Galilee Diary: And a Happy New Year
The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Speak to the Israelite people thus: In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall observe complete rest, a sacred occasion commemorated with loud blasts.
Rosh HaShanah Food
Growing up on Long Island my family belonged to a 350-family congregation. Each year I happily anticipated the High Holiday services and the sense of belonging I felt when I entered the sanctuary.
Yom Kippur: A Personal Reflection
by P.J. Schwartz
(Originally published in Ten Minutes of Torah)
Yom Kippur and the Gift of Forgiveness
Yom Kippur in Vietnam
Yom Kippur, 1965, I was a Navy medical officer stationed aboard a destroyer off the coast of Vietnam.
Yom Kippur
We Get to Be Jewish
Growing up the child of a Jew-by-choice, everything about Judaism was a choice for us. For my mother, Judaism was a gift. She felt very proud to count herself among the Jewish people. She felt blessed to have the opportunity to do Jewish things.
Why Avinu Malkeinu is So Important After the Year We've Had
Every summer, I go through the same routine.
A Blessing for the New Year
There are pages
even in my new machzor
that I imagine stuck together,
remnants of honey from my daughter’s sticky fingers,
sacred fragments
of words and stories
memories
and possibilities
smudged
one atop the other
like sandcastles on a beach