Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice

Articles written by Sarah Chandler


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  • Why Shemini Atzeret is the pinnacle of the High Holidays season

    Sarah Chandler|Sep 11, 2015

    NEW YORK (JTA)—You might not know it, but Shemini Atzeret is the pinnacle of the High Holidays season. Not Rosh Hashanah, when our fates for the year are traditionally written, nor Yom Kippur, when they are sealed. Shemini Atzeret, the oft-forgotten coda that comes at the end of the Sukkot festival, trumps them all. That’s not just my opinion. The rabbis and ancient Israelites knew it, too. According to the agrarian roots of the Jewish calendar, the date of Shemini Atzeret is timed to the start of the rainy season in Israel. In the holiday’s mu...

  • How shmita can help us kick the consumerist habit

    Sarah Chandler, JTA|May 10, 2013

    FALLS VILLAGE, Conn. (JTA)—Judaism is designed to be a person’s operating system, the platform on which other areas of one’s life functions. But for many Jews, religious practice sits on a shelf alongside theater subscriptions, gym memberships and soccer practice, relegated to one of many offerings from which we can pick and choose. For Jewish educators like myself, this mindset poses particular challenges, forcing us to adopt the tactics of public relations agencies to induce Jews to participate in Jewish life. Why can’t these opportu...