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...

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...

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...

Apologia By Rachel Kann Forgive me, I have done it all wrong. In every way that I hoped not to act, I have failed. Forgive me, I love you beyond logic Where the loudest blossoms shout yellow, pink. Listen to the fragrance of bloom. Inhale the whisper of nature. My lips part for your kiss only. You know my mouth’s deep intimacy. This is my long-form farewell tour. I am but a bank of buttons and knobs Laid plain for you...

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...

Moroccan-Inspired Vegetable Couscous By Tina Wasserman This Moroccan-inspired dish is a perfect way to reap the bounty of wonderful vegetables available during the Sukkot season. It also makes a beautiful, edible centerpiece for your dinner table in the sukkah. Ingredients 2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 2 large garlic cloves, finely chopped 1 medium onion, diced into 1/2-inch pieces 2 carrots, sliced into 1/4-inch rounds 1 8-ounce can of tomato sauce 3/4 cup dark raisins 1/2 teaspoon salt or to taste...

High Holidays in Five Senses  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 do the High Holidays feel like?   They feel like fists beating on chests, shifting your tush on a wooden pew in an unairconditioned sanctuary, running your fingers through the fringes of a tallit, dropping crumbs into the water as you cast...

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...