Well, this is it – September. The Jewish year really ramps up! High Holidays are just around the corner, kids go back to school and we all go into our work mode. As we approach those Days of Awe let me remind you, please don’t think that High Holy Day services are the time to…
Read More »High Holidays
May You Be Inscribed for a Good Year
A wonderful message from Rabbi Larry Milder of Beth Emek in Pleasanton – with both heart and humor. I couldn’t say it any better. Happy 5774! God Writes a Blog At the beginning of the Jewish New Year, it is customary to greet one another with a special wish: L’shanah tovah tikatevu, may you be…
Read More »Rosh Hashanah Bird Rolls
Why Bird Shapes? According to “Joan Nathan’s Jewish Holiday Cookbook” (Schocken, 2004), bird-shaped challah rolls, called feygelekh (Yiddish for “little bird”) symbolized “the protection of God’s people as stated in Isaiah 31:5: ‘As birds hovering [over their fledglings], so will the Lord of hosts protect Jerusalem.’” Another interpretation, offered by Linda Burghardt in “Jewish Holiday…
Read More »Secrets of the Synagogue Sanctuary
Secrets of the (Synagogue) Sanctuary Most Americans have never been inside a synagogue. Those that have may not know the parts of the sanctuary and their meaning. What is the bema? What’s the Eternal Light and is it really eternal? Do Jews kneel? Where should you sit? Should visitors wear head coverings? What about prayer…
Read More »Rosh Hashanah is Here!
This is it! Rosh Hashanah arrives this evening. If you are still considering where you’ll go and have no plans there are a few places where you can drop in. Look at the events list below and also check here. If you are not up to services then think about how to have a warm,…
Read More »Kol Nidre service only
Join the East Bay Minyan for the evening of Kol Nidre for a very modest fee. Kol Nidre – Yom Kippur Evening Join the East Bay Minyan for the Kol Nidre service. East Bay Minyan is an independent minyan in Berkeley and Oakland that values tradition and inclusivity and strives to accommodate both Egalitarian and…
Read More »