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For members of the community, an unexpected Rosh Hashanah gift carried a message that went far beyond the turning of the Jewish year. Calendars created and...
The Yamim Noraim, the Days of Awe starting on Rosh Hashanah and culminating on Yom Kippur, described by the late Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks as the...
The dwindling Jewish community in East London (KuGompo City) once again filled its shul for Rosh Hashanah services, with a full minyan throughout the festival despite...
We know how to find almost anyone these days. We can track a package across the world, find a restaurant in seconds, locate a lost phone, and instantly know what our friends...
JTA – “Who boycotted Jews? The Third Reich!” Ofir Akunis, Israel’s consul general in New York, wasn’t being subtle. In a recent interview with the Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) at...
The 2025 World Happiness Report found that almost one in five young adults around the world had no one they could count on for support. A...
It’s fascinating how much we know about everybody else’s life. We know which minister is in trouble, which footballer moved where, which celebrity marriage is falling apart,...
There is a well-known Chassidic parable about a rabbinic master who said that he’d learnt three lessons from an infant and seven lessons from a thief. From the baby he learnt to...
We find ourselves in the midst of an extraordinary election season. The result of this election will determine our fates for the months and years ahead. Understandably, much thought and energy are...
Rosh Hashanah is a time of reflection, prayer, and hope for the year ahead. As we stand before Hashem and ask to be blessed with health, security, and...
I was born and raised in a small town in South Africa named Benoni. At its height, Benoni was home to more than 600 Jewish families....
The Mishna teaches that “If I am not for myself then who is?” and “If I am for myself then what am I?” Is that not a contradiction? Each of us is an individual...
Having just moved to Johannesburg, I have found here many of the aspects that made me deeply love Brazil, my home country, and its people: the...
As we approach Rosh Hashanah, there’s the impetus to do our personal cheshbon nefesh, an audit of our shortcomings, achievements, and areas we want to improve going into a new year. The timing couldn’t be more apt for...
Every Rosh Hashanah, we wish one another Shana tova. A good year. It is such a simple wish. Two words we have said to one another for generations, often...
A friend once told me a story about his father. My friend is observant; his father is a committed, self-proclaimed atheist. One day, after he’d proudly announced his non-belief to a...
From the apples, honey, and herring to the vibrant tables and the people in the seats around them, there’s something special about continuing family traditions when hosting yomtov meals. Three women discuss how they’re bringing their Rosh Hashanah memories into the hearts of a new generation. Romy Waters has been hosting Rosh Hashanah dinners ever since she got married 13...
Rosh Hashanah 2026 means different things to people in our community. At the SA Jewish Report, we try to show what this means. So, we asked King David High...
The sweet aroma of challah, round and full. The sticky honey dripping off the apple. The carrots. Black-eyed peas. Leek patties. Tzimmes. The red juice of...
Apples and honey may symbolise a sweet new year, but there’s nothing particularly sweet about the bill at the supermarket checkout. With Rosh Hashanah bringing family,...
Looking for something to serve vegetarian guests, or as a light lunch over the chaggim? Here’s an idea from Cape Town food supplier The Sephardi Chef. Spinach quajado The spinach quajado is great for either...
Keeping meals healthy around Rosh Hashanah is not that simple. Lauren Boolkin gives us her delectable offerings. Tabbouleh alla Simanim My quest for a different salad led me back to...
For many married couples, planning Rosh Hashanah comes with a question trickier than deciding who’s hosting or what to serve: whose family gets us for yomtov? Two nights may sound like plenty of...
For some Jews, the sound of the shofar at Rosh Hashanah is woven into childhood memories. For others, this year will be the first time they...
Rosh Hashanah signals the beginning of a new year. For those who’ve recently made aliya, it marks their first Jewish New Year in a new country, a new home, and...
For many Jewish families, the high holy days mean crowded dining tables, packed synagogue services, familiar rituals, and generations coming together. But for others, those traditions can make the yomtavim difficult. Some find large gatherings overwhelming....
The image of Rosh Hashanah is often of a packed table, with family squeezed together, familiar foods being passed around, and the noise that comes with...
Our New Year, Rosh Hashanah, isn’t a festival of pure, unadulterated celebration, like the one many of us mark on 31 December in the Gregorian calendar. It is a deeply introspective time, filled...
There is so much noise we create within ourselves – our worries, expectations, fears, and ideas about how life needs to be. Rosh Hashanah invites us to take...
This time of year naturally turns our attention to the state of the world: the upheavals and historic events of the past year in Israel; America;...
As a rabbi, I sit in rooms most people never enter. I hear stories that rarely make it to the braai table or shul foyer. A...
The winds of the month of Elul are upon us, and Rosh Hashanah can be felt in the air. Many of us are busy preparing our...
After three and a half decades of enmity, Jacob finally prepares to meet and confront his brother, Esau. The Torah describes the night before this fateful...
We live in an age where technology does almost everything for us. From smart homes to artificial intelligence, our lives are easier than ever. But with...
Who do you think was the single most influential person in human history? I looked through many lists that have been compiled over the years. Some...
Life today feels like a phone at 2% battery with no charger in sight. The world is shaky, our schedules overloaded, and our spirits stretched thin....
One of the many lessons we learn from the natural world is that time isn’t linear. So much of what surrounds us and dictates the path...
The Talmud (Rosh Hashanah 18a) explains that on Rosh Hashanah, we stand alone before G-d in judgement. This means that we, alone, are held accountable for...
Simchat Torah 2023 will forever be etched into our memories as a day that changed the Jewish world. The brutal attack by Hamas marked the deadliest...
The 10 days from Rosh Hashanah to Yom Kippur are known as the yamim noraim – the “awed days” – when we work to move G-d’s...
