More in ‘Yom Kippur’

Wrigley Field, legendary ballpark of the Chicago Cubs, got the go-ahead to host two rock concerts on September 17 and 18 despite the fact that Yom Kippur begins at sundown on the 17th, and nearby synagogues were concerned about the parking situation. Brief aside: Yom Kippur is really early this year!
But that’s not the real ...

Pharmaceutical company Merck thinks it has solved your Yom Kippur headache—and that its infamous drug Vioxx, which was the subject of a massive recall and class-action settlement, is involved. The anti-headache drug, marketed as Arcoxia, is a Vioxx cousin. In studies, people who took it the night before a night and day of fasting experienced ...

Jimmy Carter, who has been an outspoken critic of the Israeli government’s policies vis-à-vis the Palestinians, has asked the American Jewish community for an “al Het”—the ritualistic forgiveness that Jews request of and receive from God on Yom Kippur.
We must recognize Israel’s achievements under difficult circumstances, even as we strive in a positive way to ...

• Using Sukkot as an opportunity to “widen our communal hut,” the Philadelphia Jewish Exponent announced that it will publish marriage announcements for gay couples, just a week after Reform leader Rabbi David Saperstein testified against discrimination based on sexual orientation. [JE]
• Considering reactions to Congressman Alan Grayson’s use of the word in reference to ...

My visit last week to the Gothenburg Book Fair in Sweden got off to a stressful start. Several weeks before I arrived in that peaceful city, which boasts Northern Europe’s largest amusement park, a local tabloid published a story accusing Israel of stealing organs from Palestinians killed by the IDF. The story managed to ...

• The New York Times pays some attention to a drink from Barbra Streisand’s childhood: the “guggle-muggle,” or Gogol Mogol, made from some combination of egg yolks, milk, and liquor, which the paper calls “the Jewish echinacea: no one really knows if it works, but that doesn’t stop people from taking it.” [NYT]
• A secular ...

• The results of an online poll have been tallied, and the National Museum of American Jewish History in Philadelphia has the top 18 American Jews for its “Only in America Gallery”; honorees include Sandy Koufax, Emma Lazarus, and Estee Lauder. [JTA]
• Technology may have marred a once placid holiday in Israel, but pictures show ...

• Jonathan Safran Foer’s brother Josh on building a sukkah together: “We’re supposed to be the People of the Book, but we’re actually the people of the carpenter’s square. From Noah to Jesus to Norm Abram, it’s a very proud tradition, you know.” The novelist’s reply: “Always hammering or getting screwed….” [Forward]
• Ultra-orthodox Jews in ...

Ritual and Observance:
God and Uman: Joining the Breslovers—and my cousin—for Rosh Hashanah in Ukraine, by Marc Caplan
Shoes You Can Use: What to wear on Yom Kippur, when leather is banned, by Allison Hoffman
The Festive Meal: When Yom Kippur was a time to eat, drink, and be merry, by Eddy Portnoy
Pardon Me: My childhood bullying, and ...

It’s the last workday before Yom Kippur, and therefore the last installment in our countdown-to-the-holiday Daily Sorry series. Today, our final two sorries, one from a cheap café-goer and the other from an inconsiderate straphanger. Listen to them here and here.
And, with that, our work is done. We hope you feel like you got ...