Why is it a mitzvah to count the Omer?
8 months ago The Connections Staff 0
Benjamin Samuels// Brooklyn Heights, NY Featured image via www.chabad.org Although Shavuot has already passed, it is nevertheless helpful to understand the mitzvah involving counting the days leading up to Shavuot. There are forty-nine days between the second day of Pesach and the first day of Shavuot, for which we are given one of the strangest Read More
Shavuot: A Day of Honor
8 months ago The Connections Staff 0
Benjamin Rosen// Apex, NC Featured image by Ahuva Klein via www.chabad.org On Shavuot we celebrate the day the Jewish people were given the 10 Commandments at Mount Sinai. We were given this honor with the condition that we would follow them and, most importantly, pass them on through our children and educate them in our Read More
Go to Hell
8 months ago The Connections Staff 0
Why the Jewish version isn’t what you thought it was Benjamin Rosen// Apex, NC Ethan Benenson// Hunterdon County, NJ What comes to mind first when you hear the word ‘hell?’ Fire, brimstone and demons? For us, the mention of hell conjures an image of a colossal washing machine—not what you might expect. This is because Read More
The Story of Lag B’Omer, in Verse
8 months ago The Connections Staff 0
Ethan Benenson// Hunterdon County, NJ Graphic by Walder Education Pavilion, which reads “Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai” Many years ago there was a man named Rabbi Akiva who tried to help his students connect, But instead they did the opposite, so they began dying from plague due to their disrespect. Until the 33rd day of Read More
How to maintain our Jewish identity: Learn from CTeen Skokie!
8 months ago The Connections Staff 0
Yair Shpiler// Toronto, Canada Featured image caption: Student Ori Hoch-Stein with her kosher meal. As I was anxiously deciding which university to enroll in next year, I stumbled across a Chabad article that relieved a lot of the stress associated with maintaining my Jewish identity and pride in an overwhelmingly non-Jewish environment. The article was Read More
How to be Successful: The Jewish Way
9 months ago The Connections Staff 0
Ethan Benenson// Hunterdon County, NJ One of the things that made the CTeen INTL Shabbaton so incredible was getting a chance to meet so many inspiring Jewish people. On Friday, which was the first full day of the program, my chapter of CTeen Hunterdon County took the day to meet three successful Jewish professionals my Rabbi Read More
Escaping our own Egypt
10 months ago The Connections Staff 0
Benjamin Rosen// Apex, NC Featured image by the Children’s Museum of Atlanta The Jewish people celebrate the Exodus from Egypt on the yearly holiday of Pesach, the day we became free after hundreds of years of slavery. We remember the hardships we have been through and reflect on the freedom we enjoy today. Importantly, it Read More
The Seder Plate: A symbolism to my life
10 months ago The Connections Staff 0
Chloe Baker// Fairfax, VA Ever since I was young, my favorite holiday has been Passover. Although eight days of matzo is not to my liking, I have always found the holiday to be fascinating and enjoyable. Plenty of work goes into the Seder meals that happen on the first two nights of the eight-day holiday. Read More