Archive for November 2017
Let’s Learn T’fillah: Netilat Yadayim
This short, interactive, animated video demonstrates how to recite the ritual hand-washing blessing, including a brief introduction and the Hebrew text. Part of the “Let’s Learn T’fillah” (Prayer) video series, this video was
Hand-Washing & Silence on Shabbat
This home video explores the custom of refraining from speaking between washing one’s hands and making the blessing over the bread. Referencing a wide variety of halachic sources, Rabbi Drew Kaplan describes several different
Blessing for Washing Hands: Al Netilat Yadayim
This short, interactive video introduces the basics of the ritual hand-washing before eating bread, including a slow, clear recitation of the blessing. Created by a young girl named Nicky in Colorado, this video
How to Wash Hands Before Eating Bread
This short animated video demonstrates how to perform the ritual hand-washing prior to eating bread, including a slow, clear recitation of the the blessings over hand-washing and eating bread, according to Orthodox Asheknazic
Hand-Washing Blessing in ASL
This video demonstrates how to sign the ritual hand-washing blessing in American Sign Language, which is especially helpful for those who are deaf or hard of hearing and those seeking to make their practice
Kiddush & Building Community: Humanistic Liturgy
This community-centered blessing over the wine was composed by Machar: The Washington Congregation for Secular Humanistic Judaism. Typical of this movement, founded in 1963 by the late Rabbi Sherwin T. Wine, the blessing omits any
Why Do We Wash Our Hands Before Eating Bread?
This short post explains the biblical origins behind the ritual hand-washing before bread, which is based on the ancient purity rituals of the Kohanim (Priests) in the Temple. This explanation was written by
Ritual Hand-Washing Meditation
In this short meditative practice, June Kozak Kane suggests intentions which one can ponder while performing the ritual hand-washing in order to make this act more meaningful. Although the author is specifically referring
Bread from the Earth: Food Justice Ceremony
This ceremony, meant to be performed before the blessing over the bread, encourages people to contemplate the source of their food, the process it went through to get onto the Shabbat table, and
Printable Hand Washing & Hamotzi Guide
This simple one-page card from Aish.com provides the Hebrew, English and transliterated texts of the blessings for the ritual washing of the hands and the bread. It also includes directions for the accompanying