High Holiday services have much ritual and tradition, with almost every shul having its own traditions (adjustments in nusach, prayers, and even how aliyot to the Torah are handed out). One tradition in every shul with which I have had the joy of spending the holidays is the rabbi’s sermon. The sermons are the prime time events of the holiday season. more

In our efforts to get closer to G-d in the days leading up to Rosh Hashana, every person employs a different strategy. more

For the fifth consecutive year, the Five Towns-Far Rockaway community will hold a bake sale before Rosh Hashana to raise money for yeshiva tuition for Jewish children who cannot afford it. The Jewish Education Program of Long Island event will be held on Labor Day, Sept. 2, and on Tuesday, Sept. 3, from 11 am to 9 pm, at the Biderman home, 130 Rand Place in Lawrence. more

As a rabbi, I’m starting to get a little nervous as my Jewdar is clanging off the hook, but my phone isn’t. Is it just me, or why is nobody talking about the High Holidays yet? more

“He was a real boy in the sense that he loved sports. He was a child who cared tremendously about others — his bein adam l’chavero (interactions between people) was incredible.” Rabbi Yaakov Feitman, rav of Kehillas Bais Yehudah Tzvi in Cedarhurst, where Aaron Tepfer, o”h, davened with his family, spoke to The Jewish Star about the ten year old boy who passed away on Saturday after a boating accident on Friday. more

Rav Yehuda Alkalai (1798-1878) distinguished between individual teshuva (repentence), in which one strives to improve oneself in all areas, and national teshuva, in which the nation, as a unit, returns to its land. more

In the face of unprecedented violence against Coptic Christians in Egypt that has left hundreds dead, the church’s leadership has condemned the Western media’s biased coverage of events in Egypt. more

The bulk of Parshat Ki Tavo is occupied by the Tokhacha, the great Rebuke that is promised to the Israelite nation in exchange for their infidelity to G-d. Prior to the curses and promises of destruction, there are 14 verses of blessing which, were we to keep our end of the deal, paint the Israelite existence in the Land as the most fantastic we could ever dream to experience. more

A mainstream regional supermarket chain is reaching out to the Orthodox community, providing glatt kosher catering at all 13 of its tri-state locations in time for Rosh Hashana. more

Faced with rising operating costs, hospital units that lose money and a need for space, St. John’s Episcopal Hospital, the only remaining hospital in Far Rockaway since last year’s closing of the Peninsula Hospital Center, is taking measures that administrators hope will keep it a viable facility. more