Tisha B’Av is one of Judaism’s two major fast days, but it’s mostly unfamiliar to American Jews. I saw this clearly when, in 2013, I served as Team Rabbi for the U.S. delegation to the World Maccabiah Games. Before the games, we took teams on a trip around Israel, and Tisha B’Av fell near the…
In the boyhood days when I was still a more or less observant Jew, I always hated fasting on Yom Kippur. It struck me as the least spiritual thing I could do, since the more the hours went by with my empty stomach gnawing away at me, the more I could think of nothing but…
For those who observe Yom Kippur and atone for their sins by fasting for roughly 25 hours, not drinking often proves to be the most challenging part. But for 27-year-old Shaina, who is 12 weeks pregnant with her third child, Yom Kippur won’t differ much from other days: “It’s not a nerve-wracking thing for me,…
Fasting on Yom Kippur in the later stages of pregnancy doubles a woman’s risk for premature delivery, according to a new Israeli study. Researchers at Soroka University Medical Center and Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Beersheba reached the conclusion after studying the records of thousands of pregnant Jewish women over a period of 23…
From the moment I woke up on the morning of my first Yom Kippur in September of 2010, a heavy ache sat right at my forehead, some combination of early hunger pangs, a minor hangover, and caffeine withdrawal. When I later sat next to my boyfriend and his family at their New Brunswick, New Jersey…
Getty Images When my nana, Claire Laufer Daniels, was 17-years old, the Nazis marched into her hometown of Vienna and were welcomed with open arms. Seemingly overnight, her friends turned on her, she was forbidden from attending school and she was even forced to scrub the city’s sidewalks with guns pointed at her head. Thankfully,…
A collective shudder ran through rows of worshipers at Congregation Beth Israel in Asheville, N.C., during the recent Kol Nidre service. Congregants watched in horror as two Torahs toppled out of the ark and hit the bimah with a loud clattering of silver ornaments. Another Torah was caught as it fell. Within moments, those seated…
Israel is getting ready for the hottest and longest Yom Kippur for decades. Well, not actually longer than normal, but it will feel longer. Israel has long adjusted the clock to wintertime ahead of the fast, so that it finishes some time between six and seven pm, rather than between seven and eight. But following…
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