Rabbi Richard S. Sarason, Ph.D.

Dr. Sarason is Professor of Rabbinic Literature and Thought and the Associate Editor of the Hebrew Union College Annual. He was ordained at HUC-JIR.

N’ilah: The Concluding Service on Yom Kippur

Rabbi Richard S. Sarason, Ph.D.
January 16, 2014

Yom Kippur is the only day in the traditional Jewish liturgical year to have five services: in addition to the usual four shared with Shabbatot, Festivals, and Rosh Hashanah (evening, morning, Musaf, and afternoon1), Yom Kippur has a concluding service called 

Eileh Ezkerah: Memorializing Jewish Martyrs on Yom Kippur

Rabbi Richard S. Sarason, Ph.D.
November 21, 2013

Memorialization of deceased relatives and of Jewish martyrs has figured in the liturgical observances of Yom Kippur since the massacre of approximately 8,000 Rhineland Jews at the time of the First Crusade (1096). Indeed, many of the Jewish mourning customs...