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U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman picking an etrog with his wife, Tammy Deborah Sand, in the etrog orchard at Kfar Chabad. Source: Twitter.

US Ambassador to Israel wishes Jews a happy Sukkot

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U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman wished the Jewish people a happy Sukkot holiday on Sunday, thanking an Israeli farm for allowing him to pluck his own etrog this year. “To all those observing Sukkot, we wish...
Rabbi Yehoshua Soudakoff, Executive Director, The Jewish Deaf Foundation, working with a student. Courtesy.

Rabbi works to make Jewish life more accessible for deaf community

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Let’s face it: Sitting through prayer services can feel long, arduous and not so interactive for worshippers. Congregants tend to talk with seatmates and neighbors to help pass the time. But not at Rabbi Yehoshua...
Many of the kollel participants never learned Torah before. Shown here is one participant pouring over a Bible. Credit: Courtesy.

In Israel, learning Torah has no age limit

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Yosef Damsker, 86, is a thin man with a gray beard and a large yarmulke. But when he moved to Israel from Leningrad (today, St. Petersburg) in 1990, he was not only secular, he...

Sukkot… Faith

Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur have passed. Each of us would like something from those days could remain for the rest of the year, not lose their influence and ensure a true sweet year...
An etrog, silver etrog box and lulav, used on the Jewish holiday of Sukkot. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

Sukkot: The harvest festival and arrival of autumn

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We are twice blessed. Sukkot, the harvest festival—and sometimes called the “Jewish Thanksgiving”—takes place this year at the end of September, and two months later, Thanksgiving in America is a holiday that many Jewish...
Congregation Beth Am in San Diego, Calif. Youth Department's recent “sukkah hop.” Courtesy.

A hop and a happy mess: Sukkot under the stars

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For Yael Michaely, her husband Boaz and their three young children, feeling at home in their new country began in earnest one autumn evening in 2004. For these Israelis recently transplanted to Newton, Mass., the...
Illustration for a dinner table set for the traditional "seder" meal for Rosh Hashanah. September 10, 2017. Photo by Mendy Hachtman/ Flash90

Rosh Hashanah fuss-free food for the modern host

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It started with a chance remark after a Shabbat dinner. “What a feast! You must have cooked for hours. How do you do it?” I didn’t answer immediately. Working in my home office, I haven’t...
A volunteer in Kharkov, Ukraine, helps package High Holiday supplies for elderly Jews in need in the former Soviet Union. September 2018. Credit: JDC Photo.

Apples, honey and help to go to thousands of elderly Russian Jews

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Continuing a tradition started before the fall of the Soviet Union 30 years ago, the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) and its network of volunteers will provide extra aid and traditional Rosh Hashanah...
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a toast before Rosh Hashanah 5779 with ministry employees. Credit: Kobi Gideon/Government Press Office.

Ahead of 5779, Netanyahu offers a hopeful message, despite threats against Israel

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In advance of Rosh Hashanah, or the Jewish New Year, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu provided a message of hope despite the threats his country faces such as Iran. “We live in a challenging area, and...
Prayer and services are available to college students for free for the third year in a row, thanks to AEPi and Synagogue Connect. Credit: Pixabay.

For students venturing off-campus, program offers free High Holiday services

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Working with Synagogue Connect, Alpha Epsilon Pi—the world’s leading Jewish college fraternity—has established an online system to match college students from around the world looking for a congregation at which to spend the Jewish...