The concept of “blessings” gets tossed around widely and casually these days. After all, what is social media without a slew of (sincere or ironic) #blessed captions? But in Judaism, blessings are an ...

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See more of our trusted coverage when you search. Prefer Newsweek on Google to see more of our trusted coverage when you search. Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, is a time meant for celebration and ...

Michael Baror, deputy ambassador at the Israeli embassy in Kenya (with watering can), plants a tree at the Ramogi Institute of Advanced Technology in Kisumu, Kenya. Photo by Ryan Torok With the ...

It seems like there’s a blessing for everything in Judaism. When you eat fruit, you can say one blessing. When you smell a fresh flower, there’s another. And when you see a two-headed snake or a spiky ...

As sunrise broke over New York City on the morning of April 8, 1981, Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi — at the time he was known just as Zalman Schachter — stood on the observation deck of the Empire ...

Jewish legal tradition teaches that we should recite 100 blessings every day. This presents an opportunity and a challenge. How might I fill up my quota today? The numbers start adding up if I pray in ...

When I worked at a Catholic college, the nuns were forever blessing me, even when I hadn’t sneezed. The nuns’ blessings were like a warm, fuzzy blanket on a cold winter night. During my seven years at ...