don't do this" and "don't do that" -- sounds more like a prison than a day of rest!

Rabbi, do you honestly believe that pressing a button to cross the road is considered doing work on the Sabbath? It doesn't seem so strenuous to me...

I like the idea of a day of rest. But why should I start my day of rest at a prayer service? Aren't there better ways to start my weekend?

The Talmud tells us that there are 613 commandments in the Torah; 248 Positive Commandments (do's) and 365 Negative Commandments (do not's). Here's a complete list --as compiled by Maimonides.

The six days of the week are the paradigm of diversity. Perhaps the braiding of the challah represents the idea of unity, how we tie everything together...

It would be absurd to think that G-d gave us the Torah as a sort of bandage for His mistakes. "Oops! I didn't mean to put those nasty animals there! People might eat them! What do I do now?"

Why do Jews give the poor old pig such a hard time?

A closer look at a 3,300 year-old environmental protecttion law

Why do we focus so much attention on one place? Is G-d's Presence not found everywhere?

Is it true that there is no mention of the synagogue in the Torah? It’s hard to imagine “Judaism”—at least as we know it today—without synagogues!

The garment surrounds our body, the fringes hang off it. They represent the two aspects of G-d's being: His true self that is totally beyond our grasp, and the tiny fraction of His being we can experience

The tradition to wear a kippah developed as a sign of our recognition that there is Someone "above" us who watches our every action...

Why do I have to actually cover my head as long as I know G-d is above me in my heart and mind?

I have often wondered why many religious Jews have long hairy beards. Is this, like the kipah, a means of identifying oneself as a Jew or do the beards serve some other purpose?

I saw the craziest thing in the Code of Jewish Law. It tells you how to tie your shoes!

"What should I wear today - the black jacket or the blue?" How boring! Where's the individuality? Where's the freedom of expression? Do you people have no originality at all?