Being Jewish at Christmas: Embracing the spirit of the season
As the holiday season unfolds, there’s an undeniable magic in the air. Twinkling lights line the streets, carols ring out from speakers in stores, and an unmistakable warmth fills the chill of December. For...
Tactical menorahs: A new first for the IDF Rabbinate
Under the shadow of the war in the Gaza Strip, Lebanon and Syria, the Israel Defense Forces are preparing for the holiday of Chanukah.
In the past few weeks, the IDF Rabbinate worked to distribute...
Progressives ‘celebrating’ Chanukah
This year’s first Chanukah candle will be lit on the evening of Wednesday, Dec. 25, in a remarkable ecumenical link-up of Christmas festivities and the Jewish celebration of candles and latkes, sufganiyot and the singing of...
A rabbi’s Christmas wishes
To date, I have experienced more than 70 Christmas seasons in my lifetime. having spent all the previous ones as an “outsider.” I admit to a life-long appreciation of the Yule season’s message and...
Chanukah 2024: Around the world for the eight nights of the ‘Festival of Lights’
This is one tour where you’re going to want to bring your appetite along. And quite possibly a towel.
Because oil—and plenty of it—is flowing during the eight days of Chanukah.
That’s why all diets are...
Simchat Torah Hakafot with Nova survivors and hostage families
In Israel, Shmeni Atzeret/Simchat Torah ended on Thursday night with large public celebrations. In Jerusalem, hundreds danced to live music at the Western Wall Plaza, Liberty Bell Park and various other sites.
Outside of Israel,...
Simchat Torah: Should We Dance or Cry?
As we approach the one-year anniversary of the devastating attack on Simchat Torah, a day celebrated as one of the most joyous in the Jewish calendar, we are confronted with a profound paradox....
Snapshots of Sukkot
Sukkot is a week-long holiday in Israel (as opposed to eight days in the Diaspora), with the first and last days as Yom Tov and national holidays in which businesses are closed. This year,...
Sukkot and Sukkah Songs
The seven days of Sukkot—celebrated by dwelling in the sukkah, taking the Four Kinds, and rejoicing—is the holiday when we expose ourselves to the elements in covered huts, commemorating G‑d's sheltering our ancestors as...
Heart and soul
Does it always rain on Sukkot, where you live? Here in South Africa, the farmers say as soon as the Jews put up their booths, the rains will come.
Besides the sukkah itself, on this...