The complicated process that bees go through to make honey and the complex operation that people go through to get that honey to the table.
When Rabbi Mitchell Ackerson blew the shofar this past Rosh Hashanah, it reverberated throughout one of Saddam Hussein\’s former palaces. More than 100 Jewish members of the U.S. forces stationed in Iraq attended the High Holiday services at the former Iraqi dictator\’s Baghdad compound.
They seemed shocked and awed, not least by the echo.
Then under a late afternoon sun, the group performed the customary Tashlich ceremony outside the palace, casting pieces of bread representing sins into a private lake once owned by the Iraqi dictator\’s sons, Uday and Qusay.
Those who might have the greatest need to repent this High Holiday season may not be able to.
A severe shortage in Jewish chaplains has led to a situation where the spiritual needs of some prisoners in California\’s state and federal correctional institutions are not being met.
\”When it comes to holidays and services, there\’s a very real concern that we\’re not doing a very effective and adequate job at serving in institutionalized settings,\” said Rabbi Mark Diamond, executive vice president of the Board of Rabbis of Southern California (BOR). \”There are many institutionalized Jews that do not have the benefits of a rabbi.\”
As the Oct. 7 recall election enters its frantic home stretch, the evening of Sept. 26 found Gov. Gray Davis sitting on the bimah at Stephen S. Wise Temple in Bel Air, participating in Rosh Hashanah services.
This was no last-ditch campaign ploy — Davis has attended High Holiday services at the synagogue for years and, according to election experts, most Jews seem likely to vote \”no\” on the recall to keep the beleaguered governor in power. Despite Davis\’ lack of charisma and reputation as a fundraising machine beholden to monied interests, many consider him a trusted supporter of Jewish causes who deserves to keep his job.
In a High Holiday letter to Jewish friends, New York\’s Roman Catholic cardinal has expressed \”abject sorrow\” for centuries of anti-Semitism, and called for a new era of respect and love between Christians and Jews.
Fresh out of seminary, Rabbi Naomi Levy gave High Holiday sermons the way she thought they were supposed to sound — formal, ponderous, laced with phrases such as \”my dear friends.\”
As Rabbi Stewart Vogel of Temple Aliyah in Woodland Hills sees it: \”For many people, the fulfillment of the biblical injunction \’You shall afflict your soul\’ means simply coming to High Holiday services.\”
I forgot to blow the shofar this morning. No, it\’s not quite Rosh Hashanah and I haven\’t missed this year\’s round challah or apples dipped in honey.
More news and opinions than at a Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.