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Culture News

Elie Wiesel’s Secret

A little-known Yiddish manuscript upends our idea of the secular saint of human suffering

By Ron Rosenbaum · September 29, 2017
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Observance

Embracing Aristotle at Yom Kippur

When we recite Unetaneh Tokef at High Holiday services, we take a lesson from the ancient Greeks about what to do when life gives us lemons

By Eylon Aslan-Levy · October 7, 2016
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Notebook

Sorry Not Sorry

In time for Yom Kippur, a special Unorthodox episode about apologies gone right—and wrong

By Unorthodox · October 6, 2016
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Observance

Yom Kippur in a Buddhist Monastery

I thought I’d left Judaism behind during my spiritual retreat in India. Think again.

By Yitzhak Bronstein · September 22, 2015
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Personal History

Better Late Than Never

I’m sorry for the things I did all those years ago

By Esther C. Werdiger · September 21, 2015
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Personal History

The Traveler’s Prayer

Stuck in a parking lot, I finally found forgiveness—and forgiveness found me

By Miriam Mandel Levi · September 21, 2015
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Observance

I Forgive You, I Forgive You Not

What happens when Yom Kippur stops being formulaic and starts getting real?

By Shira Telushkin · September 18, 2015
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The Scroll

Supreme Court Justice Arrives Late to Baseball Playoff Because of Yom Kippur

Justice Stephen Breyer answers to a higher authority

By Yair Rosenberg · October 6, 2014
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The Scroll

How Many Rabbis Does It Take To Write a High Holiday Sermon?

For one rabbinic family, the answer is nearly 100

By Stephanie Butnick · October 3, 2014
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The Scroll

NY Giant Geoff Schwartz Fasting for Yom Kippur

Injured NFL guard, who will also go to services, says the fast is ‘worth doing’

By Stephanie Butnick · October 2, 2014
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Family

On the Book of Jonah, and My Mother

Trying to understand this baffling story, which we read on Yom Kippur, gave me insights into my mother’s death

By Ilana Bet-El · October 2, 2014
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The Scroll

My Husband Wanted to Break the Fast Early and I Didn’t

A case of how doing what seems wrong can also be what’s right

By Judy Batalion · October 1, 2014
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The Scroll

A Brief History of a Fowl Custom

Talmudic scholars have never agreed on the pre-Yom Kippur chicken sacrifice

By Shlomo M. Brody · October 1, 2014
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Observance

Why I Stopped Saying the Unetaneh Tokef, and Why I’m Ready To Say It Again

After my mother died, I couldn’t recite the High Holiday prayer anymore—until I gained a new understanding of its words

By Jennifer Richler · September 24, 2014
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Observance

Sneaking a Peek at Poetry on the High Holidays

Just because you’re in synagogue doesn’t mean you have to read what’s in the prayer book

By Jake Marmer · September 19, 2014
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Observance

In the Days Between the Major Holidays, Little Clues to Jewish Ritual and Life

Talmudic rabbis debate professional eulogizers, trying to strike a balance between the holy and the mundane

By Adam Kirsch · August 26, 2014
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The Scroll

Heartbreaking Rendition of Avinu Malkeinu

Australian-Israeli musician Lior sings songs of compassion in Sydney

By Elissa Goldstein · December 20, 2013
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The Scroll

A Jewish Prisoner Discusses Repentance

Incarcerated since 2001, David Arenberg says he’s found a renewed sense of purpose—and a new connection to Judaism

By Michael Orbach · September 13, 2013
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The Scroll

Breaking the Fast With a Cambodian Rabbi

David Adollah, who grew up in Phnom Penh, says God came to him in a dream

By Joe Freeman · September 13, 2013
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The Scroll

After Hurricane Katrina, A Solemn Yom Kippur

In 2005, I spent Yom Kippur with Beth Israel Congregation in New Orleans

By Menachem Butler · September 13, 2013
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The Scroll

A Yom Kippur Playlist for 5774

Featuring Leonard Cohen, Bruce Springsteen, and Idan Raichel

By Mishael Zion · September 12, 2013
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The Scroll

A Yom Kippur Ritual I Can’t Give Up

Kapparot with a chicken is jarring and upsetting, but I do it every year

By Esther C. Werdiger · September 12, 2013
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The Scroll

500 Days of Protest in Ann Arbor

On Yom Kippur, anti-Israel group celebrates 10th anniversary of shul picket

By Steve Friess · September 12, 2013
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The Internet

On Behalf of the Jews, Please Accept These Yom Kippur Apologies. Please.

We gave the world Anthony Weiner and Michael Bloomberg, and even our holidays screwed up everyone’s summer

By Rachel Shukert · September 12, 2013
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Observance

Kol Nidre Showed Me What It Means To Truly Belong in the Jewish Community

The Yom Kippur prayer unites everyone who hears it. Twenty-five years after I converted, it still gives me goose bumps.

By Annette Gendler · September 12, 2013
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United States

The Story Behind NBC’s Historic Yom Kippur Broadcast on the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising

Seventy years ago, two marketing geniuses harnessed the power of mass media to bring Jews into the American mainstream

By Charlotte Bonelli · September 12, 2013
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Music

Vampire Weekend’s Latest Album Is Ezra Koenig’s Guide for the Perplexed

On ‘Modern Vampires of the City,’ the frontman wrestles with Jewish questions, calling to mind a personal Kol Nidre

By Wayne Robins · September 12, 2013
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Observance

Worshippers, a Love Story: Understanding the Jewish People’s Relationship to God

As we contemplate our connection to the Divine on the High Holidays, we should recall the reciprocal love at the heart of Judaism

By David Wolpe · September 11, 2013
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Observance

Learning Judaism as a Native Language Requires More Than Synagogue Once a Year

Becoming fluent in your own religious tradition is like playing an instrument or a sport: It takes time, dedication, and practice.

By Mark Oppenheimer · September 11, 2013
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Observance

In the Story of Jonah, an Urgent Lesson About the Dangers of Solitary Confinement

Isolation didn’t help Jonah find redemption inside the whale. It isn’t helping thousands of American prisoners today, either.

By Margo Schlanger · September 11, 2013
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