Strange Customs of Rosh HaShanah
In this course we will discuss and try to understand the origins and meanings behind some of the seemingly strange traditions of Rosh HaShanah. We will include the symbolic foods, the problem of eating nuts, and the custom not to sleep on Rosh Hashanah.
Strange Customs of Rosh HaShanah: Lesson 1: The Symbolic Foods of Rosh Hashanah
Strange Customs of Rosh HaShanah: Lesson 2: Oh Nuts! Avoiding Nuts on Rosh Hashanah
Strange Customs of Rosh HaShanah: Lesson 3: Sleeping During the Day on Rosh Hashanah
Rabbi Uri Cohen has been teaching at Midreshet Moriah since 2005. He learned at Yeshivat Shaalvim and Yeshivat Hamivtar, and received Semikhah from RIETS (YU) and Yeshivat Hamivtar. He also holds Masters degrees in Medieval Jewish History and Jewish Education from Yeshiva University. For two years, he was an ATID Fellow. Through Torah MiTzion, he and his wife Dr. Yocheved Engelberg Cohen served as the first members of the Syracuse Kollel, and later as the first couple of the Jewish Learning Initiative on Campus (JLIC) at Princeton University. They now live in Ramat Beit Shemesh. His eclectic lecture topics have included Talmudic Misogyny in Context, Harry Potter and the Value of Fantasy, Contemporary Orthodox Responses to Homosexuality, and How Not to Do Outreach.