Each year, Jewish tradition calls us to celebrate the turning of the calendar with both joy and solemnity. We bring in the New Year with apples and honey, followed by “Ten Days of Repentance” and solemn introspection, concluding with Yom Kippur, our Day of Atonement. On Yom Kippur itself, Jewish adults who are physically able …
I once spent a lovely Shabbat afternoon in a botanical garden watching goldfish swim about in the Japanese gardens. In a large pond fish as big as a muscular forearm splashed about happily, while in a small pool the fish were only the size of my thumb and index finger. A gardener walking by stopped …
Elul is the Jewish month that is the on-ramp to our New Year. Across the Jewish world it is a time of preparation. Elul’s preparation is to arrive at the New Year with a spiritual openness to honest reflection, deep yearning, and change for the better. It is as if Elul is the month of …
Scholars believe that Chanukah was a late celebration of Sukkot. That is, Judah Maccabee, while “underground” fighting the Greeks, was unable to celebrate holidays in any public manner. And so once the Maccabees won the battle, the first thing they did was celebrate the most recent holiday they had missed; Sukkot. It is the sort …
Passover always begins on the 15th day of the month of Nisan. As the night of the first seder draws near, our thoughts may turn toward the symbols and memories we associate with the festival. We recognize that not everyone in the Jewish community will be able to celebrate Passover this year with friends and …
As we approach the holiday of Shavuot, the Jewish holiday that celebrates both the first fruits of the springtime and receiving the gift of the Torah at Mount Sinai. This gift of revelation is arguably the most significant moment in Jewish history. God’s covenant with the Jewish people is realized, and we receive the Torah …
