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Oct 13, 2025, 4:15 PM

Saying goodbye is hard: Simchat Torah and October 7th

Jews pray in memory of the victims of the October 7th massacre and for the release of Israelis held hostage in the Gaza Strip, on the morning of the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah, in Jerusalem, October 24, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

On this overwhelmingly sad day of remembrance, parting from the holiday is a challenge, but we channel our grief and focus on the underlying love

Oct 12, 2025, 1:31 PM

On the eve of Shemini Atzeret, you couldn’t make it up

On the eve of Shemini Atzeret, the festival that celebrates the ultimate oneness between God and His people, Israel stands on the verge of another kind of homecoming. After two years of heartbreak and division, the news that hostages...

Robert Lichtman

Oct 6, 2025, 11:42 PM

Hope is a muscle

In the lobby of my synagogue is an elegantly set table waiting for the hostages being held in Gaza to gather around it and enjoy a beautiful Shabbat or Yom Tov meal. I’ve taken it upon myself to kindle Shabbat candles...

Robert Lichtman

Sep 20, 2024, 7:13 PM

It was October 7, but it will always be Shmini Atzeret

Upsplash

This is what we will do as communities, federations, congregations, Hillels, JCCs, day schools, and clusters of close-knit friends. We will gather to mourn the tragic plague inflicted last year upon our loved ones in Israel, and through a connection cherished by...

Reuven Chaim Klein

Dec 31, 2023, 12:01 AM

One of Moses’ first heroic acts of kindness recorded in the Bible was his helping out the daughters of Jethro who were harassed by the local shepherds. Jethro’s seven daughters had already arrived at the well and “drew” water...

Dec 17, 2023, 11:34 AM

Shemini Atzeret – Why Didn’t We Stop?

From Wikipedia:

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Holman_Blowing_the_Trumpet_at_the_Feast_of_the_New_Moon_(crop).jpg

In the Torah, each festival day ("Yom Tov") is observed for a single day. However, outside the Land of Israel, the custom arose to extend each holiday to a two-day period. Among these holidays is Shemini Atzeret, celebrated on...

Dec 15, 2023, 2:16 PM

The 8th day of Hanukkah and the 7th of October

(courtesy)

Today, the 8th day of Hanukkah, is a spiritual fixing for October 7th. I know that might sound like a crazy thing to say, but allow me to explain. October 7th was Shemini Atzeret, a one-day holiday (in Israel) that comes...

Daniel B. Schwartz

Oct 12, 2023, 3:44 PM

Notes From the (Almost) Warzone

I’m a native born American. I and my family made Aliyah to Rehovot seven years ago when I was 46 years old. Americans are uniquely possessed of a confidence born of the security of never having to entertain even...

Oct 8, 2023, 6:16 PM

Shmini Atzeret/Simchat Torah 5784

We knew early on what was happening, but not all the details until Yom Tov was over Saturday night. Here's the story of my day. Real, but also surreal... Ready to leave for shul, about 8:45 AM, stopped in my...

Michael Zoosman

Oct 7, 2023, 1:17 AM

The Death Penalty is Psychological Torture.

The death penalty is psychological torture. Most do not realize this fact. Indeed, I did not consider it myself, until I began my work with "L'chaim! Jews Against the Death Penalty" to correspond regularly with individuals counting down their months,...

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