Years before composing the popular Friday night piyut, Lechah Dodi, the Kabbalist, Rabbi Shlomo HaLevi Alkabetz, (1505-1584) wrote a letter entitled Iggeres Alkabetz, about a wonderful Shavuos night he experienced […]
Several years ago I wrote in this column about the Piyut Yetziv Pigam which is recited on the second day of Shavuot before the reading of the Haftara. I remarked […]
In the Mishna and in the Talmuud the festival of Shavuot is called Atzeret. What is the meaning of this name and why was the festival called so? A variety […]
Since we are now in the period of counting the Omer, the following excerpt is of particular relevance. The Gaon Rabbi Isaiah b. Abraham HaLevi Horowitz writes in his Shnei […]
Last year, on the occasion of Shavuot, I wrote about Yetziv Pitgam, which is said on the second day of the festival after the reading of the first verse of […]
On the festival of Shavuot, the Oriental and Sephardic communities recite Azharot. This is the name given to the liturgical compositions or Piyyutim which enumerate the 613 commandments of the […]