Comparing and contrasting Halloween and Sukkot
The month of October unleashes a tension of sorts in our predominantly Jewish Pico-Robertson neighborhood in Los Angeles. As one walks farther from Pico Boulevard, the ubiquitous sukkot on front lawns give way to macabre Halloween...
Tashlich is more than a spiritual, Marie Kondo purge, experts say
Earlier this month, Royal Auction House in Toms River, N.J., sold an 1806 illustrated, handwritten Tashlich guide for $5,000. Last month, Appel Auction in New York offered but didn’t sell a 19th-century painting depicting the rite. Years prior,...
White House releases Rosh Hashanah message
The White House released the following message today from U.S. President Joe Biden ahead of Rosh Hashanah.
Tonight at sundown, Jewish communities in the United States and around the world will celebrate Rosh Hashanah—the Day...
Groups deliver New Year staples to thousands of Jews in Ukraine
Ahead of the Jewish New Year and more than 18 months since Russia launched its war on Ukraine, the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) is providing thousands of the most impoverished Jews in...
Rabbis to offer sermons on everything from AI to Ukraine on High Holidays
Avraham Bronstein, the rabbi of the Hampton Synagogue in Westhampton Beach, N.Y., has been feeling throughout the year like there are many large forces shaping the world that are beyond human control—from rising antisemitism...
Moms for Liberty summit rescheduled to avoid Rosh Hashanah
Moms for Liberty, a parents-rights group and Orthodox Jewish ally that the Southern Poverty Law Center has called a hate group, announced recently that its third annual Joyful Warrior Summit has been rescheduled to Aug. 28-31,...
Engineers inspect Western Wall ahead of High Holidays
As Jews prepare for the High Holidays, engineers on Tuesday began getting the holy site ready for the thousands of visitors expected there.
The engineers, working for the Western Wall Heritage Foundation, which administers the...
Shopping for shofars, finding something larger
The last neighborhood Judaica store in Manhattan is ready for the High Holidays.
Long, twisted Kudu shofars—made from the horns of the African antelope—hang dramatically from the ceiling. But small rams’ horns are still the...
Jews pray at Tel Aviv’s Habima Square for World Tefillin Day
A Jewish prayer gathering took place at Tel Aviv's Habima Square on Wednesday morning as part of World Tefillin Day.
The event this year coincides with Tu B'av, celebrated in modern Israel as a holiday of love, but with ancient roots, dating back to the Temple period in Jerusalem when it marked the start of the grape harvest.