Yemenite Cabbage Salad (Lori Riegel) When I was growing up our go-to cookbook for Jewish holidays was “Tradition in the Kitchen,” published in 1976 by the sisterhood of our synagogue, North Suburban Beth El in Highland Park, Ill. My mom had a few copies and gave me one when I moved into my first… Read more »
On Yom Kippur, when we beat our chests during the confession, maybe we should be knocking instead on our heads. After all, isn’t that where all the trouble starts? On this most physically demanding of Jewish days, Jewish tradition has us beat the heart side of our chests, as… Read more »
The 10 days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are a traditional period of reflection. But that ritual is often lost in an era where much reflection happens publicly in 140 characters or less. Reboot’s 10Q, a national project that asks people to answer a question a day online… Read more »
The Arizona Jewish Post asked Tucson’s congregational rabbis for a few words on how they hope to inspire their congregants for the new year. Here are their diverse and enlightening responses:… Read more »
Rosh Hashanah is traditionally a time for rabbis to weigh in about the Jewish and American issues closest to their heart — and many also devote one of their High Holiday sermons to Israel. It’s an opportunity to speak to a sanctuary packed full of people, most of whom… Read more »
(JTNews) — I have a bush outside of my house that blooms brilliant flowers each spring. With those flowers come honeybees. Lots and lots of bees. When the bush starts growing out of control and I have this urge to break out my clippers and start trimming, something stops… Read more »
LOS ANGELES (JTA) — Here’s the buzz about Rosh Hashanah: Beyond a congregation or family, it takes a hive to have a holiday. You may have your tickets, new dress or suit and High Holidays app, but without the honey in which to dip a slice of apple, where… Read more »
Women of the Wall leader Anat Hoffman gestures toward a new platform built for egalitarian prayer at Robinson's Arch. (JTA/Yonatan Sindel/Flash90) TEL AVIV (JTA) — Israel’s religious services minister, Naftali Bennett, has unveiled a temporary platform for non-Orthodox prayer at Robinson’s Arch, the archaeological site adjacent to the Western Wall plaza used by egalitarian groups. The platform, which will include Torah scrolls, prayer books and prayer shawls and be open… Read more »
LOS ANGELES (Jewish Journal) — I started building my sukkah in December. To those of you who are sukkah DIYers, you know how ridiculous this sounds. A sukkah is the ritual hut that Jews build each year on the holiday of Sukkot, which begins this year on the evening… Read more »
Chicken Rolls with Orange Sauce, which adds some sweetness to the poultry -- perfect for Rosh Hashanah. ("Helen Nash's New Kosher Cuisine," Overlook Press) NEW YORK (JTA) — Nearly 30 years ago, when my first cookbook was published, I wrote that kosher cooking wasn’t just about traditional recipes like gefilte fish and chopped liver, that you could make gourmet meals and international dishes using kosher ingredients. Since then, many new kosher ingredients… Read more »
An illustration from "Jewish Fairy Tale Feasts: A Literary Cookbook," which offers recipes along with its collection of Jewish folk tales. (Courtesy Interlink Publishing Group) (JTA) — Shofars, apples and honey, make room for pomegranates, couscous and pumpkins. The new crop of children’s books for the High Holidays opens a world beyond the beloved traditional symbols of the New Year (Rosh Hashanah begins at sundown on Sept. 4). From ancient times to today, the savory,… Read more »
Matt Bycer showing off an etrog from his farm in the backyard of his home in Scottsdale, Ariz., Sept. 20, 2012. (Chavie Lieber) (JTA) — Matt Bycer is like any other 33-year-old attorney who wakes up at the crack of dawn to exercise. Except that rather than sweating to a P90X regimen, Bycer, in a T-shirt, shorts and cowboy hat, lugs 170 buckets of water across his backyard in Scottsdale, Ariz., to… Read more »
(JTA) — Don’t turn off your phone — it’s not an announcement typically heard as religious services begin. But congregants at a Miami Beach High Holidays service for young adults will be asked to use their cellphones to send text messages to the rabbi during parts of the Rosh… Read more »
Right to left: Jakob Staszevski, Tyson Herberger and Rebecca Herberger at Kalatowki Lodge in southern Poland, Sept. 6, 2012. (Cnaan Liphshiz) ZAKOPANE, Poland (JTA) — In southern Polish woods, an unfamiliar blast alarms hikers and wildlife as it pierces the still of a misty morning. It has been a long time since a shofar echoed in these mountains. At the narrow end of the traditional Jewish horn are the puckered… Read more »
One way to keep things even and even-tempered in your sukkah this holiday and election season. (Edmon J. Rodman) LOS ANGELES (JTA) — In an election year, a sukkah divided against itself cannot stand. Especially in the swing states, where each party is basically claiming that if the other wins we’ll all be living in sukkahs, political dinner conversation this Sukkot could really topple an already shaky house.… Read more »
Gilad Shalit is greeted by cheering crowds as he finally returns to his family home in Mitzpe Hila, Israel after five years in captivity, Oct. 18, 2011. (IDF spokesperson) NEW YORK (JTA) — JTA follows and updates some of the stories on which it reported during 5772. * Skeleton competitor Bradley Chalupski followed through on his plans to make aliyah, moving to Israel from Lake Placid, N.Y., where he had spent two years practicing on the bobsled… Read more »
CHICAGO (JUF News) — Ready for a clean slate? We Jews are lucky to get a chance to start over every fall as the shofar sounds a wake-up call in each of our lives. With the changing leaves, the crispness in the air and new Justin Bieber Trapper Keepers… Read more »
Last Yom Kippur, a fasting Brenda Rienhardt sat in the hallway outside her classroom studying for a test while watching online Yom Kippur services on her laptop. “I wanted to keep up with what was going on religiously and not fail my test,” said Rienhardt, 26, a Fort Lauderdale,… Read more »
Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz The start of the Jewish New Year, the month of Tishrei, is filled with holy days, among them four foundational celebrations: Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot and Simchat Torah-Shemini Atzeret. They are quite different from one another. Yet we may also think of all four holidays as two pairs… Read more »
NEW YORK (JTA) — Children beginning to acquire language face some amusing obstacles. Confusing basic words is one of them. My son, for example, loved to stretch out his arms and tell me about something that was the biggest or the best “… in the whole wide word.”My heart… Read more »
