Showing posts with label Yom Kippur. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Yom Kippur. Show all posts
Thursday, October 2, 2025

Post-Yom Kippur Thoughts on Honesty, Courage, and the Call to Return

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Today, I completed my first Yom Kippur outside of the United States. While I observed the fast in Buenos Aires and did so in the spring inst...
Sunday, September 24, 2023

Ahavnu Vidui: Why Yom Kippur Could Also Use a Confession of the Good We Have Done

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Yom Kippur, or the Day of Atonement, is considered the holiest day on the Jewish calendar. The central part of Yom Kippur liturgy is the con...
Sunday, October 2, 2022

A Yom Kippur Lesson on the Stoic Dichotomy of Control and How to Take the Reins for the New Year

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We are currently in another year of the Jewish High Holiday period, which starts on Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year) and ends after Yom Kippu...
Thursday, September 20, 2018

Going from Yom Kippur to Sukkot: A Transition from Repentance to Joy

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The Jewish calendar around this time of year (the Jewish month of Tishrei) is one where a Jew almost feels like a chicken with its head cut ...
Monday, September 17, 2018

Teshuvah Is an Ongoing Process, and It Is Not Just for Yom Kippur

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'Tis the Jewish season...for repentance, that is. We are currently in between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, which is known as Yamim Nora...
Thursday, September 28, 2017

Why the Extra Ne'ilah Service on Yom Kippur?

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Yom Kippur is not only a day of fasting, atonement, and introspection. It is a day for a whole lot of religious services. On normal days, th...
Sunday, October 9, 2016

How Saying Yizkor Enhances Yom Kippur

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I find Judaism to generally be a life-affirming religion, but there are moments where death becomes a motif within the Jewish religion. On S...
1 comment:
Tuesday, September 22, 2015

What Modern-Day Jews Can Learn From the Scapegoat Ritual

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Judaism is not immune from that which is seemingly bizarre. Since we're approaching Yom Kippur, the practice that I have in mind is the ...
Wednesday, October 1, 2014

Why Apologizing Isn't the Same As Doing Teshuvah: A Yom Kippur Lesson About True Change

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Tis the season......for doing teshuvah , that is. We are currently in the middle of the Days of Awe, the period between between Rosh Hashan...
Sunday, September 15, 2013

Post-Yom Kippur Thoughts on Technological Teshuvah

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Most actions or objects are not inherently bad, wrong, or evil. Fire can be used to destroy, but it also has positive uses such as heat, li...
Thursday, September 12, 2013

Ashamnu: Confronting Sin and Forgiving Ourselves on Yom Kippur

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Yom Kippur is the holiest day on the Jewish calendar, during which one fasts and intensely prays. According to Jewish tradition, Yom Kippur,...
2 comments:
Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Unetaneh Tokef: Coming to Terms with Reality on Rosh Hashanah

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Rosh Hashanah (רוש השנה), also known as the Jewish New Year, commemorates the creation of the universe. Although Rosh Hashanah is a time of ...
Monday, September 24, 2012

Why I Bother Fasting on Yom Kippur

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Not being able to eat food or drink water for twenty-five hours is an arduous task. Fasting is a self-deprevation of some major essentials f...
Thursday, April 14, 2011

When a Scapegoat Doesn't Cut It

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This week's Torah portion (Leviticus 16:8-10) has a peculiar practice that is referred to as the "scapegoat ritual" ( עזאזל )....
Wednesday, September 15, 2010

The Decidedly Anti-Jewish Jewish Practice of Chicken Flinging

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There is a practice in which you fling a rooster around your head three times, utter the phrase "This is my exchange, this is my substi...
Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Guilt versus Shame: Why I Love Yom Kippur

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When I tell people that Yom Kippur is my favorite holiday on the Jewish calendar, I get the strangest looks. Between the fasting for twenty-...