Tagged Yom Kippur

You ain’t heard Kol Nidre yet

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 »

Confessing our sins on Yom Kippur – and remembering to act nobly

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 »

HIGH HOLIDAYS FEATURE: Casting away your sins at Tashlich — it’s not just fish food

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 »

Breaking Yom Kippur fast with international fare from Greece to Zimbabwe

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 »

Yom Kippur without fasting: How kids can atone, too

NEW YORK (MyJewishLearning) — For most adults, the central experience of Yom Kippur is fasting. By abstaining from food and drink, we exercise control over our bodies and do not give in to our most basic impulses. This makes it pretty easy to feel the “affliction” that the Torah… Read more »

High Holidays Feature: Going around the world to break the fast

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

Would Youkilis play on Yom Kippur?

Kevin Youkilis

PHILADELPHIA (Jewish Exponent) — Kevin Youkilis says he truly doesn’t know what he would do if faced with the same dilemma as Hank Greenberg, Sandy Koufax and Shawn Green. What if the Boston Red Sox are scheduled for a post-season game on Yom Kippur, which begins on Friday night,… Read more »