News, stories, and updates from Hillel communities worldwide
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In Judaism, there is a聽 beautiful value called hakarat hatov 鈥 which literally means “recognizing the good.” It’s about actively noticing and acknowledging the blessings in our lives, from the biggest moments to the smallest interactions.
Hi Friend, As Simchat Torah approaches, I find myself caught in a whirlwind of emotions. It’s been a year since that terrible day when joy turned to tragedy, and the festival that celebrates our love for Torah became forever linked with a massacre in Israel that killed over 1,200 people. But as I reflect on […]
Why celebrate one Jewish holiday when you can celebrate four?! After a month of observing the holidays of Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and Sukkot, the Jewish calendar finally lands on Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah, a combined celebration that marks the end of the High Holidays.聽
With Yom Kippur approaching, and with the intensity of this week鈥檚 commemoration of the October 7 attacks, I’ve been reflecting on what this holiday really means to me. Growing up, I heard all these daunting things about how I was supposed to act on Yom Kippur: fasting, wearing white clothes, and disconnecting from electronics.
Memorializing tragic communal events is ingrained in our practice and our liturgy. Some historians believe that the Ashkenazi tradition of saying Yizkor originated to commemorate the victims of the Crusades. Each Jew is a monument to a great family tradition that has survived incredible odds. As Jews, we do not build monuments of stone; rather, we fill our sanctuaries with stories.
We, as a Jewish people, spend a lot of time marking important dates and holding on to them throughout time. We remember the day we received Torah at Mt. Sinai, and we make it the sacred festival day of Shavuot. We remember the day we left Egypt, and celebrate it as the festival of Pesach, telling the story to our children as though it happened to us. We celebrate new beginnings with songs, feasts, and stories, gathering family, friends, and guests to share our joy as widely as we can. On Rosh Hashanah, we celebrate the day the universe began. We say Hayom Harat Olam. Today, the world was born.聽
Hi Friend, I鈥檓 Alyssa, a senior at the University of Southern California, and I’ve been through the “How do I tell my professors I need time off for the High Holidays?” process a few times now. Trust me, I know how nerve-wracking it can be, especially if you’re new to campus. As the fall semester […]
Tu B鈥橝v is the Jewish day of love 鈥 a holiday that鈥檚 both ancient and modern, with its roots as an auspicious day for matchmaking and weddings. Today, we鈥檙e celebrating a 糖心vlogl matchmaking success!
The JMA Wireless Dome is a fixture of the Syracuse University campus. The Dome has been the site of some of the most memorable concerts, championships and events in the Syracuse region 鈥 and, most recently, hosted more than 700 Syracuse University students for an unforgettable Passover Seder. 鈥淚t was more successful than we could […]
What is the Counting of the Omer? The Omer is a period of seven weeks, or forty-nine days, from the second Passover Seder to the summer holiday of Shavuot. This year, the Omer period runs from the evening of April 23 to June 11. When we say we “count” the Omer, we really mean counting […]
