I grew up in a large family and busy household in New York’s Upper East Side. On Friday afternoons my friends and I would part ways to go home and help our mothers prepare for Shabbat. Later, as we lit the candles we felt as if we were re-creating the miracle of beriat ha’olam. Although […]
Shabbat in Phoenix Read More »
As an active member in the Orthodox community at the University of Maryland for the past two and a half years, I have learned that college students have the chance to influence the culture of the college they attend and lend their voices to the decisionmaking process in the campus religious community in a way
Women, Shabbat, and the College Community Read More »
I cannot remember exactly when my family began singing Eshet Hayil at the Friday night table. I do know that it was we, the kids, who brought this custom into the house. When I was five years old, my family moved to Toronto from Sarnia, a small town in Western Ontario where my father had
How to Read Eshet Hayil Read More »
This month marks the second anniversary of Yavneh, a partnership-style minyan that meets once a month on New York’s Upper East Side. Our stated purpose is to create a “Makom Tefilla,” a place of worship where all people, at all levels of observance, can come and explore their relationship with God, prayer, and their community.
Makom Tefilla: Counted and Counted On Read More »
As a young girl aged five or six, I accompanied my father to shul in New York every Shabbat – in the evening, morning, and afternoon. Whether I was sitting in shul learning to daven with my father or playing bottle caps in the hallway while the men ate se’udah shlishit, I was never treated
The Evolving Phases in the Life of a Female Shul-Goer Read More »
In daily living, everything is different after a spouse dies. Since the death of my husband Noam z’l in March 2005, Shabbat is one of the greatest challenges I must face. Throughout our nearly 50 years of married life, Shabbat was the heart of our family and the focus of our week because we all
A Different Shabbat Read More »
In the article below, Rivy Poupko Kletenik describes the Friday nights she now spends with her father, Rabbi Baruch Poupko, in a Seattle nursing home. Rabbi Poupko served as rabbi of Shaare Torah Congregation in Pittsburgh for more than 60 years and was a leading figure in the fight for Soviet Jewry. Ed. Shabbat is
A Majesty All Its Own Read More »
Candle lighting as a form of Shabbat acceptance has long been associated with women. Although both men and women are obligated to have candles lit in their homes, 2 women are usually the ones lighting in households containing adult members of both sexes. In the absence of any other form of kabbalat Shabbat (Shabbat acceptance),
Acceptance of Shabbat Through Candle Lighting Read More »
There is a peace that comes over me whenever I light Shabbat candles. Whether or not I am expecting company or it is just my husband and me, whether or not it is those early four o’clock days or the late eight o’clock ones – everything stops for a moment and I take time to
May the Joy of Shabbat Continue Throughout the Week… Read More »
Just before our wedding almost 55 years ago, I asked my fiancé if he wanted me to cover my hair once we were married. His response seemed cryptic and somewhat indirect. He had grown up in the Boro Park of the 1930s and 1940s, at a time in which few women covered their hair at
Reflections on Head Covering: Then and Now Read More »
