(ANALYSIS) Sukkot is a Jewish festival that follows right on the heels of Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, Judaism’s High Holy Days. The harvest holiday, which begins on Sept. 29, 2023, lasts for seven days when celebrated in Israel and eight days when celebrated elsewhere.
Read More(OPINION) Distress and hopelessness are typically met not with plans of action or offers of assistance, but with a pat on the head and 15 different versions of ‘You can do it” or “You’ll survive.” But not everyone can do it, and people die. There are horrors beyond our control. No amount of cute and sweet clichés will save the heartbroken and the hopeless. Such phrases may, however, make them feel isolated and even more vulnerable.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Hanukkah, the Jewish “festival of lights,” commemorates a story of a miracle, when oil meant to last for one day lasted for eight. Today, Jews light the menorah, a candelabra with eight candles – and one “helper” candle, called a shamas – to remember the Hanukkah oil, which kept the Jerusalem temple’s everlasting lamp burning brightly.
Read More(ANALYSIS) On Feb. 26, Jews celebrate Purim with feasts, carnivals and charity. A historian of American Judaism points to Purim as an important holiday that increased Jews’ visibility in the United States in the 19th century.
Read More(OPINION) Tisha b’Av is a Jewish day of mourning to remember the destruction of Judaism’s First Temple in Jerusalem in 586 BCE and the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem in 70 CE. The way this mourning is completed provides valuable insight on how to handle the problems of our country today.
Read MoreShabbat dinners are canceled, community centers are closed, and leaders in the Jewish community are having to come up with creative ways to foster community in these unprecedented times.
Read MoreThe Jewish holiday Purim celebrates Esther’s rescue of the Jews from genocide in 5th century Persia. Her intervention highlights the good that humans can do. While many Purim events were cancelled to protect from the spread of Coronavirus or COVID-19, this community decided the threat was small and the lessons too great to stay home.
Read MoreThe annual pilgrimage is the 33rd day of Judaism's somber seven-week "counting" between Passover and Pentecost and marks the ceasing of a plague that killed 24,000 disciples of Rabbi Akiva ( c. 50–135 CE), a sage martyred by the Romans during the genocidal persecution of the Emperor Hadrian.
Read More
