HeyJaredNaomi Spector
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- Sep 28, 2026
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Candles, Herbs and Amulets in the Cemetery (opens the original)
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At a traditional funeral in the Sefardi community of Romania, Sefardim would circle the dead seven times before the body was laid down into the grave, and everyone would join hands around the body to form a protective circle to keep the spirits away.After each hakafah, the circle drew closer to the body and the mourners threw silver coins on the coffin before lowering it into the ground.Grave offerings were common in some historic Sefardi communities, as people sought to ease the journey of the
Animals in Jewish Folk Healing (opens the original)
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According to Jewish tradition, animals, like plants, are considered as kin to humans. It is not permitted for one to eat dinner before first feeding the animals. It is an obligation to rescue an animal from harm, even on Shabbat. It is not allowed to muzzle an animal while working in the field, preventing it from eating while it works. Even tying an animal’s tail is forbidden because it makes the animal incapable of driving away flies.According to the Zohar, a foundational work of Jewish mystici
Sukkot Herbalism (opens the original)
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How did Jews living under the shadow of the Inquisition celebrate Sukkot in secret?The Sefardim are Jews with roots in Sefarad, the land known today as Spain and Portugal. In 1492, following centuries of rising violence toward Jews, King Ferdinand II and Queen Isabella I issued the Alhambra Decree, which resulted in the expulsion of more than 150,000 Jews from the Kingdom of Spain, and later Portugal. After the expulsion of 1492, the Jews who converted and remained in Spain soon had to face the
Honey Cake in the Cemetery (opens the original)
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Over the centuries, and across the diaspora, many Jews have visited the cemetery to be close to the dead, especially during the month of Elul.In Haketía, a Moroccan and Algerian variant of Judeo-Spanish, the verb zorear means to visit the cemetery and pray at the graves. A related word, ziara, refers to the gathering held on the one year anniversary of a death, which took place in the cemetery.Visiting graves is a Jewish custom across the diaspora. For example, in Yiddish there is a similar term
Learning the Languages and Songs of Plants & Animals (opens the original)
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Rabbi Nachman wrote that each and every plant has a song which it sings, and it is from the songs of the grasses that the melody of the shepherd is formed.In Ashkenazi culture, animals are associated with health. It might be said, for example, that someone is as healthy as an ox or a horse. According to Marek Tuszewicki, someone who had recovered after a serious illness was said to have ‘grown a new coat’, just like animals regaining their healthy appearance after the winter. The Yiddish words k
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