The Music of the Shofar Service
Tekiah! Teruah! Shevarim! Tekiah Gedolah!
Un’taneh Tokef: The Awesome Sanctity of This Day
In the traditional liturgy, the special character of each holiday is particularly conveyed by the piyyutim (hymns, liturgical poems) that are recited or chanted on that day. Most of these piyyutim have been omitted in Reform liturgies since the nineteenth century, out of a sense that their Hebrew diction is too arcane and their theology too medieval. Yet, some of these poems have routinely been retained in Reform High Holy Day prayer books, particularly for Yom Kippur.
Preserving the Truth About World War II Vilna
“NOVA”’s new one-hour film, “Holocaust Escape Tunnel,” reminds us that in an era of alternative facts, science and history still can separate fact from fiction.
Honoring Jewish Rescuers this Holocaust Remembrance Day
More than a half century after the Holocaust, it is surely time that we acknowledge that saving one’s own is worthy of recognition and praise. Jews everywhere ought to take pride in these heroes of their own people.
This Synagogue Embraced a New Narrative for Teaching the Holocaust
Have you ever noticed that when we teach the Holocaust, we let the perpetrators dictate the story for us? We use their pictures and their propaganda to tell our story, forgetting that their agenda was to dehumanize the Jews.
How Technology Can Help Us Carry on Jewish Traditions
A high school student explains what he learned about Jewish tradition from his experience developing a smartphone app for a virtual Yom HaShoah candle.
Why I Believe in Ghosts
Read about one man’s conviction that he was summoned to Poland by his ancestral spirits to receive their desperate plea: Do not forget us!
Know Before Whom You Stand: A Poem for the 6 Million
This poem reflects the intensity of bearing witness at Majdanek, the Nazi extermination camp located in Lublin. The title, “Know Before Whom You Stand,” is a phrase that often appears above the Ark in the sanctuary of the synagogue.
Their Memory is My Memory: A Millennial Perspective on Holocaust Remembrance
The Holocaust did not impact my family in the same way of my peers whose grandparents are survivors, or my colleagues whose families escaped the war. Yet as a Jew, it is still my history.