Blogerim

Last year’s “8 Facts” about the Jewish Feast of Dedication already provided you with detailed knowledge about Hanukkah.

But do you know whether to put the candles from left to right or from right to left into the hanukkiah and from which side you should start lighting the candles? Find out now with one of the most beautiful genres – the explanatory film:

On 8 November 2017, the German Federal Constitutional Court issued a delayed press release on a decision from 10 October 2017: the civil status law will have to allow a third gender by the end of 2018.

The media reacts with increased coverage on people who identify as intersexual or queer. For those who are queer, it’s difficult to find a place in a heteronormative world that only knows female or male, but nothing in between.

Tom Chai Sosnik’s story shows how queer people can find their place in society, and how not only they but everyone can benefit from it. Tom celebrated his coming out as transgender in spring 2015 with remarkable aplomb – in a ceremony performed by Rabbi Tsipi Gabai at a Jewish school in California, supported by his family.

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Simhat Torah

Jakob Steinhardt, Thora Tänzer (Torah Dancer), ca. 1934; Jewish Museum Berlin, purchased with funds provided by Stiftung DKLB, photo: Jens Ziehe.
You can find more information on our holdings related to Simhat Torah in our online collections (in German).

What is it and how is it celebrated?

Over the course of the year, the Torah is read from beginning to end in the synagogue, from the first through the fifth Book of Moses. On Simhat Torah, literally “Rejoicing with the Torah,” → continue reading