Monday, September 22nd 2025   |

High Holidays

OP-ED: I used to cringe at Rosh Hashanah ‘blessings’ cursing our enemies. Not this year.

By VANESSA OCHS

(JTA) — Before the pandemic put a damper on our entertaining, I always looked forward to inviting friends, family and new faculty over for Rosh Hashanah dinner in our Charlottesville, Virginia, home. My favorite part was preparing...

As a new Jewish year begins, Israel’s 68,000 evacuees celebrate apart — and wonder when they will return home

By DEBORAH DANAN

(JTA) — At this point, Gabi Hasin had grown used to fleeing his home ahead of missile fire from Lebanon. A resident of the northern border city of Kiryat Shemona, Hasin has spent the past year on...

Shofars blown along Ukrainian frontlines as part of Rosh Hashanah initiative for soldiers

By MARCEL GASCON BARBÉRÁ

(JTA) — KYIV, Ukraine — For the first time since Ukraine was plunged into war in 2022, soldiers on the front lines could hear the blast of the shofar marking the Jewish new year.

The largest...

Person in the Parsha: Ki Tisa – Yom Kippur

By RABBI TZVI HERSH WEINREB

A SECOND CHANCE

Imagine a very important project in which you were once involved. It could have been at work, in school, or in your personal life. You gave...

Eruv Tavshilin

By RABBI JOSEPH H. PROUSER

When the second day of Rosh Hashanah falls on Friday, as it does this year (the first day never does), a special procedure is required. While cooking is prohibited on Shabbat, it is permitted on...

For Jewish communities in areas battered by Helene, High Holidays take a backseat to basic safety

By ANDREW LAPIN

(JTA) — It’s been days since Hurricane Helene struck her community, and the CEO of Jewish Greenville still doesn’t know who is OK and who still needs help.

“It’s very much a crisis situation for many people...

Joint Kever Avot service being conducted this Sunday by Temple Sinai and Touro Synagogue

 

In the Orthodox world, the Selichot service the weekend before Rosh Hashanah occurs with the reciting of Psalms occurs and visits to loved ones final resting places ocurs. In the Reform world, there is a similar tradition of...

Higher and Higher

By RABBI JOSEPH H. PROUSER

The wording of Kaddish – in all its permutations – is altered during the Ten Days of Repentance (from Rosh Hashanah through Yom Kippur).  The rest of the year, Kaddish invokes the Aramaic word “l’eila”...

Curses

By RABBI JOSEPH H. PROUSER

Parshat Ki Tavo – this week’s Torah portion – is invariably read during the month of Elul… generally in close proximity to Rosh Hashanah. A distinguishing feature of this section of Scripture is a series...

Speechless

By RABBI JOSEPH H. PROUSER

During the ceremonial roll call at the recent Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Governor Tony Evers was to announce Wisconsin’s support for Kamala Harris’ nomination as President of the United States. Governor Evers became tongue-tied,...