September 4th, 2010 · Holidays
I look forward to seeing you at the S’lichot Service tonight.
from the URJ Website
S’lichot, a Hebrew word meaning “forgiveness,” refers to the special penitential prayers recited by Jews throughout the High Holy Days. Jews recite S’lichot beginning late at night on the Saturday before Rosh HaShanah and continue each morning on the days between the New Year and Yom Kippur.
URJ Website S’lichot Page
Tags:High Holy Days·Holidays
What do you do to prepare for the High Holy Days? Do you have any family traditions that go along with celebrating the new Jewish Year? Maybe it is coming to services, throwing bread into the water for Tashlich, or having a meal with family and friends. Post a comment and let us know what you do to prepare for the High Holy Days and the new year 5771.
Tags:High Holy Days·Holidays
Jewish rituals and religious observances are grounded in Jewish law (halakhah, lit. “the path one walks.”) An elaborate framework of
divine mitzvot, or commandments, combined with rabbinic laws and traditions, this law is central to Judaism. (http://www.religionfacts.com/judaism/practices.htm)
Most of us are familiar with some of the traditional rituals of our
religion. Some of them are very close to my heart and others seem
foreign. For example, I love the ritual Seder of Passover. I always
find a new sense of community every time I join Rabbi and our
congregation at the temple Seder. I am not as familiar with rituals
such as keeping kosher in my home. There are less formal rituals that
I practice every day that help me to feel close to G-d. When I wake
up, I thank G-d for the morning, and when I leave my house, I pray for
my loved ones to have a safe and happy day. I greet the sun, rain, or
snow with a warm thank you to G-d as well. By repeating these same
actions every day, I have created a ritual. As we begin to create a
ritual committee, I would like to know what some of your rituals are.
Are there things that your family does on Shabbat that have become
ritual? Do you have special rituals for any of the holidays? Do you
perform a daily ritual that renews your a special connection with G-d?
By sharing our personal rituals, perhaps we could each find a new way
to connect with G-d!
Tags:Judaism·Ritual·Shabbat
For the first Passover Seder we hosted in our home we bought a cookbook. I had no idea what to make, what to put on a Seder plate, and wanted to know…what is gefilte fish anyway? The book we purchased was titled Let My People Eat!: Passover Seders Made Simple by Zell Schulman. I loved the title and did judge the book by its cover. I know I am not supposed to do that but this time it worked to my advantage. What a great cookbook! The drawings, checklists, and recipes did make it simple. The book also has recipes to use for the entire week of Passover.
The tradition we have taken from this book (whether or not we have a Seder at our home) is to make our own horseradish. If you have never made you own, you should give it a try. It requires only a few ingredients and with a food processor does not take long to make at all.
Anyone who tried our horseradish at last years Temple Passover Seder will tell you, it cleared their sinuses in an instant! This year we will bring it again – maybe we should bring some tissues too.
So, what Passover traditions and stories do you have to share… Click Comments below and join the conversation.
Tags:Cooking·Holidays·Passover