Yom Kippur Blessings: For Starting Observance of the Day
On Yom Kippur, we share a holiday meal called seudat mafseket, the concluding meal before the fast begins. We begin the meal with haMotzi, the blessing over the challah
Preparing for the Days of Awe
During the year I spent studying in Jerusalem as a rabbinic student, it was impossible to escape the upcoming High Holy Days.
How to Understand the Timelessness of Jewish Time
Although we may think time moves in a linear fashion, Jewish holidays insert themselves in unexpected moments and places, seemingly out-of-sync with our expectations.
Lessons in the Mirror
Wrestling with Forgiveness
Sounds of Kol Nidrei
The Ultimate Jewish Finger Food
Baal t’kiah
Literally, “master of t’kiah,” meaning “one who sounds the shofar.”
Bein adam laMakom
Literally, “between a person and God.” Refers to the religious or ritual mitzvot, or sacred obligations. The Mishnah teaches that the day of Yom Kippur atones for sins between a person and God.
Bein adam lachaveiro
Literally, “between a person and their fellow.” Refers to ethical, moral, or social mitzvot that govern relationships between and among people.