Rethinking the Holy Days
I’ve come to the conclusion we need to change the date of Simchat Torah. Our Jewish festivals must be re-envisioned as inspirational community gatherings of joyful spiritual Jewish celebration. Every single festival needs to be a time of great community involvement and meaning.
10 Jewish Reasons To Quit Smoking
Rosh HaShanah is over, and it’s time to start acting on your new year’s resolutions.
Rosh HaShanah: The New Year of Social Justice
Rosh HaShanah is the holiday of beginning, of potential, of optimism, of hope.
Rosh Hashanah – A Personal Reflection
My earliest memories of the High Holy Day season, in particular Rosh HaShanah, involve me as a child sneaking out of services to use the restroom, only to find myself spending the remainder of the service with my brother in the child care room. During the short time I would stay in services,
Rosh HaShanah Teaches Us About Making Every Moment Count!
The month preceding the High Holy Days is called Elul. It is a time of reflection before we “officially” begin the important process of teshuvah.
It's Elul: 6 Ways to Get Ready for the High Holidays
Torah Readings for Rosh Hashanah
The Torah and Haftarah readings for Rosh Hashanah all connect with, and illustrate, one or another of the themes of the holiday. I use the plural advisedly here, because there have been a variety of readings from early on-long before the onset of modernity and the Reform movement.
Torah Cantillation for the High Holy Days
There are many elements which make the High Holy Days a unique experience. Often, congregations swell to double or triple their usual size, the musical settings of even common liturgy are different, and some might alter their dress by wearing either traditionally all-white garments or more formal wear than they would sport on Shabbat. Some congregations even have unique garments to dress their Torah scrolls in white.
3 Prayers for the Jewish New Year
Rosh HaShanah, the Jewish new year, begins Sunday, September 29, at sundown. As we prepare, emotionally and spiritually, for these Days of Awe, we offer three prayers for the season.
High Holiday Lessons from ‘Orange Is the New Black’
Recuperating from a broken ankle this summer, I had time to catch up on my binge streaming. One of my current favorites is the popular Netflix series Orange Is the New Black, which began streaming its seventh and final season on July 26.