In the 16th Century, Jewish mystics created the ritual of ushpizin (Aramaic for honored guests), inviting seven different Biblical figures into the sukkah during the holiday. The traditional list includes Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Aaron and David. Modern feminists have added Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, Leah, Miriam, Avigail and Esther.  Think of seven people - historical, fictional, ancestral, or  virtual (those you wish you could celebrate with this year). For each night of Sukkot, spend a few moments thinking about one...

You know the joke about two Jews having three opinions? Sukkot is like that. It’s a little bit about remembering the huts we lived in while wandering in the desert after escaping slavery. It’s a little bit about recognizing and getting comfortable with the discomfort of imperma-nence. It’s a little bit about celebrating a bountiful harvest and the start of autumn.  Annnndddd it’s a little bit the reason why we celebrate Hanukkah for eight days.  As this month of holidays comes...

And G!d says: “After you are all wrung out from that amends making and accountability-having, go out into your backyard and build yourself a fort. And be sure to invite all your friends to join you in your backyard fort for food and merriment because that is how you make the community continue after all that hard work."   And G!d says: “And make your fort enclosed enough to feel cozy, but keep one side open, so that all who pass by...

Each year, the first time we eat a fruit that only grows at a certain time of year, or when we do something for the first time in a while, we say a special blessing, the shehecheyanu, on this new experience.  בָּרוּך אַתָּה יי אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶך הָעוֹלָם שֶׁהֶחֱיָנוּ וקְִיְמָּנוּ והְִגִיּעָנוּ לַזְמַן הַזֶה Barukh ata adonai elohenu melekh ha-olam, she-hechiyanu, v’kiy'manu, v’higi'anu la-z’man ha-zeh Blessed are You, the One who has kept us alive and sustained us so that we could reach...

if you come close and pay attention if you go quietly to where you have never been you will hear voices from all directions shma to listen shma to hushed mouths shma to the north east west and south evil is in the silences then again so is g-d but in the cry of the silenced we find what each of us speaking death for Life must go out now and do! *the shma is a prayer that exhorts the Jewish...

Strengthening Tribal Food Sovereignty to Honor Indigenous Peoples Each year, Indigenous Peoples’ Day is an opportunity to recognize and celebrate Native peoples, to acknowledge the legacy of settler colonialism, and to commit to accountability for its impacts in the present. For MAZON, this means grappling with the history of how food was used as a tool of colonization — dark chapters in American history that aren’t taught and, as a result, erase the trauma and persecution of Native peoples — and...

No Holiday From Justice - Why Social Action on Sukkot? Sukkot celebrates the importance of providing for those who are the most vulnerable. After escaping Egypt, our ancestors wandered through the desert for forty years facing challenging circumstances, but were able to survive with God’s protection. Each year we build a sukkah to remind us of the kindness and protection God showed the Jews when they were most vulnerable. As part of the Sukkot celebrations, we invite friends and family into...

Sukkot is like a cozy hug, coming just five days after the deep soul work of Yom Kippur. We journey into our backyards or into a pillow fort to remind ourselves of our vulnerability and focus on gratitude. By dwelling in uncertainty, we move from the High Holidays into the rest of the year joyful, reconnected to nature and ready for what comes next.  Use this booklet, with its mix of traditional and reimagined rituals, to guide you through the week...

“Rejoicing in the Torah” doesn’t require us to find joy in every verse.     It doesn’t mean that we concur with every choice made by the people in it. It doesn’t demand that we defend the indefensible or excuse the inexcusable.     It doesn’t imply that we should be happy about passages that break our hearts. Rejoicing in the Torah is found in the freedom to study it when, where, and with whom we wish.     We experience happiness with it when we wrestle...

High Holidays in Five Senses  As the light and the weather shift in this sacred time of transition, we're invited to enter a new season and a new year. Take a deep breath as you consider how each of your senses connects to the High Holidays. What do the High Holidays smell like?  They smell of freshly-baked sweet challah, the vanilla-y pages of an old book, your grandfather’s aftershave, the tang of the etrog and the perfume of lulav branches. What...

For centuries, Sephardi Jewish families have gathered to celebrate a special Rosh Hashanah ceremony with a plate or meal of symbolic foods. Each food is eaten after requesting a specific kind of Divine blessing that sounds like the name of that food in Hebrew.  Before eating dates ( tamar ): May it be your will, God, that hatred will end. ( Tamar resembles the word for end, yitamu. ) Before eating pomegranate: May we be as full of mitzvot as the...