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.
New Fruits and Old Crumbs for Rosh HaShanah
My husband and I experimented with a CSA (community-supported agriculture) this year for the first time. It was like getting a surprise box every week. In our second CSA, we pulled out something we’d never seen before.
Mishkan HaNefesh, Rosh HaShanah Morning and Torah Reading Options
The most traditional texts for the Torah reading on Rosh HaShanah morning are Genesis 21 and Genesis 22. In many congregations that observe two days of the holiday, it is most customary to read 21 on the first day and 22 on the second day. Genesis 21 begins with the notion that God remembered our matriarch Sarah and enabled her to have a child. The idea of remembering is tied to a name of Rosh HaShanah in the Bible: the Day of Remembrance. This is the lesson: God remembers us as God remembers Sarah. To paraphrase a very different cultural artifact: “God knows when we have been bad or good so be good for goodness sake.
Incidence of anti-Semitism in Baltimore over Rosh Hashanah
Environmental Stewardship on the Eve of Rosh Hashanah: The People's Climate March
Selichot: A Soft Start Toward Repentance
We're late, so we rush to be in front of another person in line. We speak rudely to a sales caller who is only trying to do her job. We snap at a family member because we're tired.
Shanah Tovah to the Guards and Soldiers
Tonight we celebrate Rosh HaShanah, one of my favorite Jewish holidays - though each is my favorite in its own way.
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.
The Torah In Haiku: Nitzavim / Vayeilech
Moses warns the people that future generations will suffer punishment "because they have forsaken the covenant" (Deuteronomy 29:24). But he assures them that "you shall call [the blessing and the curse] to mind ... and shall return to Adonai your God." (Deuteronomy 30:1-2)