The Sukkot Hoshanot Services
Walk into a traditional synagogue in the middle of morning services during the week of Sukkot and you might have to take precaution not to be trampled upon by the circle of attendees…
Come My Beloved
The Talmud (Shabbat 116a) describes how the sages would greet Shabbat: “Rabbi Chaninah would wrap himself in his cloak and say: ‘Come, let us go and greet the Shabbat Queen.’ Rabbi…
Heralded With Blessings
The opening prayer of Pesukei D’zimra is Baruch She’amar - Blessed is He who Said. It is a prose poem that uses an anaphora, a literary style in which the same word is repeated at the…
The Sukkot Hoshanot Service
Walk into a traditional synagogue in the middle of morning services during the week of Sukkot and you might have to take precaution not to be trampled upon by the circle of attendees…
A Pair of Psalms
“You will eat and be satisfied, and bless the Lord your God” (Deuteronomy 8:10). There are few pleasures shared by cultures around the world as the pleasure of eating. Because it is human…
An American Poet
As a young man, the poet Karl Shapiro (born 1913, Baltimore - died 2000, New York City) contemplated changing his name to Karl Camden. It was a reaction to the attitude of disregard he…
The Sukkot Hoshanot Service
Walk into a traditional synagogue in the middle of morning services during the week of Sukkot and you might have to take precaution not to be trampled upon by the circle of attendees…
Flowers and Poems
The tradition of Mother's Day flowers began with Anna Jarvis, the woman who successfully petitioned Woodrow Wilson to make it into an official holiday (which he did in 1914). To honor her…
Jiri Mordecai
In celebration of National Poetry Month: One could easily say that the life of Jiri Mordecai Langer (1894-1943) was lived between the two World Wars. Born in Prague to an…
The First American Jewish Poetess
In celebration of National Poetry Month: When asked to name early American Jewish poets, the first name that comes to most people’s mind is Emma Lazarus. It may therefore be surprising…