Live and let live

By Noga Gur-Arieh
Published on September 27, 2012

Day Five of the Cleanse: Fail. The End

By Tamara Shayne Kagel
Published on November 11, 2011

Day Three of the Cleanse: cheat, quit, or metabolic shock

By Tamara Shayne Kagel
Published on November 9, 2011

Israel Police on high alert ahead of Yom Kippur

Published on October 7, 2011

Israel Police have been holding talks with Israeli Arab representatives in bid to diffuse tensions ahead of Yom Kippur, after the burning of an Upper-Galilee mosque earlier this week. Police hope that calm will be restored in time for Yom Kippur on Saturday.

Going around the world to break the fast

Published on September 28, 2011

Breaking the fast has its own set of traditions. Ashkenazim usually break the fast with something salty, like herring, because they believe fish restores salt lost by the body while fasting. Herring also was the cheapest fish in Eastern Europe, where the custom originated.

If you seat them, they will come

By Ryan E. Smith
Published on September 27, 2011

Twice a year, many synagogues find themselves dealing with a wonderful but very practical problem: how to handle the huge numbers of people who show up for the High Holy Days and don’t fit in the sanctuary.

Acting rabbi brings rebirth to 1920s shul

By Ryan E. Smith
Published on September 27, 2011

For more than 35 years, Temple Beth Israel of Highland Park and Eagle Rock existed without a rabbi. No longer.

Yom Kippur without fasting: How kids can atone, too

Published on September 27, 2011

For most adults, the central experience of Yom Kippur is fasting. By abstaining from food and drink, we exercise control over our bodies and do not give in to our most basic impulses. This makes it pretty easy to feel the “affliction” that the Torah mandates.

The surprising appeal of Kol Nidre

Published on September 22, 2011

On his way to converting to Christianity, philosopher Franz Rosenzweig attended Yom Kippur services and was so moved that he decided to remain Jewish. One look at the most famous prayer for the occasion makes it hard to believe that he did not abandon Judaism all the quicker.

Jewgrass star Mare Winningham had ‘amazing’ Yom Kippur

By The Web Guy
Published on October 17, 2008

Reporter’s Notebook: A Christian makes teshuvah

By Brad A. Greenberg
Published on October 16, 2008

When I looked around I saw a packed, spiritually moved house of Jews, many who looked a lot like me: Chuck Taylor sneakers, thick plastic glasses, the curly hair that always has reminded me of my family's story.

Holiday Heartburn

By David Suissa
Published on October 1, 2008

"Not eating is not suffering," he said, "it's elevating ourselves to a state of transcendence. The fast, on Yom Kippur, reminds us how little material we really need; that we can do with less meat, with less bread, with less of everything."

Teens, fasting and fainting

By Louis Keene
Published on September 8, 2007

Yael Rabin didn't feel any symptoms until it was too late, but if she had, she would have had Jewish law on her side in breaking her fast.

A Hearty Meal to

By Judy Zeidler
Published on September 16, 2004

This year Yom Kippur begins on Friday night and continues until sundown on Saturday. Since many families do not cook on Shabbat, I planned a menu that will solve the problem.

Community Briefs

Published on September 16, 2004

Community Briefs

Embrace the Day, Invite the ‘Stranger’

By Edmund Case
Published on September 16, 2004

My earliest High Holiday memory goes back to about age 7. It was the night before Yom Kippur and my parents had gone off to the synagogue, leaving my 10-year-old brother and me with a babysitter. I forgot that I wasn't supposed to eat anything that night, went into the kitchen, got on a chair to get a banana from the top of the refrigerator, peeled it halfway down and put it into my mouth.

My brother shouted, "You can't do that!"

Tisha B’Av Today

By Dr. Aryeh Cohen
Published on July 22, 2004

This week a friend confessed to me his problem with fasting on Tisha B'av. My friend is Orthodox and Israeli -- an alumnus of one of the elite hesder yeshivas -- and he felt that it would be wrong for him to fast this year on Tisha B'Av.

Not So Fast

By Sharon Schatz Rosenthal
Published on September 12, 2002

"I started fasting for half a day on Yom Kippur since I was in first grade," said 7-year-old Erin Faigin nonchalantly.

There’s Other Fish in the Sea

By Linda Morel
Published on September 20, 2001

Although most American Jews break the Yom Kippur fast with bagels and lox, there is no reason why the menu has to be limited to what has become for many people, everyday fare, the equivalent of Jewish fast food.

Fasting for Peace

By Julie G Fax
Published on July 26, 2001

Tisha B'Av, the fast day commemorating the destructions of the First and Second Temples in Jerusalem 2,500 and 2,000 years ago, respectively, doesn't rank up there with most celebrated Jewish holidays.

Let’s Celebrate! It’s Yom Kippur!

By Julie G Fax
Published on September 16, 1999

In the waning hours of Yom Kippur, the last rays of sun cast long shadows through the stained-glass windows. It is time for "Ne'ila," the final prayer in a day filled with prayer, when the gates on high, opened especially wide for this day, begin their final closing.

Advice for the Yom Kippur Fast

Published on October 1, 1998

An expert at Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center hasinvaluable advice for your Yom Kippur fast.

Tips for an Easier Fast

Published on October 2, 1997

An expert at Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center has invaluable advice for your Yom Kippur fast.