High Holidays

Jewish Summer: From Mourning to Celebration

by Rabbi Joshua Z. Gruenberg | May 13, 2019 | Community, Community Resources, High Holidays, Religion

The Jewish summer starts in the doldrums and is lifted slowly as the summer ebbs to a conclusion with the onset of the Jewish new year. The calendar bears this out in the days that are remembered or marked through ritual in the three summer Hebrew months of Tammuz, Av...

Despite a Persistent Drizzle, Sukkah City Goes On

by Staff Report | Sep 28, 2018 | Children, Community, Community Resources, Family, High Holidays, Religion, Spirituality

Alas, it turned out to be a wet night in the city. Sukkah City, that is. The inaugural Sukkah City event at the Owings Mills Jewish Community Center was a rather soggy affair, but approximately 250 intrepid souls didn’t let the inclement weather stop them from...

How to Celebrate Sukkot Without a Sukkah

by JTA | Sep 24, 2018 | Community, Community Resources, High Holidays, Religion, Spirituality

By Sara Shapiro-Plevan (My Jewish Learning via JTA) – The central mitzvah of Sukkot is found in Leviticus 23:42, where Jews are commanded to dwell in a sukkah, a temporary hut, for seven days and nights. We do this in order to remember the experiences of our...

How a Chinese Fruit Became a Sukkot Symbol

by Josefin Dolsten, JTA | Sep 23, 2018 | Community, Community Resources, High Holidays, Religion, Spirituality

NEW YORK (JTA) — The holiday of Sukkot isn’t is complete without a lulav and an etrog, the four species that Jews are commanded to wave on the harvest holiday. But according to a new book, it wasn’t until the Second Temple period that Jews started using the...

Why These Dutch Christians are Celebrating Sukkot

by Cnaan Liphshiz | Sep 21, 2018 | Community, High Holidays, Religion

HENDRIK-IDO-AMBACHT, Netherlands (JTA) — From its exterior, the massive building known as The Ark in this Dutch town looks like a typical Reform synagogue. On the Hebrew month of Tishrei, the ancient olive tree that dominates the yard of this large worship space...

Why Sukkot is Actually the Best Holiday for Kids

by JTA | Sep 20, 2018 | Children, Community, Community Resources, High Holidays, Parenting, Religion

By Rebecca Rosenthal (Kveller via JTA) — Here’s the short version of this article. If you leave your kids home on the High Holidays so you can have grownup praying time, bring your kids on Sukkot. If you bring your kids to the High Holidays, then bring them back...

Krieger Schechter Comes to the Aid of Young Hurricane Refugees

by Aliza Friedlander | Sep 17, 2018 | Children, Community, Community Resources, Education, Family, High Holidays, Religion, Schools, Spirituality

When 9-year-old Ryan Bailey and his little brother, Caleb, 6 came to visit family in Baltimore last week for Rosh Hashanah, little did they know they would stay longer than anticipated. Because of Hurricane Florence, Ryan and Caleb — who live in Norfolk, Va.,...

In This Belgian City, a Heatwave Puts Cherished Rosh Hashanah Tradition on Ice

by Cnaan Liphshiz | Sep 5, 2018 | Community, High Holidays, Religion

ANTWERP, Belgium (JTA) — Come autumn, hundreds of men and their children stream out of the dozens of synagogues of this Belgian city’s Jewish quarter, and walk quietly to its main park. When they reach City Park, they gather around its vast pond and perform an...

Why Jews Dip Apples in Honey on Rosh Hashanah — and Why Vegans Say the Custom is a Problem

by Josefin Dolsten, JTA | Aug 24, 2018 | Community, High Holidays, Religion, Spirituality

NEW YORK (JTA) — The truth is, there is no commandment in Judaism to dip an apple in honey on Rosh Hashanah. But what would the Jewish New Year be without the custom? It’s a question that bedevils vegans, many of whom won’t eat honey because it’s an...

The Season of Rejoicing

by Rabbi Daniel Cotzin Burg | Oct 17, 2017 | Community, Community Resources, High Holidays, Religion, Spirituality

The holiday of Sukkot offered an opportunity for deepening bonds in Reservoir Hill. When we began to think about the concept of a “New Jewish Neighborhood” — one defined by a different set of principles and aspirations than most neighborhoods of Jews — we...