Baking Matzah Mark Podwal (b. 1945) Digitial archival pigment print on paper 7 7/16 x 7 9/16" USA, 2020 © Mark Podwal Matzah at the seder (ritual service and ceremonial dinner) on the first night of Passover represents the unleavened bread that the Children of Israel ate in their haste to leave Egypt. In the [...]
Bringing Wheat to be Ground into Flour for Passover Mark Podwal (b. 1945) Digitial archival pigment print on paper 7 7/16 x 7 9/16" USA, 2020 © Mark Podwal The Torah prohibits the eating of leavened bread during the festival of Passover, which is also called “The Feast of Unleavened Bread” (Exodus 13:3). When the [...]
Shabbat Parah Mark Podwal (b. 1945) Digitial archival pigment print on paper 7 7/16 x 7 9/16" USA, 2020 © Mark Podwal Shabbat Parah, the “Shabbat of the Red Heifer,” is the third of four special Shabbats during the month or so before Passover. Shabbat Parah’s special Torah reading, Numbers: 19:1–22, describes a ceremony of [...]
Purim Mark Podwal (b. 1945) Digitial archival pigment print on paper 7 7/16 x 7 9/16" USA, 2020 © Mark Podwal The Megillat Esther (Scroll of Esther) tells the story of the deliverance of the Jews in ancient Persia from the villain Haman’s plot “to destroy, kill and annihilate all the Jews, young and old, [...]
Shabbat Zakhor Mark Podwal (b. 1945) Digitial archival pigment print on paper 7 7/16 x 7 9/16" USA, 2020 © Mark Podwal Shabbat Zakhor, the “Shabbat of Remembrance” is the Sabbath immediately preceding Purim and is named for the additional Torah reading, Deuteronomy 25:17-19, which begins with the word zakhor, Hebrew for “remember.” The Torah [...]
Shabbat Shekalim Mark Podwal (b. 1945) Digitial archival pigment print on paper 7 7/16 x 7 9/16" USA, 2020 © Mark Podwal “The Shabbat of the Shekels” is the first in a series of four special Shabbats that begin before the festival of Purim and continue through Passover. Shabbat Shekalim is named for the supplementary [...]
Tu B’Shevat Mark Podwal (b. 1945) Digitial archival pigment print on paper 7 7/16 x 7 9/16" USA, 2020 © Mark Podwal Tu B’Shevat is a transliteration of the Hebrew date, “the fifteenth of the month of Shevat.” Traditionally named the “New Year of the Trees,” the holiday originated in the Talmud (commentative and interpretive [...]
Hanukkah Mark Podwal (b. 1945) Digitial archival pigment print on paper 7 7/16 x 7 9/16" USA, 2020 © Mark Podwal The eight-day festival of Hanukkah is celebrated with the kindling of a hanukkiyah (Hanukkah lamp). The Talmud (commentative and interpretive writings) recalls that when the Maccabees rededicated the defiled Jerusalem Temple a cruse of [...]
Simchat Torah Mark Podwal (b. 1945) Digitial archival pigment print on paper 7 7/16 x 7 9/16" USA, 2020 © Mark Podwal Simchat Torah, “The Rejoicing of the Torah,” is the day following the feast of Sukkot when the annual cycle of the Torah reading is completed and begins again. The holiday, not mentioned in [...]
Hoshana Rabbah Mark Podwal (b. 1945) Digitial archival pigment print on paper 7 7/16 x 7 9/16" USA, 2020 © Mark Podwal Hoshana Rabba is the seventh day of the festival of Sukkot, the celebration of the fall harvest. Hoshana is Hebrew for “please save (us)” and refers to a series of seven liturgical poems [...]
