Rosh Hashanah

He knows we are not angels, because He didn't create us to be perfect. But He did create us with the ability to connect with others and become better people...

Suddenly Papa Yosef Chayim heard a sharp knock on the door. Curious who would be visiting at such an hour, he got up and opened the door. To his shock, he found a burly robber pointing a pistol directly in his face...

I know it’s a childish and irrational projection, but that’s how I sum up my heavenly Father – the One up there who has no malice towards me, but is certainly not dependable, who will lure me into a false sense of security, if I let Him, but then will pull the rug out and disappear in the middle of the night...

Bands sing of freedom from Apartheid from South Africa's darkened face. The music lifts me off the grass and bounces me like musical notes down the hill. I dance and dance. But my heart slides with the knowledge that this is not my music...

I am drama incarnate with fists balled, my silver hoop earrings, peasant skirt and leather cowboy boots. My stance is distant, almost defiant, like a dare, and I am crying. “As time goes by does it get more or less clear to you that we’re meant to be together?” The sentence rushes from my lips anxious and pleading…

I was in the midst of tears when I asked myself, "Elana, do you want to infuse your home with a lovely essence by being the akeret habayit, or are you going to fall into the trap of being angry and be the okrut bayit, an uprooter?"

"What's up with the brisket, Grandma?" my preteen son asked, echoing my suspicions that bubbe's famous brisket—the eternal pillar of my family's High Holiday feasts—had undergone an unprecedented facelift...

Make sure to begin the New Year right with foods that carry symbolic meaning and Jewish tradition, and that are, of course, absolutely delicious!

I had come from a difficult beginning and shown up in Israel wanting to learn about my spiritual tradition, but with a strong fear and distrust of authority and establishment. After trying one school for about two months, the plea inside turned into a scream so loud that I ran away...

We read the story of Chana and Penina on Rosh Hashanah, when we pray for a good, sweet year. We pray for abundant blessings. Yet I believe there is a lesson in their story, cautioning us that with blessings come responsibility...

After investing hours and hours on food preparation you will most certainly want to place your delicacies on an elegant table. Convinced? Here's how you can make this year's table look like a bountiful feast befitting royalty...

The first week I actually fulfill my promises. I manage to control my temper, the floors of my home are so clean you could eat off of them, and I'm the perfect mother, daughter, wife, sister, boss, employee, you name it. The second week into my New Year's resolutions' promises is not so successful...

My love for the baby is so intense that I feel pained to be far away when she is crying. But how can I explain this emotional response to a three-year-old?