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The Halachot of Rosh Hashanah
On the eve of Rosh Hashanah we do “hatarat nedarim” (the undoing of vows). A woman who cannot do so before a bet din may appoint her husband, or any other person, to perform it on her behalf. Two candles are lit on each day of Rosh Hashanah. One must be careful to leave a…
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A New Reading of the Book of Life
Each new year offers an opportunity to take pen in hand and write differently…
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A Feminine Perspective on the Shofar
The shofar physically resembles the birth canal…
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Blowing the Shofar: Confusing the Satan?
The widespread custom in the month of Elul is to blow the shofar everyday, in order to awaken us to teshuva. We also blow the shofar on Rosh Hashanah itself, the fulfillment of a mitzvah from the Torah. The Rema tells us that we do not blow shofar the day before Rosh Hashana, which the…
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The Interconnection between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur
Rosh Chodesh Elul marks the beginning of our focus on teshuva, leading up to the Yamim Noraim and the Aseret Yemei Teshuva. Sephardi communities begin to recite selichot – penitential prayers – from Rosh Chodesh Elul. Throughout the Jewish world, Elul takes on solemn character, marked by Cheshbon HaNefesh (self-accounting) and repairing our relationships between…
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What Makes a Good Year? The Secret to a Successful Rosh Hashanah
Elul is the start of this journey and shemini Atzeret is the culmination. Rashi tells us that the Yom Tov of shemini atzeret was created because Hashem says ‘kashe alay preidaschem’ ‘it is hard for me to separate from you.’ Hashem wants one more day, one more yom tov, one more embrace. But on a…
