The start of September is always a bit of a system shock to me. I adore summertime but September means we’re back in business! The kids go back to school and the Jewish world pulls up its boots and begins the holidays. If this is your first High Holy Days – STOP! Consider what you…
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Cooking Jewish Even if You aren’t Jewish: Rosh Hashanah!
Rosh Hashanah: A new year! What a great time to be together with family, to eat, tell stories, and create memories. What if you’re not Jewish but you’re responsible for your family’s holiday celebrations? Or maybe you are Jewish, but haven’t found a way to make Rosh Hashanah feel fun. Join us for cooking and…
Read More »Not going to make it to Yom Kippur?
Rabbi Judah Dardik has a clever idea, how about a one hour dip-your-toe into Yom Kippur? He calls it The Greatest Hits of Yom Kippur and here’s how it works. Come to Beth Jacob on Park Blvd. at 8am on Saturday morning. Rabbi Dardik will cover the “greatest hits” that is the high points of…
Read More »Don’t Sleep Through the High Holidays
Many mornings my husband hits the snooze button – several times – leaving himself a narrow window of time before he has to hit the front door. Many of those mornings as his eyes pass over his beloved aquarium near the door he says, “Honey, could you feed my fish?” Of course I can. Now…
Read More »Free High Holiday Services
My friends, please don’t make the High Holiday services the ones you use to introduce your non-Jewish loved one to a Jewish service. The liturgy of the High Holidays has developed for hundreds of years to be intense. It is not a light hearted experience. There is lots of Hebrew and many dark messages. The…
Read More »High Holidays: I’ve been here before
I’m quite fond of Rabbi Raffi Asher of B’nai Tikvah in Walnut Creek. I have known him a long time. He is very tall and always seems to bend slightly forward to come closer to short people like me. I like what he wrote about the High Holiday experience – I’m a fan of the film…
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