📄 High Holiday Reader 5785: Not A Mahzor • No season gathers the Jewish people together like the Yamim Noraim, the Days of Awe, the High Holiday season. Jews of all stripes find themselves sitting in congregations, at meals, and spending time together during this particular time of the year. 

This year (2024/5785), is unique and challenging in its own ways. We are honored to publish a High Holiday Reader to help you prepare, reflect, and make this season meaningful.

❱❱ Click here to download the file.

🌐 From Exploring Judaism

📄 High Holidays Prayer Supplement 5785 • Our friends at the Shechter Institutes, Masorti Movement in Israel, Rabbinical Assembly in Israel, and Schechter Rabbinical Seminary prepared a special supplement with prayers and thoughts for the High Holidays, Sukkot and Simchat Torah 5785 in the shadow of the October War.

❱❱ Click here to download the file.

🌐 From Exploring Judaism

📄 In Need of a Divine Hug: The Embrace of the Sukkah • "Sukkot is most commonly referred to as z’man simchateinu, the time of our joy. In some ways, that is a suitable name. The feelings of enjoying a beautifully constructed and completed sukkah, of eating the first meal with friends and family as the fall air sets in, and of course dancing with the Torah, are all reasons to smile and celebrate. The Torah emphasizes that “you shall rejoice before God all seven days” (Leviticus 23:40)".  

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🌐 From Exploring Judaism

📄 Welcoming Special Ushpizin for Sukkot This Year (5785) • "In our tradition, the fragile roof of the Sukkah symbolizes the Divine Presence, the Shekhinah, resting upon us and protecting us, as it did our ancestors during the desert flight from Egypt. Jewish mystics understood that the presence of the Shekhinah, increases with each passing day of Sukkot and sought to associate each of the 7 (or 8) days of the Festival with biblical heroes who were influenced by and engaged with the Presence. Using the Tanakh as a source, they created a framework for inviting the Presence, accompanied by our ancestors, into our small holy space".  

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🌐 From Exploring Judaism

📄 Lulav and Etrog: The Four Species • "Besides dwelling in a sukkah, the other significant mitzvah of Sukkot is the taking up of thearba·ah minim,literally 'the four species.'"

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🌐 From Exploring Judaism

📄 What Does it Mean to Dwell in the Sukkah? • "The Torah teaches that, during the holiday of Sukkot, we are commanded to dwell in the Sukkah for the length of the holiday. At first glance, this seems like a pretty straightforward commandment.

During Sukkot, we are commanded to live in our Sukkah. But what does that really mean? And how might we embrace the essence of this commandment if we don’t have access to a Sukkah?"

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🌐 From Exploring Judaism

📄 Just the Tip of the Etrog • "Reflecting on the idea that a tiny, fragile protuberance can make an entire ritual object unfit for use is absurd. Here's what it teaches us."

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🌐 From Exploring Judaism

📄Una Sucá «Minima» – arma la sucá en el balcón | En Sucot debemos construir una precaria cabaña para celebrar. ¿Por qué? Entonces, vamos a dedicarnos a entender los requisitos mínimos que tiene una sucá, y así facilitar que la puedas armar ya sea en tu patio, balcón, en la escuela y/o en la comunidad.

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🌐 From Jaguim

📄 O que esperar em Sucót? • "Em sua imensa sabedoria, a Tradição de Israel sabe construir abrigos para guardar pensamentos, histórias, memória e assim identidade. O povo judeu aprendeu a construir abrigos não apenas no Êxodo do Egito a caminho da Terra do Leite e do Mel, mas também na fuga de Roma, das Cruzadas Espanholas, das perseguições czaristas e até do assédio nazista."

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🌐 From Masorti AmLat