Yehuda Shurpin

1 week ago | chabad.org | Yehuda Shurpin

The sages instituted handwashing before eating bread, even if your hands are already clean. Why? Because back in Temple times, hands were considered inherently impure and could contaminate terumah, which was designated for the priests. The sages then extended this practice to all Jews. Even today, although terumah isn’t eaten in our time, We are bound to uphold this practice, getting ready for the day the Temple is rebuilt.

3 weeks ago | chabad.org | Yehuda Shurpin

I noticed that in the “Today in Jewish History” section on your site, there is no mention of the 26th of Sivan as the yahrzeit of the great Talmudic sage Yonatan ben Uziel. Why is that? In Israel, there is a large pilgrimage to his grave near the town of Amuka on that day. Reply: Since this question comes up frequently, I will address it in some detail. Who Was Yonatan ben Uziel? The Talmud relates that the great sage Hillel had 80 exceptional students.

3 weeks ago | chabad.org | Yehuda Shurpin

Although the most popular way to depict the Luchot (Tablets) is with rounded tops, there is actually no authentic source in Jewish tradition for this. The main source for this erroneous image seems to come from Christian art during the Renaissance, with some depictions dating even earlier. To be sure, one can also find old Jewish books and manuscripts with illustrated title pages that have the Luchot depicted with rounded tops.

1 month ago | chabad.org | Yehuda Shurpin

One of the more common—and surprisingly complex—questions people ask is: What brachah do you make on pizza? Is it Mezonot, like cake or crackers, or Hamotzi, like regular bread? As with many halachic questions, the answer depends not only on the ingredients, but also on how and why the food is being eaten. Let’s take a closer look. Bread or Not Bread? To understand the blessing on pizza, we first need to understand a halachic category known as pat haba b’kisnin.

1 month ago | chabad.org | Yehuda Shurpin

Throughout history, Jews have been called the “People of the Book” (or “Am HaSefer”) by both Jews and non-Jews. The simple and most obvious reason for this is the strong and eternal bond between the Jews (the people) and the Torah (the book), which includes both the written and oral traditions, and all of the works that expound upon them. Indeed, Jews are constantly studying or lecturing on various Torah texts.