Sukkot is one of the three biblical pilgrimage festivals of the Jewish people. As we spend time in our sukkot booths here in Israel, remembering our fragility and the temporary nature of our worldly existence, the sun filters through the gaps in the leafy roof and a gentle breeze flaps…

I know most Jews call Yom Kippur by more grandiose names, but for me in Jerusalem, it’s simply the ‘Day of No Traffic Lights.’ There are no traffic lights because there’s no traffic on Yom Kippur in Jerusalem. The city just turns off the lights for 25 hours. Imagine —…

Have you ever spent Yom Kippur in Israel? If so, move on to the next post right now — if not, here’s a taste of the atmosphere as an entire country gets ready to retreat into itself for 25 hours. Preparations for Yom Kippur are in the air. Whether it’s…

For most Jews outside of Israel, Passover is a Seder night or two and then a return to work, perhaps accompanied by packages of crumbling matza in their lunchbox instead of bread. In Israel, however, it’s a week of celebration, school holidays and major spring cultural and religious events. On…

A sellout crowd of women packed the prestigious Jerusalem Theater a few weeks ago for, Sisters!The Daughters of Tzelofchad, the latest production of the Raise Your Spirits Theatre group. …

Following my confession last week about passing up going to synagogue in favor of savoring the Shabbat quiet on the streets and parks of Jerusalem, several readers weighed in with suggestions and comments about my sorry spiritual state. …

I’ve been reluctant to admit it to all but a handful of close friends, but after a lifetime of pretty regular Shabbat morning shul-going I’ve now substituted long walks through Jerusalem’s almost deserted streets and parks as my preferred Shabbat spiritual sustenance. Years of erratic prayer experiences in modern orthodox…

Today is the anniversary of Kristallnacht, the night of a pogrom against the Jews of Germany; a night that marked a significant escalation of anti-Jewish Nazi policies that culminated in the Holocaust. On November 9 1938, my father, Werner Leschziner, 27, was at work at the Handelsbank Ivria in Leipzig.