Tikvah Ideas on the Days of Awe

Rosh Hashanah

Lesson 2Sacred Time: The Jewish Holidays

Rosh Hashanah – Creation and Parenthood

Is Rosh Hashanah really best understood as the “Jewish New Year”?

Rosh Hashanah greeting card, c. 1920 (Center for Jewish History, Wikimedia Commons)

Observations

Rosh Hashanah Greetings, Yiddish-Style

Products of the Yiddish greeting-card industry remind us how wonderfully varied was the world of Yiddish-speaking Jewry.

By Philologos

Episode 326·The Tikvah Podcast

Jon Levenson on Understanding the Binding of Isaac as the Bible Understands It

Explore the true meaning of the akeidah, going beyond modern interpretations and moral justifications.

By Jon Levenson

Observations

Remembrance of Trumpets Past

Rosh Hashanah in the Torah looks very different from the holiday we know today. What exactly are we celebrating?

By Nathan Laufer

Yom Kippur

Essay

To Be Worthy of Standing Before God

On Yom Kippur, we ask how to live a meaningful life. A poem by Robert Frost offers a striking answer.

Episode 35·Bible 365

Menachem Begin’s Yom Kippur

Begin's reflection on Yom Kippur's significance is rooted in his father's legacy.

By Rabbi Meir Soloveichik

Observations

Guilty, Guilty, Guilty

Why should we confess, particularly on Yom Kippur? Why in public? And why so many times?

By Atar Hadari

Sukkot

Moritz Daniel Oppenheim's "Feast of Tabernacles"

Lesson 6·Why Do Jews Do That?

Sukkot, Universalism, and Particularism: "Feast of Tabernacles"

A painting that symbolizes a hopeful balance between faith and modernit, and execution of some Nazi leaders on Sukkot suggests a deeper divine message.

Episode 232·The Tikvah Podcast

Peter Kreeft on the Philosophy of Ecclesiastes

Explore Ecclesiastes with philosopher Peter Kreeft, revealing its honest insights into human nature and the futility of life's pursuits.

Observations

What’s a Kvitl, and Why Wish Anyone a Good One?

“A gut kvitl!” East European Jews once said to each other in the days just before and during the holiday of Sukkot, and many still do. What does it mean?

By Philologos