Yom Kippur

Celebrating Life’s Joys

Amid these Days of Awe, I remember one of my favorite Torah portions, Nehemiah, which describes how our ancestors celebrated Rosh Hashanah when they returned to Israel from Persia after a long exile. It was a time of rebuilding and renewal, and the people sought inspiration from the words of our prophets. On the first day of Rosh Hashanah, men...

Food

A Break-the-Fast Buffet That Keeps Things Tasty and Informal

By:

Linda Morel

“Nineteen people?” my husband said. “Where are you going to put them all?” Last year, I invited more people to break the Yom Kippur fast than I could seat around tables. While my heart expanded to include everyone, unfortunately my walls are rigid. I decided to serve dinner buffet style. Yet I worried that this pivotal meal, a transition from...

Food

Cheering the Tummy After Atoning

By:

Jamie Geller, Jewish Telegraphic Agency

Yom Kippur, the most somber day of the Jewish year, is also called the Day of Atonement and reminds us that we are all accountable for our actions. One element of repentance is fasting. And boy do we prepare ourselves for that fast! We serve full, balanced meals — light on the salt and thirst-inducing spices — just beforehand. And...

Global

Keeping Our Word

By:

Dasee Berkowitz, Jewish Telegraphic Agency

Children beginning to acquire language face some amusing obstacles. Confusing basic words is one of them. My son, for example, loved to stretch out his arms and tell me about something that was the biggest or the best “… in the whole wide word.” My heart smiled every time. There was something telling in his mistake. Jewish tradition is no...

Yom Kippur

Confessing Our Sins, Then Remembering to Act Nobly

By:

Lawrence A. Hoffman, Jewish Telegraphic Agency

Few prayers are as well known to Jews as Ashamnu (“We have sinned”) and Al Che t (“For the sin”), the twin confessions of Yom Kippur. Belief in human sinfulness is more central to Judaism than we think. Sin may not be “original,” as it is in Christianity — inherited from Adam, that is, as a sort of genetic endowment...