The Joys of Sukkot
During the Sukkot holiday, the Pico-Robertson neighborhood of Los Angeles erupts in joyful celebration. Our forty-plus kosher restaurants all have sukkot attached. There’s a sukkah on top of Ralph’s supermarket. One could conceivably sukkah...
Sukkot guide to help those at home celebrate holiday
Along with spending time in the sukkah and waving the “Four Species” or “Four Kinds” (etrog, lulav, arava and hadass) a central observance of the holiday of Sukkot is holding festive evening-time celebrations.
Known as Simchat Beit Hashoeva, they harken back to the...
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...
A safe Sukkot, at home and outside
Sukkot, the joyous Jewish Thanksgiving, was originally an agricultural holiday, a time of gathering a bountiful harvest. The sukkah itself—the primary symbol of the holiday—is a reminder of hastily built shelters the Jews endured in their...
Music for Yom Kippur: Kol Nidrei, The History of a Song and a Prayer
Kol Nidrei is an Aramaic phrase which means far more than its literal translation, “All Vows.” This statement of annulment of vows has become such a dominant part of the Jewish religious psyche that it...
Jewish Agency collects prayers to place in Western Wall ahead of Yom Kippur
The Jewish Agency for Israel has announced a global campaign to gather the prayers of Jews from Israel and around the world and place them among the stones of the Western Wall.
Because of restrictions...
Communities worldwide celebrate New Year amid pandemic with help of JDC
In the face of a new, socially distant pandemic reality, thousands of Jews worldwide managed to enjoy JDC-supported holiday programming for Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year.
Nearly 9,000 elderly Jews in the former Soviet...
Rosh Hashanah ‘Guide for the Perplexed’
The evening of Sept. 18, 2020 will launch the 5781st Jewish New Year (Rosh Hashanah).
Annual reminder
The Hebrew word rosh (ראש) means “head/beginning” and hashanah (השנה) means “the year.”
The root of the Hebrew word shanah is both “repeat” and “change.” It constitutes...
Bringing Israeli food and culture into the Jewish New Year
American Jews are often criticized these days for distancing from Israel as a result of political considerations. To counteract that trend, the “Israel trip” has become a central way to positively interact with the...
Verter fun der Vokh – Rosh Hashoneh
blow the shofar: בלאָזן שופֿר
cast off one’s sins: גיין צו תּשליך; אָ֜פּטרייסלען די עבֿירות
Day of Judgment: דער יום־הדין
Days of Awe: ימים־נוראָים
dip the apple in the honey: אײַ֜נטונקען דעם עפּל אין האָ֜ניק
Happy New Year!: אַ גוט, געבע֜נטשט יאָר!; לשנה טובֿה תּכּתבֿו!;...