Ask the Expert: Joint Aliyot

Can two people be called up to the Torah at once?

By MJL Staff-MyJewishLearning.com

Question: I’ve been to synagogues where groups of people are called up together for one aliyah to the Torah. Sometimes it’s a couple who are about to get married, having a joint aufruf. Other times it’s a whole confirmation class, reciting one blessing in unison. Does this practice have any halakhic justification? Where did it come from?

–Charlie, Washington DC

Answer: I used to have a teacher who told me that the answer to every question in Jewish law is, “There’s a mahloket“–it’s up for debate. This holds true in regards to your question, Charlie. Some synagogue rabbis have decided to offer joint aliyot in their congregations, and others have chosen not to. Who’s right and who’s wrong? It depends who you ask, of course!

Continue reading.


Follow us on   

For more information about the upcoming holidays, check out our Shavuot & Summer Holiday Kit

Dr. Marcel Israel: Sephardic Jews in Bulgaria

From RadioSefarad.com

ENGLISH CORNER, CON LINDA JIMÉNEZ – This week’s trivia question: How many Jews in Bulgaria were saved from the Nazis, and who was instrumental in saving them?

Dr. Marcel Israel is a Sephardic Jew who was born in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, and now lives in Spain. He is the former President of the Jewish Community of Bulgaria, and currently the Secretary and Coordinator of International Relations for the National Council of Religious Communities in Bulgaria (NCRCB). He is also active in Religions for Peace-Europe, where he is Advisor to the President of that organization. Dr. Israel is a speaker of Ladino, also known as Judezmo, and an advocate for the preservation of that language. He has lectured in many countries, including the United States, Turkey, Brazil, Argentina and Venezuela, as well as in Bulgaria and Spain.

Dr. Israel spoke with us about the history, culture and language of the Sephardic Jews in Bulgaria.

Listen

How the “Schindler of Iran” Saved Hundreds of Persian Jews

By Zachary Solomon for Jewniverse
A dispatch from the annals of forgotten righteous gentiles:

Abdol Hossein-Sardari, the Iranian Consul in Nazi-occupied France, saved hundreds of Iranian Jews from certain death with a heroic ingenuity worthy of his nickname, “Schindler of Iran.”

Continue reading.

Follow us on   

Telling Our WHOLE Story - ELI Talk

President Richard Joel, President of Yeshiva University

BE INSPIRED - "Fashioning a life that matters."

Jews today choose Judaism and therefore, argues Richard Joel, need to both know and own the Jewish narrative in order to develop a meaningful connection to Jewish life. 

Today Judaism is no longer a "condition" it is a choice. President Richard Joel speaks about the significance of knowing our story—through tradition, history, God and our mission—and owning our story—through faith, passion, prayer and responsibility to humanity—to Jews choosing to remain Jews.

Shul adjusts requirements for b’nei mitzva

by Johanna Ginsberg, NJJN Staff Writer

The chanting of the haftara has become so closely associated with Ashkenazi b’nei mitzva that it even spawned a joke: The singer Neil Diamond is approached by a millionaire to perform at his son’s bar mitzva. “Fine,” says Diamond, “as long as I don’t have to do the whole haftara.”

But beginning with the newest crop of b’nei mitzva students at Congregation B’nai Israel in Millburn, families can opt out of having their children chant the haftara at their service. In its place, they will lead various sections of the davening, or prayer service, on Shabbat morning and/or Friday night.

The switch is in large part an effort to provide young people with skills they can use regularly as prayer leaders. Rather than focusing closely on the haftara — a selection from the books of Prophets that changes week to week based on that week’s Torah portion — the new policy offers the youngsters a chance to focus on skills like leading the Saturday morning Musaf and Torah services and chanting from the Torah.

Continue reading.

Follow us on