(JTA) — It was nearly midnight Saturday, and Jayson Littman was milling about an upscale Manhattan nightclub greeting friends with a wide smile and often a big hug. Standing alongside a “shot boy” — clad only in underwear, a kippah and Star of David necklace — he offered partygoers shots of Manischewitz in plastic cups….
I was the only American in the room and definitely the most clueless. Standing at the back of the makeshift shul for Yom Kippur services in Chabad of Bangkok, I attempted to follow along in my Hebrew siddur pamphlet, observing other people in the room and trying to peep through the mechitza just to know…
A California-based live webcast of Kol Nidre services is expected to garner more than 40,000 viewers. The service led by Rabbi Naomi Levy of Nashuva, including charismatic preaching, traditional prayer and meditation and music by a five-piece, multi-cultural band will live streamed on Tuesday at 6:30 pm Pacific Time on the website of the Los…
(JTA) — Kapparot, the pre-Yom Kippur folk custom of swinging a chicken around one’s head as a way of purging sin, is one of those Jewish practices that doesn’t always, ahem, dovetail with 21st-century mores. The ritual has often encountered clucks of disapproval, and this High Holiday season is no different. In the United States…
Shalom, good yontef, good yontef, good yontef, namaste, y’all. I am the pope, the literal representative of the Lord on Earth. Please be seated. Put away your selfie sticks. This is serious business. Before I begin my sermon, I just have to ask: How do you rabbis do it? If I had to offer biblical…
Now we know some consider it heretical to watch movies on Yom Kippur, but rumor has it that some Jews (GASP!) spend the Day of Atonement propped in front of a TV screen. In Israel, that is not an option. As you may or may not know, all TV channels turn dark once the moment…
The Reconstructionist movement is organizing a Yom Kippur service at the Lincoln Memorial timed for Pope Francis’ visit to Washington and tailored to his climate change message. The Reconstructionist Rabbinical College and Jewish Reconstructionist communities are cosponsoring the event on the National Mall. Philadelphia’s Shalom Center is organizing the event. The services Tuesday night and…
On the latest episode of , a public radio show and podcast, host Krista Tippett and Jewish ethicist Louis Newman talk repentance, reflection and learning to confront our sins head on.
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