SC Hillel

07/21/2026

Tisha B’Av begins tonight, July 21. It is the anniversary of the destruction of both the First Temple (586 BCE) and the Second Temple (70 CE) in Jerusalem which occured on the same day of the Hebrew calendar 655 years apart.  Other historic tragedies are linked with Tisha b’Av, and the day has been called the “saddest day in Jewish history”.

Tisha B’Av is observed like a day of mourning, with fasting from sunset to sunset. The “Book of Lamentations”, (Eicha in Hebrew), is read by candle light sitting on the floor as are sections of  Jeremiah 8.

07/08/2026

"“Oftentimes I’ll refer to myself as a deeply flawed holy man wannabe,” David told me over Zoom from his house in Bloomington, Indiana. “But I always had this spiritual pull.”

Bruce David has spent his career showcasing Judaism’s beauty.

05/05/2026

‘Remnants’ tells the story of the 23 Jews who fled Brazil and established Shearith Israel in New York

04/24/2026

"He’s full of self-deprecation and derisive humor just like him on stage, but Kahan also brings with him a kind radical openness, which is what makes his music so healing, so important to its listeners. And just like his music, his openness in this documentary makes one feel so seen, feel a sense of healing — even if it isn’t necessary healing to him."

In one of the many moving scenes in Netflix’s “Noah Kahan: Out of Body,” singer Noah Kahan sits with his dad, Josh, on the porch of his Nashville home. They each strum a guitar as they play the first song they ever played together (when Noah was just 9!): the 1970 hit “Father & Son” […]

04/13/2026

Yom Hashoah Ve-Hagevurah (“Day of (Remembrance of the Holocaust and the Heroism”) begins at sundown, on the 27th of the Hebrew month of Nisan. The date was chosen to coincide with the anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.

Yom HaShoah reminds us of the horrors that Jews and other persecuted groups faced: forced labor, starvation, humiliation, and torture, which often resulted in death. It was a systematic effort to wipe out an entire population from the face of the earth.

(Shoah, which means “catastrophe” or “utter destruction” in Hebrew, refers to the atrocities that were committed against the Jewish people during World War II. This is a memorial day for those who died in the Shoah. The Shoah is also known as the Holocaust, from a Greek word meaning "sacrifice by fire.")

It is a reminder, not only of sacred lives lidt, but also of heroism in the face of inhumanity.

04/08/2026

Scenes from tonight's Chocolate Seder.

Baruch atah Adonai, Eloheinu melech ha-olam, borei p’ree ha-gafen u’vorei ha-chalav ha-shokolad.
Blessed are you, Adonai our God, Ruler of the universe, Creator of the fruit of the vine and Creator of chocolate milk.

04/03/2026

A definitive guide to every Pesach TV episode you can stream right now.

Editor's note: This article was updated on April 18, 2024 to include even more Passover TV. Enjoy. Dear reader, I know what you're thinking: the Passover holiday doesn't always have the glitz and glam of Hanukkah or a bar/bat mitzvah. But that doesn't mean we can't still enjoy when Pesach and sed

04/02/2026

"From India’s animal blood on doorposts to Ethiopia’s all-chickpea pre-Seder diets, the Jewish diaspora has developed distinctive traditions that endure."

From India’s animal blood on doorposts to Ethiopia’s all-chickpea pre-Seder diets, the Jewish diaspora has developed distinctive traditions that endure.

04/01/2026

"Bread that rises is not just food. It is a metaphor. Contrast that with matzah: flat, simple and unadorned. The bread of the poor."

(RNS) — Why Jews have traditionally gone against the grain.

03/31/2026

With Passover falling on April Fools' Day this year, here are some hilarious ways to keep your seder guests on their toes.

This year, Passover seder night falls on the most annoying holiday of them all — April Fools’ Day. We don’t know the origins of this incredibly irritating and surprisingly ancient holiday in which people (and now, corporations like Google and Baskin-Robbins) famously prank each other, though i...