Blowing the shofar seems like a strange tradition. We take the horn of an animal, hollow it out, and then blow into it 100 times. But the shofar isn’t about the horn. It’s about what the horn symbolizes.
In...
On Shavuot we read the Book of Ruth, whose character was strong and principled. She was a Moabite married into a Jewish family at a time when intermarriage was frowned upon. Tragedy struck the family suddenly,...
There is no map in Judaism to guide an LGBTQ person in family life, but Rabbi Benny Lau has tried to create one, blending what he describes as the disparate worlds of Torah ideals with the reality of the...
“All who are hungry, let them come and eat!
All who are needy, let them come and conduct the Pesach Seder!
Now we are here; next year we will be in the Land of Israel.
Now we are slaves;...
“Really long,” “matzah pizza,” and “cleaning” are words linked to Pesach in most of our minds. But another buzzword that may pop up when thinking about the Jewish holiday that starts this Saturday...
By Liad Machmali, Life and Features Editor
• December 14, 2020
This Chanukah 5780, senior Yael Rubin’s family will be exchanging gifts among aunts, uncles and cousins. Dean of Students Rabbi Ari Schwarzberg will be giving gifts just to his wife and kids. Freshman...
Of all Jewish holidays, Chanukah is one of the most well-known to non-Jews. Holidays like Yom Kippur, Purim, and Sukkot seem to go unnoticed, but Chanukah is different, perhaps because it’s easy to lump...
Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, former Chief Rabbi of the United Kingdom, author of more than 30 books, and the one to thank for the introductions and commentary in the Koren Siddurim and Machzorim, passed...
By Molly Litvak, Editor-in-Chief
• October 30, 2020
In an email to his congregation last Tuesday, Rabbi Yosef Kanefsky of B’nai David-Judea Congregation in Pico-Robertson said Jews of all political beliefs should aspire to holiness during the current...
I don’t have to tell you that this year’s holidays are going to be different. I don’t have to describe to you how it felt to sit and fast at home on Yom Kippur, instead of standing in shul, surrounded...
Shalhevet Dean of Students Rabbi Ari Schwarzberg thinks that it will be especially difficult to connect to God during the High Holidays this year.
“There is a certain mood and certain energy that...
