High holidays

US calls on international governments to protect Jewish communities ahead of High Holy Days

In recent days, the State Department sent instructions to US diplomatic missions around the world to contact local governments and request that they increase security around synagogues.

A protester holds a sign that reads ‘Anti-Semitism Kills!’ during the ‘Britain Stands With British Jews’ rally at Downing Street in May in London, England. Antisemitic incidents have risen dramatically against Jews globally and in the United States and violence has become once again part of Jewish l
Film strip frame: Soldier blows a shofar (1948-era).

Before Rosh Hashanah, Elul asks us to practice, persevere, and rise a little each day

Le Morne Beach, Mauritius.

Where are Israelis escaping to during the holidays? Top destinations seeing a demand surge

 A kippah demonstration in front of a synagogue in Berlin

US urges countries to boost security around synagogues ahead of High Holidays


Simchat Torah: Order, trust, and the joy of Torah

When we delve into it, study its teachings, and live according to its guidance, we lead meaningful and elevated lives.

 SIMCHAT TORAH at Jerusalem’s Har Hamor Yeshiva.

Your Investments: No more excuses: It’s now, not ‘after the Chagim’

Don’t wait for the next “After the hagim”, now is the time to get your finances in order.  

EXALTING IN Sukkot at the Western Wall

Sukkot cleaning: Decluttering, organizing, preparing for the holidays

Seven simple strategies for maintaining an organized, clutter-free home and curbing unnecessary purchases in the year ahead.

 SUKKOT DECORATIONS, much as we love them, eventually need to be packed up

Touching spiritual heights with art in honor of the joyful holiday

The feeling of touching spiritual heights is captured in Yoram Raanan’s painting Ascendance, where the figures seem to be ascending to a more spiritual plane with joy and ecstasy. 

 'ASCENDANCE,’ BY Yoram Raanan, oil collage on board, 61 X 45 cm, 2023

Heaven will help us for peace, but only after helping ourselves first - comment

It is the spirit of Sukkot and Simchat Torah that will somehow bring us together rather than the specter of war or some other external crisis.

 LET US lead the way back to civility

Isaac Herzog decries growing violence in Israeli sports

The walls of the sukkah featured prints of the images of Israeli sports champions, and the only other décor was a row of planters filled with flowers and shrubs.

 Adults and children, kibbutzniks, new immigrants and people with disabilities, from the Golan to the Negev and the Arabah, came and stayed in the sukkah, participated in activities and watched the various shows.

What time does Yom Kippur start?

See Yom Kippur times for your area.

Shabbat candles

Keeping the echo alive: The last of Israel’s traditional shofar makers

Shimon Keinan is one of only a handful of people in Israel still making traditional shofars, and his factory receives over 14,000 visitors a year.

 Shofars with silver and gold ornamentation on display at the Kol Shofar Gallery, Moshav Ramat Yoav, Israel.

Jews must prepare for High Holidays bomb threats, security experts warn

Ahead of the High Holidays, when sanctuaries see their highest attendance of the year, synagogues need to review security procedures in order to avoid panic

 ‘IN OSLO, Norway, it was only walking past that allowed me to see the Oslo Synagogue at all. And, merely walking by, I was approached by a security guard who wanted to know what I was doing there,’ says the writer.

High Holidays’ roll call of ruin, is heartbreakingly real for the Ukrainian Jews - opinion

For Ukrainian Jews, the terrible things we fear are an unfortunate reality.

An ultra-Orthodox Jewish family takes part in the Tashlikh ritual, to symbolically cast away sins, ahead of Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement, in Ashdod, Israel, October 3, 2022.