Is Purim akin to a Jewish Halloween?
Though both Purim and Halloween share the custom of dressing in costume, that is about all the two holidays have in common.
Thanksgiving Meditation
God on High, What an amazing array of gifts Stand before us. Food, family, friends. Your bounty and grace. Let us remember those in need, And those who are also present here in silence: The fruit and vegetables picked by migrant workers. The fields planted and picked by underpaid laborers
Judaism and the Music of Thanksgiving
Ah, fall! In many parts of the country, the temperature has dropped, the leaves have turned shades of red, orange and yellow and are falling off the trees. It's time for Thanksgiving in the U.S.
For many Americans, the holiday evokes powerful sensory images
The Simple Art of Thanksgiving
As a rabbinical student in Israel I camped out with my classmates under a star-glutted Negev sky to see Comet Hyakutake burn its trail through the night. It was a Shehecheyanu moment, and we offered the blessing with wide eyes. I imagine that some wilderness wanderer may have felt the
Tricks, Treats, and Tradition: Being an American Jew on Halloween
Picture this: The setting was a dining room on the East Coast on Friday, October 31st, sometime in the late 1990s. It was dinnertime, and the father of the family was seated at the head of the table while the mother scurried back-and-forth between the kitchen