JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
From the start of the COVID-19 High Holiday season, I dreaded Simchat Torah. I knew that Rosh Hashanah in lockdown wouldn’t be an issue for me. Being a rabbi has its perks — I’m familiar with the prayer service, amused by my own off-key singing and accustomed to blowing the Shofar for my family every…
The morning sky is pitch black, the children’s pencils are no longer sharp and their backpacks are bursting with shards of construction paper, the heat hasn’t been turned on yet, and every surface in your kitchen is unpleasantly sticky with honey residue. Well put on a chunky sweater and take a swig of Manischewitz, bitch,…
This article originally appeared in the Yiddish Forverts. In today’s trip to the past, we examine an invitation to a party – a Jewish Holiday Party. I found this fascinating poster in the YIVO digital collection of POSTERS FROM DISPLACED PERSONS CAMPS, which are on display at the website of the American Center of Jewish…
Elie Wiesel traveled to Russia as a reporter for the Forverts in 1965, choosing to spend the Simchat Torah holiday in Moscow, dancing with the young Russian Jews who were fearless enough to publicly celebrate a Jewish holiday under the watchful eye of the KGB. As he wrote in the pages of the Forverts: “Jewish…
The end of Sukkot / Jewish holidaypalooza season is nigh and the holiday of Simchat Torah, a celebration of completing the annual Torah cycle, is almost upon us. Traditionally, Jews celebrate by dancing with Torah scrolls in the synagogue — but some adventurous chefs are dancing with their Torahs and eating them, too. “Love experimenting…
A Brooklyn synagogue had to celebrate Simchat Torah without four of its holy scrolls, following a theft on Tuesday morning. But in a thankful reversal of fortune, the Torahs were returned to the Midwood congregation shortly after midnight on Friday, leaving some to speculate that the robber saw the error of his ways. “Thanks to…
A synagogue in New Jersey will be celebrating the upcoming Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah holidays on a single day, rather than on two consecutive days as is normally the case outside Israel. In Israel, the three major pilgrimage festivals — Passover, Shavuot and Sukkot — are celebrated for one day. Outside Israel, they are…
I wimped out on the single malt scotch. My Orthodox friends told me single malt is the drink of choice on Simchat Torah –- which celebrates finishing and restarting the Torah cycle –- but I could only stomach a gulp (I favor margaritas). Then I was off to dance with the Torah for the first…
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