High Holidays

(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 »

Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi

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 »

Every four years, the intersection appears: the Days of Awe cross paths with the final weeks of the presidential campaign. The debate grows more heated.  Talk of policy may dominate the conversation as we dip apples in honey on Rosh Hashanah or as we break the fast on Yom… Read more »

A young woman rides her bicycle by Azrieli Center on the car-free Ayalon highway in Tel Aviv on Yom Kippur. (Miriam Alster/Flash90/JTA)

TEL AVIV (JTA) — With its lively beaches, all-night clubs and restaurants serving ham and shrimp, Tel Aviv is a city known more for its Speedos than its spirituality. And while the Orthodox may spend Yom Kippur praying in synagogues, secular Jews are more likely to spend the Day… Read more »

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 »

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 »

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. (JTA) – If the Jewish Council on Public Affairs has its way, it won’t be the presidential election, the ailing economy, social justice or personal ethics that top the list of High Holidays sermon topics this year. The public policy group is hoping that the study… Read more »

For Lee Weissman, a Breslov Chasid in Irvine, Calif., the recent onset of Elul caps a spiritual journey he began a month earlier with the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.Weissman, a teacher at the Tarbut v’Torah Community Day School in Irvine and a scholar of Southeast… Read more »

Breaking the fast has its own set of traditions. Ashkenazim usually break the fast with something salty, like herring, because they believe the fish restores salt lost by the body while fasting. Herring also was the cheapest fish in Eastern Europe, where the custom originated. Egg and cheese dishes… Read more »

Don’t let Maimonides catch you napping on Rosh Hashanah. His famous quote, “Awake, awake, you slumberers from your sleep, inspect your actions and return” — usually found in the High Holidays prayer book before the sounding of the shofar — is meant as the ultimate shluf alarm, his righteous… Read more »