Special Sections

LOS ANGELES (JTA) — On Kol Nidre, we sing for our lives. At the minyan where I pray, as a lay “shaliach tzibur,” or service leader, I was asked to lead the singing this year, and I was starting to wonder if I was up to it. I wasn’t… Read more »

NEW YORK (JTA) — Few prayers are as well known to Jews as Ashamnu (“We have sinned …”) and Al Chet (“For the sin …”), the twin confessions of Yom Kippur. Belief in human sinfulness is more central to Judaism than we think. Sin may not be “original,” as… Read more »

The Mitzvah Magician (Kar-Ben Publishing)

BOSTON (JTA) — A giant googly-eyed fish, mischievous magicians and sukkah-eating squirrels are among the characters in a new crop of engaging Jewish children’s books that relate to the observance or themes of the Jewish High Holidays. Here’s a rundown of the new books: Oh No, Jonah! Tilda Balsley,… Read more »

The Smoked Salmon Omelet is a satisfying way to break the fast. (Ahuva Staum)

(JTA) — Yom Kippur, the most somber day of the Jewish year, is also called the Day of Atonement and reminds us that we are all accountable for our actions. The concept of New Year’s resolutions that mark our secular New Year’s Day comes from the Jewish idea of… Read more »

On the first day or Rosh Hashanah, a body of flowing water with fish and sime bread crumbs are all that's needed to begin the transformative process of tashlich. (Edmon J. Rodman)

LOS ANGELES (JTA) — Can ridding oneself of a year’s sins really be as simple as tossing a piece of bread into the water? Basically that’s tashlich, or “casting away,” a custom that many Jews practice each year at the seashore, lakeshore, stream or even koi pond. Simply find… Read more »

NEW YORK (JTA) — In July I traveled to Ghana with 17 American rabbis. We spent 12 days constructing the walls of a school compound in partnership with a local Ghanian community ravaged by hunger, poverty and labor exploitation. More important than our efforts to mix cement and schlep… Read more »

CHICAGO (Chicago Jewish News) — Shortly after I became a vegan, around 20 years ago, I ordered my first “vegan option” at a Jewish organizational dinner. It arrived: a plateful of raw celery and carrot sticks arranged around a cup of something ranch dressing-ish that probably wasn’t even vegan.… Read more »

Dr. Ruth Westheimer (Maxine Dovere)

Born Karola Ruth Siegel in Frankfurt, Germany, the woman now known as “Dr. Ruth” saw her father arrested by Nazis and said a final goodbye to her mother as she boarded a Kindertransport rescue train to Switzerland. By 17, she was in the British mandate of Palestine on a… Read more »

Give a little … Change a lot. That is the motto of the B’nai Tzdek Tucson teen philanthropy program, which will have its annual kickoff event Sunday, Sept. 9, 1-3 p.m. at the Tucson Jewish Community Center. Teens contribute $180 to a B’nai Tzedek Fund at the Jewish Community… Read more »

Barbara Shore and her daughter Deborah Shore participate in a project at Handmaker during the Israeli Artists Exchange in February. (Photo: Lori Riegel)

Coming from a Jewish family that valued education propelled Barbara Shore, now 91, into academia. Becoming a feminist happened along the way. Her husband, Jack Shore, whom she married in 1942, was instrumental in that progression. “We didn’t call it then,” Shore told the AJP in her apartment… Read more »

NEW YORK (JTA) — Cooking has been a passion for me, and passing on my knowledge and experience to a new kosher audience one of my greatest joys. When my two earlier books were published — “Kosher Cuisine” and “Helen Nash’s Kosher Kitchen” — that joy was mingled with… Read more »

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (JTA) — In our busy lives, there are lots of decisions to make. Though we know that quick judgments made without all the facts can be faulty, we do not have the time to dwell on each decision, and we learn to live with a kind… Read more »

NEW YORK (JTA) — The following is a review of the news highlights of the Jewish year 5772. September 2011 An Egyptian mob breaks into the Israeli Embassy in Cairo and Israeli personnel are stuck inside for hours until Egyptian commandos arrive at the scene. Israeli Air Force jets… Read more »

BOULDER, Colo. (JTA) — For many of us, let’s face it, the upcoming High Holidays will be anything but a high. Oh, we’ll pack every pew in the synagogues, dressed in our holiday best. We’ll be there for hours, rising when told to, sinking thankfully back into our seats,… Read more »

In this honey chicken recipe, the olive oil, soy sauce, garlic and pepper temper the honey perfectly. (Stuart Schnee)

(JTA) — So this is where it all comes together — all the thought, all the planning, the testing. And the tasting, the tasting and the tasting. (That’s the best part). A simanim-inspired menu brings added challenges, but also adds a level of meaning to your Rosh Hashanah meal. … Read more »

Gavin Cohen with his cousin, Trinity Hungerford

Every year dozens of Tucson teens who turn 13 choose a cause to support — through deeds, funds or both — as they prepare for the ceremonies and celebrations that mark their coming of age as B’nai Mitzvah. These mitzvah projects, as they’ve come to be known, assist a… Read more »

Rebecca Light and Joshua Wertlieb

Rebecca Sara Light, daughter of Marcia and Ken Light of Tucson, and Joshua Michael Wertlieb, son of Dr. Donald Wert­lieb and Lorre Polinger of West Newton, Mass., were married May 20, 2012 at the Phoenix Art Museum. Rabbi Steven Foster of Denver, Colo., a family friend, officiated. The matron… Read more »

Alexis Sokoloff holds the Torah at her Bat Mitzvah ceremony (Courtesy Gwen Sokolof)

Fourteen-year-old Alexis Sokoloff smiles as she recalls her Bat Mitzvah on June 9. “I wasn’t nervous at all,” she told the AJP. “I really love learning Hebrew.” Sokoloff was born with Down syndrome, but with the support of her parents, Gwen and Mitchell Sokoloff, and her younger sister, Rebecka,… Read more »

Paul Adler

On their 1964 honeymoon, Paul Adler and his bride, Clarise, went to Portuguese East Africa from Johannesburg, South Africa, where they met and courted. On that trip, “there was the usual fighting between two tribes,” says Adler. “I had a bit of a flu and went to the hospital.… Read more »

Tom Peled, founder of “Bike for the Fight,” with Israeli President Shimon Peres (Courtesy Tom Peled)

Tom Peled has a goal: Livestrong for the Jewish world. The Israeli is finding inspiration in biking champion Lance Armstrong’s cancer awareness organization as he prepares for a 3,000-mile bike trek across the United States to raise money for his own Bike for the Fight to support cancer research… Read more »