Good morning, New York. Yom Kippur begins tonight at sundown (fast begins at 6:46 p.m. in NYC). See our list of virtual and in-person services happening around the city, and JTA’s guide to online Yom Kippur experiences.
The Jewish Week/Daily will be back on Friday. However you mark the day, we hope you have a sweet, healthy and meaningful year.
YOM KIPPUR
SELF CARE: Wednesday is the Day of Atonement, but it can also be a time for giving yourself some credit for getting through a difficult year. A rabbi and a cantor offer a confessional prayer focused on accomplishments, not shortcomings, to accompany the traditional liturgy. (JTA)
SHUL READING: Upper West Side rabbi Mark Wildes’ new book on Judaism and repentance, “The 40-Day Challenge,” is being read by “thousands of Jews across the world” in preparation for Yom Kippur. (CBS New York)
MEA CULPA: In the spirit of Yom Kippur, a New York political columnist asks forgiveness for writing “items that were careless and hurtful and just plain wrong.” (PoliticsNY)
THOSE WE LOST: Chabad.org has published a comprehensive list of Jews lost as a result of complications due to COVID-19 as a customizable “Yizkor book,” available to be downloaded and used in congregations around the world. (chabad.org)
THE BOROUGHS AND BEYOND
UNTOUCHABLES: Read about the two Jewish friends from Brooklyn who gained a national reputation “for successfully blowing up and destroying illegal speakeasies” during Prohibition. (Tablet)
INCONCEIVABLE: A lawsuit alleges that a prominent Jewish fertility specialist in Rochester defrauded patients by personally donating the sperm they thought had come from other anonymous donors. The plaintiff, a child of one of the women treated, grew suspicious when a DNA test revealed she was “half Ashkenazi Jewish.” (New York Post)
AROUND THE JEWISH WORLD, WITH JTA
- A rare bipartisan event in Washington marked the first anniversary of the Abraham Accords, the deals normalizing relations between Israel and four Arab countries.
- Ida Nudel, the Russian Jewish refusenik whose 16-year effort to leave the Soviet Union moved figures as diverse as Republican Secretary of State George Schultz and activist actress Jane Fonda, died Tuesday at age 90.
- Ryan Braun, the Milwaukee Brewers outfielder who slugged more home runs than any Jewish player in baseball history, is retiring.
PEOPLE & PLACES
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Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum of Manhattan’s Congregation Beit Simchat Torah has joined the Welcome Council of Welcome.US, a new national organization helping Afghan evacuees arriving in the United States. Former presidents Obama, Bush and Clinton are serving as the organization’s honorary co-chairs. (RNS)
Towers at Water’s Edge, a cooperative in Flushing, helped collect hundreds of hygiene and cleaning supplies to distribute through Commonpoint Queens’ four food pantries.
WoodSpoon, a home-cooked food delivery service, is providing free weekly home-cooked meals to Holocaust survivors in Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx. The meals are developed by home chefs on the platform based on referrals from local institutions like the Kings Bay Y. WoodSpoon is covering all operating costs for the initiative and its private donors are paying for the meals and compensating all participating chefs.
WHAT’S ON TODAY
Join Hadar’s faculty members and community for an online day of learning and connection on Erev Yom Kippur, also known as Yom HaMa’al. Drop in for any part of the program to learn about the themes and prayers of the day and enjoy melodies and excerpts from the Yom Kippur liturgy. Register here. 11:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Israeli-Yemeni singer Achinoam “Noa” Nini will be joining Hillel Tigay, musical director of the Los Angles-based IKAR congregation, for Wednesday night’s Kol Nidre services and various other musical moments during the Yom Kippur service. Anyone can join IKAR virtually here. 9:30 p.m.
Photo, top: UJA-Federation of New York and partners HOPE Community Services, Met Council and Feeding Westchester dedicated Westchester County’s new kosher food pantry in New Rochelle on Sept. 10, 2021. The pantry offers Westchester residents free, pre-packaged bags that are available for pick up every other Thursday, with delivery available for homebound residents. Attending the opening ceremony were, from left, State Sen. Andrea Stewart-Cousins; Elliot Forchheimer, executive director of the Westchester Jewish Council; Audrey Stein, UJA Westchester regional director and State Assemblywoman Amy Paulin. (UJA-Federation)
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