Holiday Features
Ethiopians waiting to emigrate hold seder
JTAApr 05, 2018
JERUSALEM — Many of the at least 8,000 Ethiopians awaiting Israeli government approval to move to the Jewish state attended a Passover seder in Gondar or Addis Ababa...
What happens when your flight is canceled on erev Pesach
JTAApr 05, 2018
By Ben Sales and Josefin Dolsten The ancient Israelites had to cross the Red Sea. Four thousand years later, Jeannie R. Fisher had to get her family of five from New...
In Holland, they love matzah all year long
Cnaan Liphshiz, JTAMar 29, 2018
PASSOVER EDITION 5778 SECTION C PAGE 10 ENSCHEDE, Netherlands — For most matzah bakeries, Passover is their lifeline and only claim to financial viability. After the...
Passover cleaning at the Western Wall
TPSMar 22, 2018
By Mara Vigevani If you wonder what happens to the hundreds of thousands of notes placed into the cracks of the Western Wall, here’s the answer: Twice a year, before...
In Israel, Purim is a unifying force
Deborah Fineblum, JNSFeb 22, 2018
Queen Esther and Uncle Mordechai, King Ahasuerus and that rogue Haman. All of them (and even poor old deposed Queen Vashti) would be flummoxed by the sheer volume of...
Sufganiyah or sfinj?
Andrew Tobin, JTADec 14, 2017
TEL AVIV — The sufganiyah is the plump, shining star of Chanukah in Israel. During the holiday season, the famed jelly doughnut poses in the windows of cafés and...
It’s always Chanukah in this picturesque Italian town
Ruth Ellen Gruber, JTADec 07, 2017
CHANUKAH 5778 SECTION E PAGE 6 CASALE MONFERRATO, Italy — It’s always Chanukah in this picturesque town in northern Italy’s Piedmont region. Jews have lived in...
How eight countries break the fast
Gabe Friedman, JTASep 28, 2017
NEW YORK — After American Jews file out of Yom Kippur services, many return home to a similar meal each year to break the fast: typically bagels, lox and assorted...
Rosh Hashanah in Uman
Cnaan Liphshiz, JTASep 21, 2017
UMAN, Ukraine — By selling coffee to Jewish tourists, 18-year-old Yuri Breskov can earn in a week more than his teachers from high school make annually in this...
Israeli factory sells 7,000 shofars a year
Andrew Tobin, JTASep 14, 2017
ROSH HASHANAH EDITION 5778SECTION D PAGE 5 GIVAT YOAV, Golan Heights — Shimon Keinan has a business to run. He doesn’t have time to teach you how to blow the shofar....