Jonah and the Music of Yom Kippur

Leviticus 10 tells us that Aaron's sons Nadav and Avihu died for bringing "strange fire" before the Lord in the wilderness. As a result of their deaths, according to Leviticus 16, God instructed Moses to ordain an annual Day of Atonement.

My Favorite Book in the Bible  Harold Bloom,  New York Review of Books.  Jonah is a sly masterpiece, a parody of prophetic solemnities, a magnificent piece of literature because it is so funny.  SAVE

The Bible Scholar Who Didn’t Know Hebrew  Anthony Grafton,  Jewish Review of Books.  Elias Bickerman may not have heard all the harmonies in Jonah, but he heard much else.  SAVE

Kol Nidrei Quartet  John Zorn,  Milken Archive of Jewish Music.  Neither a setting nor an arrangement, John Zorn's clever and imaginative composition evokes Yom Kippur's mood of awe and introspection. (Audio)  SAVE

Chromatic Vows  Arnold Schoenberg,  Milken Archive of Jewish Music.  Arnold Schoenberg's Kol Nidrei takes a drastic departure from tradition. (Audio)  SAVE

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Pay to Pray?

In the middle decades of the 20th century they were called "mushroom synagogues." They popped up in the waning days of summer to provide High Holiday services, then disappeared at the conclusion of Yom Kippur. Today, "mushroom synagogues" are once again in vogue—but with a critical difference.

The High Cost of American Jewish Living  Jack Wertheimer,  Commentary.  The economic recession has exacerbated an ongoing and multifaceted crisis.  SAVE

High Holy Day Scalpers  Chabad of East Bruswick solves comedian Larry David's ticketing dilemma. (Video)  SAVE

Free Tickets to Non-Members?  Steve Friedman, Maxine Sukenik,  RJ.org.  Two presidents of Reform congregations debate the issue.  SAVE

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Photo by Natalie Weinberg.

Rosh Hashanah with the Chief Rabbi

Ten years ago, the first day of Rosh Hashanah—the two-day Jewish New Year—fell on September 18. That was one week after September 11, 2001, when almost 3,000 people were killed by Muslim terrorists. On that Rosh Hashanah, rabbis did not lack for sermon topics.

Endless Devotion  Hillel Halkin,  Jewish Review of Books.  Prayer, says Sacks, is the "language of the soul in conversation with God."  But the struggle to keep it from becoming routine is intrinsic to every religion in which prayer is a regular duty.  SAVE

The Chief Rabbi's Achievement  David Wolpe,  Jewish Review of Books.  Sacks has a gift for providing plausible, if not entirely sufficient, interpretations of the most problematic questions of theology.  SAVE

Where Faith is Weak, Life is Weak  Jonathan Sacks,  Jewish Chronicle.  Intermarriage, assimilation, and vulnerability are not the causes but the symptoms of a transcendent malaise affecting a people once aflame with devotion.  SAVE

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Celebrating Shavuot (Israel, 1951).

The Forgotten Festival

The holiday of Shavuot, which begins this year on Tuesday evening, is the orphan among Jewish holidays; it is the forgotten festival. Let me count the ways.

When is Shavuot Celebrated, and Why?  Philologos,  Forward.  A phrase in Leviticus setting the date of the festival, which seems straightforward enough, is anything but.  SAVE

Not Your Father’s Torah Study  Shiri Lev-Ari,  Haaretz.  Secular Israelis are turning out in droves for Shavuot study sessions—sessions dedicated not only to Torah, but to modern poetry, yoga, and television.  SAVE

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Mimouna!

What did two million Israelis do when Passover ended this year? As in previous years, they celebrated Mimouna, a Moroccan Jewish holiday that is popularly observed by picnicking, barbecueing, and consuming moufletas (sweet North African pancakes). And what is Mimouna all about? No one really knows.

The Rise of the Sephardim  Daniel J. Elazar,  Commentary.  What does it mean that Jews from non-European backgrounds are now the political majority in Israel? (1983)  SAVE

Modernity and Charisma  Yoram Bilu, Eyal Ben-Ari,  Israel Affairs.  Within five years of his death in 1984, Rabbi Israel Abu Hatzeira (the "Baba Sali") was a legendary saint; so was his son Baruch, jailed for corruption.  SAVE

Love the Convert  Jonah Mandel,  Jerusalem Post.  In a protest against extreme Orthodoxy, the Mimouna organizers intended to stress that accepting converts with open arms is embedded in the heritage of North African Jewry.  SAVE

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