Traditions

The Magen David is the six pointed star also known as the Star of David. Magen David literally means "shield of David." It is not certain when the star became a Jewish symbol, but it was used on synagogues as far back as the fourth century as is seen in the remains of a synagogue in Capernaum, Israel.

The Torah says “And every offering of your grain offering you shall season with salt; you shall not allow the salt of the covenant of your God to be lacking from your grain offering. With all your offerings you shall offer salt.” Leviticus 2:13

The Hebrew Scriptures, also known as the Tanak contains 39 books divided into 3 sections. The word TaNaK is an acronym: “T” for Torah, N for navi’im, the Hebrew word for prophets, and K for k’tovim, the Hebrew word for writings.

The custom of reading from the Torah on Saturday mornings is so old that it is difficult to be certain when it first started.

Why do we hang a mezuzah? Find out in 60 seconds.

Many cultures have different ways of dealing with death. One Jewish custom is to place a stone on the grave of someone who died.

Many understand the Torah to be the five books of Moses.

And that is true but what many Jews call Torah is not the Torah but what is commonly referred to as the Oral Torah. The Oral Torah contains statements made by Jewish teachers/Rabbis that helped shape modern Judaism and is responsible for instituting many Jewish traditions and interruptions of the Bible.

“And the Lord said to Moses, ‘Look, I have chosen the Levites from among the Israelites to serve as substitutes for all the firstborn sons of the people of Israel.