Jewish Holidays

Content type
Collection
Kyla Kupferstein Torres and her Afro-Semitic Sisters

Finding My Village of Black, Jewish Moms

Kyla Kupferstein Torres

When we come together, there is no question of who belongs.

Liseberg Amusement Park

Celebrate Tu Bishvat with Lessons from Gothenburg, World’s Greenest City

Jen Karetnick

This Swedish city can teach us all how to save the planet.

Topics: Tu B'Shvat, Activism
Collage of Hanukkah cookie decorating kit, Mensch on a Bench, and a Hanukkah Bush.

All I Want for Christmas Is…for It Not to Erase Hanukkah

Savoy Curry

Hanukkah might be over this year, but the problem persists.

Passover-Themed Collage Featuring Matzah and Decorative Bowl

My Charoset Bowl: From Female Ancestors, to My Mom, to Me

Mira Eras

Mira Eras describes how a charoset bowl passed through generations of women in her family keeps her feeling connected to her mother's love for holiday traditions.

Topics: Feminism, Food, Passover
Brandi Larsen's Flamingo Menorah

Bringing My Judaism Into the Light

Brandi Larsen

Standing five feet tall, it’s a nod to my late father—go big or go home.

 

Illustrated Figure Holding Star of David in Hands Standing in Righthand Corner

"Jewish Enough": Hanukkah for a Small Town Interfaith Teen

Abigail Gilman

For most of my life, I’ve felt like I’m not Jewish enough.

Libby Stein-Torres from The Ghost and Molly McGee

Libby Stein-Torres joins a growing pantheon of Jewish female cartoon characters

Ariel Finkle

The Ghost and Molly McGee is about to air a Hanukkah episode, and I’m kvelling.

Place setting with "&"-Themed Placemat

Breaking the Fast: Why I’m Choosing to Eat this Yom Kippur

Larisa Klebe

Not fasting on Yom Kippur can be rooted in a need to atone too.

Topics: Food, Yom Kippur
Photo of Emily Barth Isler Holding Her Book, "After/Math"

How To Mark A New Year

Emily Barth Isler

Author Emily Barth Isler discusses what it means to her to have her debut novel, AfterMath, launch on Rosh Hashanah.

Joan Nathan

Award-winning journalist and cookbook author Joan Nathan is a transformative figure in documenting and exploring the evolving Jewish experience both in America and around the globe through the powerful lens of food. A long-standing contributing writer to The New York Times and Tablet Magazine, Nathan is the author of eleven books, as well as hundreds of articles, podcasts, interviews, and public presentations about Jewish, global, and American foodways. 

Jewish Environmentalism

Women have been central to the development of Jewish environmentalism in the United States. They founded organizations, wrote books, educated their communities, grew food, and advocated for better policies. These women saw their environmental ideals as directly connected to their Judaism and realized that our future may depend on this work in the face of the climate crisis.

Illustration of woman working from home

On Shavuot, I'm Rewriting My Commandments for Post-Pandemic Life

Dani Pinkus

Shavuot commemorates the giving of the ten commandments. This year, I'm rewriting my own.

Topics: Shavuot
Naomi entreating Ruth and Orpah to return to the land of Moab

Why Don't Americans Celebrate Shavuot?

Justine Orlovsky-Schnitzler

Americans all but ignore the holiday. How come?

Topics: Shavuot

Women and Sephardic Music

Ladino or Judeo-Spanish Sephardic songs are primarily a women’s repertoire. The two main traditions are that of northern Morocco and the Eastern Mediterranean, primarily today’s Turkey, Greece, the Balkans.

Judith Sheindlin

For two and half decades, former New York family court Judge Judith Sheindlin has riveted daytime viewers, racked up awards, and sold thousands of books to people hungry for the tough love of a tough Jewish mother. Millions of viewers who watch Judge Judy every day are treated to many Yiddish words and wisdom the jurist uses on a parade of deserving participants who enter her TV studio courtroom.

JWA Passover Card 2021

Four Questions for Passover 2021

Judith Rosenbaum

JWA's CEO, Judith Rosenbaum, has new questions for us this Passover.

Topics: Passover
Lantern Festival

This Lunar New Year, I'm Embracing My Chinese and Jewish Identities

Gen Slosberg

Friday, February 12, 2021, marks Lunar New Year, an important holiday in the Chinese year.

Topics: Jewish Holidays
A uterus superimposed over images of Hanukkah items

Hanukkah Blessings for Reproductive Justice

Steph Black

Activist Steph Black offers eight blessings for reproductive justice, one for each night of Hanukkah.

Graphic of Christmas symbols overlaid with a large, shining menorah

Creating Hanukkah Rituals in Quarantine

Ellanora Lerner

In quarantine, I have the unique opportunity to shape holiday celebrations for myself.

Topics: Hanukkah
Lulav and etrog

Inviting Ushpizot into Your Sukkah Is One Tradition You Won't Have to Skip This Year

Paige Harouse

On Sukkot, we traditionally invite guests into our sukkahs. How can we fulfill this ritual during a pandemic?

Topics: Sukkot
Forgiveness Graphic

This Yom Kippur, I’m Trying to Forgive

Jessica Ullian

Atonement is tricky this Yom Kippur. Let's work on forgiveness, instead.

Topics: Yom Kippur

Episode 46: Virtual Holidays: Lessons from our Muslim friends (Transcript)

Episode 46: Virtual Holidays: Lessons from our Muslim friends (Transcript)

Episode 45: Shofar in the Desert (Transcript)

Episode 45: Shofar in the Desert (Transcript)

Belinda Brock's parents crop

The Language of the High Holidays

Belinda Brock

Rosh Hashanah connects us to each other and to our roots—even virtually.

Episode 46: Virtual Holidays: Lessons from our Muslim friends

Back in April, many of us celebrated Passover with a virtual Seder, or two. Now, five months later, we enter the High Holidays in much the same predicament. But, Jews are not the only ones who have experienced this. Our Muslim friends have already gone through several major holidays, including the month of Ramadan, in quarantine. In this special Rosh Hashanah mini-sode, three Muslim women—Bintou Fall, Sukai See, and Angelica Lindsey-Ali—share advice about getting through a holiday season while social distancing.

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