September Treasury - Sapphire

Eileen of GoofingOff created this beautiful Sapphire Treasury

'Sapphire for September' by Goofingoff

Sapphire is the birthstone for the month of September. Here's a sampling from the talented members Team Etsy Chai. Enjoy!

Serenity Mermaid Sewing... tamdoll $12.00	ESHET CHAYIL blue cryst... downtoearthcre... $85.00	Blue Kippah / Yarmulke ... gsager $25.00
Jewish Menorah Earring... lindab142 $11.17	Torah Mezzuzah Case ReneesNeedle $72.00	Hand Dyed Silk Wrap Bra... anjalicreation... $32.00
Tallit clips in Pinks &... Accentricities $38.00	Swarovski Crystal and P... beadsofparadis... $6.50	Aba Mug for Dad agru $23.00
Vintage NOS 7" Pew... OldStuffDontSu... $19.99	Jacob's Star lightofzionjew... $27.00	lapis lazuli crinkle ea... markaplan $88.88
Pomegranate Ear Clips -... Artesserae $350.00	Magen David crystal and... Meredithbead $30.00	Esther Necklace Hamsa H... EliShevaJewelr... $50.00
Star of David Jerusalem... racheltreasure... $19.95

Treasury tool supported by the dog house

Shavuot 2012 : 5772

May 27, 2012 | Sivan 6, 5772

Shavuot is a harvest holiday, coming exactly fifty days after Passover – the word Shavuot meaning “Weeks” because this is 7 weeks after Passover.  Of course, it’s a historical holiday, as well as an agricultural one.  Shavuot is the time when Jews celebrate receiving the Torah on Mount Sinai.

Special customs have developed through the years for celebrating Shavuot: attending temple services; reciting the Akdamut poem; reading the Book of Ruth; decorating the home with flowers and branches to symbolize the harvest; and eating foods made with milk and cheese.

How do you celebrate Shavuot?

A Taste of Torah - Parsha Shemot

This week's Torah portion is the beginning of the book of Exodus which details the enslavement of the Israelites.

Pharaoh first accuses the Israelites of becoming too numerous, then sets fiscal oppressors (sarei misim) over them, and only after that does he choreograph a policy of murdering male Israelite infants. Each pharaonic gesture represents the increased embitterment of Israelite lives. How may we better understand this subtle descent to enslavement?

Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch explains:

The first taxes (misim) they had to pay as citizens are mentioned in Exodus 1:14. The Israelites still retained their rights, but had to pay for their right to protection by special levy of a labor-tax . .  After that, they were degraded to slaves: creatures without any right of appeal or redress for any wrongs committed against them. It no longer says that “Pharaoh oppressed them” but states that the “Egyptians oppressed them.” In other words, the people received the right to treat them as slaves. Then the third degree was added, that the Egyptians “embittered” their lives . . . The root and beginning of this indescribable maltreatment was strangeness (gerut), the supposed lack of rights as a foreigner. That is why the laws of Torah concerning the rights of foreigners offer the profoundest contrast to all other national laws up to this very day . . . The degree of justice in a land is measured not so much by the rights accorded to the native-born inhabitants, to the rich, or people who have representatives looking after their interests, but by what justice is meted out to the completely unprotected “stranger.” (Hirsch, Commentary on the Torah: Exodus, 9)

As Jews in the Diaspora and in Israel, we must never forget the historical lesson of Egypt rooted in this week’s parashah. May we all internalize Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch’s teaching: “The degree of justice in a land is measured . . . by what justice is meted out to the completely unprotected ‘stranger.’”


Shabbat Shalom!


*Source: A Commentary by Rabbi Matthew Berkowitz, director of Israel Programs, JTS


Posted by Linda Blatchford

Shavuot - The Festival of Weeks - eve of June 7

This year Shavuot, or the Festival of Weeks, falls from the evening of June 7 through nightfall on June 9 (except in Israel, where it is only celebrated for one day). During this holiday we celebrate the day G-d gave the Torah to the Israelites assembled at Mount Sinai 40 days after the Exodus from Egypt.


It is noteworthy that the holiday is called the time of the giving of the Torah, rather than the time of the receiving of the Torah. The sages point out that we are constantly in the process of receiving the Torah, that we receive it every day, but it was first given at this time. Thus it is the giving, not the receiving, that makes this holiday significant.

But it's a holiday that is also connected to the season of the harvesting of grain. In the days of the Temple in Jerusalem, two loaves of bread from the wheat harvest were given as an offering on Shavuot.

Judaica Wine Charms

Continuing with the harvest theme, Shavuot was also the first day which people could bring the first fruits of the Israeli growing season (Bikkurim): wheat, barley, grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives, and dates.

Pomegranate wall hanging

Although Shavuot has no defined commandments (mitzvot) other than refraining from work, a special service in temple, and holiday meals, it does have many customs, which can be remembered by the anagram acharit (“last” in Hebrew):

Akdamut: the reading of a special poem during morning services on Shavuot. This is traditionally read just before that day's Torah reading.

Chalav: “Dairy”, eating dairy meals during the holiday. Popular choices include cheesecake, cheese blintzes, cheese kreplach, and, my daughter's favorite, cheese burekas.

Cheese Plate

Ruth: The reading from the Book of Ruth at morning services.

Yerek: The use of greenery to decorate synagogues and homes during the holiday.

Torah: All night Torah study. On the holiday of Shavuot, the entire Jewish nation heard from G‑d the Ten Commandments. The next day Moses went up to Mount Sinai, where he was taught by G‑d the rest of the Torah—both the Written and Oral Laws—which he then transmitted to the entire nation.

Sterling Torah Pendant

Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah

On the fifteenth day of this seventh month is the Festival of Sukkot, seven days for the L-RD... on the eighth day, there shall be a holy convocation for you. -Leviticus 23:34


Tishri 22, the day after the seventh day of Sukkot, is the holiday Shemini Atzeret. In Israel, Shemini Atzeret is also the holiday of Simchat Torah. In the Diaspora, where extra days of holidays are held, only the second day of Shemini Atzeret is Simchat Torah: Shemini Atzeret is Tishri 22 and 23, while Simchat Torah is Tishri 23. This year those correspond to September 29 (at sundown)-October 1.

Gilded Torah Print Reproduction

This holiday is characterized by utterly unbridled joy, which surpasses even the joy of Sukkot. The joy reaches its climax on Simchat Torah, when we celebrate the conclusion – and restart – of the annual Torah-reading cycle.

Tree of Life Print

The first day, Shemini Atzeret, features the prayers for rain, officially commemorating the start of the Mediterranean (i.e., Israeli) rain season, and the Yizkor (prayer supplicating G‑d to remember the souls of the departed).

Sterling Silver Torah pendant

The highlight of the second day, Simchat Torah ("The Joy of the Torah"), is the hakafot, held both on the eve and morning of Simchat Torah, in which we march and dance with Torah scrolls around the reading table in the synagogue. (In many synagogues, hakafot are also conducted on the eve of Shemini Atzeret.)

Crystal Ring

On this joyous day when we conclude the Torah, it is customary for every man (and women in Conservative and Reform movements) to take part in the celebration by receiving an aliyah. The children too receive an aliyah!

Shema Pendant

Thanks, Dear Blog Readers for checking out our blog. We wish everyone a "Hag Sameach" (Happy Holiday). 

By Linda B, EtsyChai Team Captain