Millions of Jews worldwide pause to observe Yom Kippur
The holiest day in the Jewish calendar, Yom Kippur, was set to commence at sunset on Tuesday. It’s a time when Israel come to a near-complete pause.
Many Israelis observe a 25-hour fast and attend...
Yom Kippur 5780, music and memory
In just a little while, the notes of Kol Nidre will start playing, that melody that moves the one who knows its meaning as much as the one who knows nothing about it. Theodor...
Cedars-Sinai hosts bat mitzvah for intensive care patient
Twelve year-old Numa Beron, a longtime Cedars-Sinai patient who has spent much of her life in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, recently celebrated her Bat Mitzvah, a coming of age party for Jewish girls, in...
100 ‘olim’ from 45 countries experience pre-Yom Kippur prayer at Western Wall
Jewish Agency for Israel chair Isaac Herzog led 100 new olim (“new immigrants“) from 45 countries to selichot services—special prayers said by Jews worldwide during the days before and between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur—at the excavated tunnels...
India issues Yom Kippur terror alert for Israelis, Jewish institutions in country
Israeli security services are working with their Indian counterparts to prevent an attack in the country during the Jewish holidays and especially on Yom Kippur, which begins on Tuesday evening, Israel’s Channel 12 reported...
Faith and fasting: A look at the practice ahead of Yom Kippur
Fasting is the most commonly known Yom Kippur ritual. According to a 2016 Pew survey, 40 percent of American Jews and 60 percent of Israeli Jews fast on the Day of Atonement. Of course,...
Saluting one of the last living heroes of Israel’s fight for independence
Nothing really prepares you for the Smoky smile and the twinkle in an eye undimmed by nearly a century on earth.
And when Harold “Smoky” Simon grins at you, it’s hard to remember that, at...
130,000 Sephardic Jews file citizenship applications in Spain ahead of deadline
A total of 130,000 applications for Spanish citizenship were submitted by descendants of Spanish Jews expelled from the country in 1492, the Spanish Justice Ministry said on Tuesday, which was the deadline for applications.
Jews living in...
Christian benefactor reopens Albania’s Jewish museum
Albania’s only Jewish museum reopened on Sunday, courtesy of a businessman who prevented it from closing.
The Solomon Museum shows how Albania’s small Jewish population was saved during the Holocaust, especially by Muslim and Christian...
Digging up dirt on Latvian activities in World War II in ‘Baltic Truth’
Eugene Levin’s connection to Latvia keeps getting deeper and more personal. A native of the Eastern European nation, he is making a documentary about a little-known chapter in history where Latvia “closed its eyes”...