62 results
Beginning five days after Yom Kippur, Sukkot is one of the three major holidays during the Jewish calendar (the other two are Passover and Shavuot). The word “Sukkot” means “booths” or “huts,” and refers to the structures many Jewish families and communities build to represent the temporary dwellings the Israelites lived in after their escape from Egypt.
With Yom Kippur approaching, and with the intensity of this week’s commemoration of the October 7 attacks, I've been reflecting on what this holiday really means to me. Growing up, I heard all these daunting things about how I was supposed to act on Yom Kippur: fasting, wearing white clothes, and disconnecting from electronics.
Imagine taking 365 days of self-reflection, and compressing it into one, single day. That, in essence, is Yom Kippur.
Memorializing tragic communal events is ingrained in our practice and our liturgy. Some historians believe that the Ashkenazi tradition of saying Yizkor originated to commemorate the victims of the Crusades. Each Jew is a monument to a great family tradition that has survived incredible odds. As Jews, we do not build monuments of stone; rather, we fill our sanctuaries with stories.
We, as a Jewish people, spend a lot of time marking important dates and holding on to them throughout time. We remember the day we received Torah at Mt. Sinai, and we make it the sacred festival day of Shavuot. We remember the day we left Egypt, and celebrate it as the festival of Pesach, telling the story to our children as though it happened to us. We celebrate new beginnings with songs, feasts, and stories, gathering family, friends, and guests to share our joy as widely as we can. On Rosh Hashanah, we celebrate the day the universe began. We say Hayom Harat Olam. Today, the world was born.
Rosh Hashanah marks the beginning of the Jewish calendar, which is entering the year 5784, and is celebrated as the Jewish New Year. The Jewish year begins in the fall with the month of Tishrei, and Rosh Hashanah occurs on the first and second days of the month of Tishrei.
Hi Friend, I’m Alyssa, a senior at the University of Southern California, and I’ve been through the “How do I tell my professors I need time off for the High Holidays?” process a few times now. Trust me, I know how nerve-wracking it can be, especially if you’re new to campus. As the fall semester […]
Tu B’Av is the Jewish day of love — a holiday that’s both ancient and modern, with its roots as an auspicious day for matchmaking and weddings. Today, we’re celebrating a Hillel International matchmaking success!
Tisha B’Av, the ninth day of the Jewish month of Av, is recognized as the saddest day on the Jewish calendar. It is a day of mourning for tragedies across Jewish history, most particularly the destruction and loss of the first and second Temple and Jerusalem nearly 2,000 years ago.
The JMA Wireless Dome is a fixture of the Syracuse University campus. The Dome has been the site of some of the most memorable concerts, championships and events in the Syracuse region — and, most recently, hosted more than 700 Syracuse University students for an unforgettable Passover Seder. “It was more successful than we could […]
