Bethlehem was once known as the birthplace of King David and the spot where the biblical story of Ruth and Naomi took place. The Jewish matriarch Rachel is buried just outside the little town.  Today there is no longer any Jewish presence in Bethlehem. Of course, Christians revere the hilly town of Bethlehem as the […]

The 29th of Cheshvan is not a particularly noteworthy day for most Jews in the world. But for Jews from Ethiopia, this date has long been observed as one of their main holidays, known as Sigd–a day celebrating their connection to Jerusalem and commitment to Jewish unity—the ultimate Zionist holiday.   In 2008, the Knesset […]

In the days before Yom Kippur, thousands of Torah observant Israelis rush to finish the ritual of kapparot, where human sins are symbolically transferred to a fowl–generally a chicken. It’s a custom that does not appear anywhere in the Talmud, but whose origin seems to come courtesy of several 9th century rabbis. In a parking […]

Holocaust Remembrance Day was observed in Israel today. When I was growing up, Yom Hashoah was never commemorated in my home. Who needed one day a year for dignitaries, politicians and theologians to solemnly proclaim their solidarity with the murdered and pledge, "Never Again," when many nights were seared with my mother’s screams as she […]