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Finale
Clean
August 18, 2008 06:23 AM PDT

 
Tu to Tango
Clean
August 14, 2008 10:22 AM PDT
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Why is the 15th of Av the time to go dancing in the vineyards? What does the last king of Israel have to do with Tisha b'Av?

Midday Madness
Clean
August 11, 2008 06:40 AM PDT
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Should Tisha be-Av really be two days? What's the origin of the Baghdad Barbecue Break-fast? Is the Rema obsessed with high noon?

Mourners' Banquet
Clean
August 07, 2008 06:04 AM PDT
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Is it appropriate to fast for the entire Three Weeks? What does the Rema ban on the Eighth of Av? Can one be sad at a feast?

Night of Tears
Clean
August 04, 2008 01:54 AM PDT
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On Tisha be-Av, is Israel a lost daughter or an estranged wife? Why do we remember Samaria on the day of Judea's destruction? When does Jewish liturgy talk of Pisces, Leo and Sagittarius?

From Tranquility to Tragedy
Clean
July 31, 2008 06:13 AM PDT
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Does the Book of Eikha (Lamentations) end with a bang or a whimper? Why does Tisha be-Av have a special Saturday night dirge?

Kinot Address
Clean
July 28, 2008 07:25 AM PDT
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What's a funeral without music and singers? Who wrote the first Book of Kinot (Elegies)?

The Fast of the Fourth
Clean
July 18, 2008 06:30 AM PDT
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How did our enemies fatten up the Temple? Why is our mourning for the sacrificial service three-fold? Can fasts become feasts? Why do the Greeks get a shout-out in our penitential prayers?

Tammuz Crying
Clean
July 10, 2008 12:14 AM PDT
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When did the siege of Jerusalem end? Who was Tammuz? Where did Apostomos the Arsonist come from? Is there more to connect 17 Tammuz and 9 Av than a calendar?

Sh'mita XIV: Sabbatical Soul
Clean
February 04, 2008 12:35 PM PST
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Is the sabbatical year good for the soul? What does sh'mita fix in Israelite society? What is the mystical symbolism of the jubilee year? Can the seventh year in the Holy Land affect the whole world?

Sh'mita XIII: Market Forces
Clean
January 28, 2008 11:57 PM PST
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Can you pay people to pick your produce in the sabbatical year? How does your salmon steak become holy? What did the rabbis have against wild carrots? Is it against Torah law to export sacred produce?

Sh'mita XII: Tu BiShvat
Clean
January 21, 2008 07:52 AM PST
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How many New Years do you need? When does the fruit fall far from the tree? What law was Rabbi Akiva unsure about? Can a citron (etrog) be all things to all people?

Sh'mita XI: Feel the Burn
Clean
January 14, 2008 06:42 AM PST
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Does the barnyard need to keep an eye on the forest menu? Can you start a bonfire with oranges? When in the sabbatical year do you need a little help from your friends? Can one word in the Mishna change Jewish law forever?

TU BISHVAT DONATIONS: http://www.thisisourland.org/plant

Sh'mita X: Agent of the Court
Clean
January 10, 2008 10:39 PM PST
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When did Mishnaic judges get their feet dirty? Can court-appointed olive oil light up our lives? Did the medieval authorities give a fig about harvesting in the sabbatical year? Was the Chazon Ish religious enough for contemporary rabbis?

Sh'mita IX: Sale of the Century
Clean
December 31, 2007 09:51 AM PST
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Does the Torah forbid selling land in Israel to a non-Jew? How do Jews avoid burning their firstborn sheep and half-eaten boxes of pasta? Can a law in Knesset change halakhic reality? Can you pick your apple and eat it too?

Sh'mita VIII: Psst, Want to Buy a Country?
Clean
December 27, 2007 05:42 AM PST
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Does the Holy Land get less holy depending on its owners? Is taxpaying a matter of life and death? Who's a good witness in a sabbatical year? Have we settled the burning legal issues of 16th-century Tz'fat (Safed)?

Sh'mita VII: Sinai, Sanhedrin & Saints
Clean
November 14, 2007 05:46 AM PST
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Did Hillel "fix" the Torah? Is the center of the Jewish world about to shift? Is the sabbatical year just for saints? How is sh'mita like Purim? Can a misprint in Maimonides change the law for a millennium?

Sh'mita VI: The Big Five-Oh
Clean
November 06, 2007 03:58 AM PST
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Is "Cheshvan" really a Jewish month? Was the Temple destroyed in a sabbatical year? When does tradition trump reasoning? How do we know this year is sh'mita?

Sh'mita V: 7 of 49
Clean
October 31, 2007 07:40 AM PDT
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What is the relationship between the sabbatical (sh'mita) and jubilee (yovel) years? How many tribes do you need to "proclaim liberty throughout the land"? How many times does seven go into fifty anyway?

Sh'mita IV: Greater Israel?
Clean
October 24, 2007 04:13 AM PDT
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How far north does sh'mita go? Does it cross the Jordan? How did the sages encourage aliya? When is a Mosaic law from Sinai not what it appears?

Sh'mita III: Early Shabbat
Clean
October 17, 2007 09:13 AM PDT
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When does the sh'mita (sabbatical) year really begin? What do Shamai and Hillel agree on? What laws did Moshe (Moses) leave out of the Torah?

Sh'mita II: In Nach
Clean
August 29, 2007 06:34 AM PDT
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Do the Prophets ignore sh'mita, the sabbatical year? What was the proximate cause of the destruction of Bayit Rishon, the First Temple? What does the Hebrew servant have to do with sh'mita?

Sh'mita I: In the Torah
Clean
August 20, 2007 06:56 AM PDT
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What is the sabbatical year all about? How does it relate to the experiences of the Patriarchs? Is "sh'mita" about agriculture? How many seven-year cycles are there in the Torah? Follow us through the Five Books of Moses as we analyze the meaning of the upcoming year.