by Dina Coopersmith
Rosh Hashana presents a puzzle. It is a celebration of a New Year and a fearsome day of judgment at the same time. How are we to understand this contradiction?
Rosh Hashana is a paradox. On the one hand it is a celebration -- the sweetness of a new year, along with festive clothes and special foods. On the other hand it is a day of judgment: "Who will live and who will die?"
There are more puzzling elements to Rosh Hashana. The holiday includes the first and second of the Ten Days of Repentance, culminating in Yom Kippur. And yet, the prayers of Rosh Hashana mention nothing about repentance. There is no confession of our sins, no regret about the past, no recriminations. So, is Rosh Hashana a day of repentance, or not?
We know it's a day of judgment. And if we are being judged for our behavior this past year, then we'd expect to see at least a few repentance days coming before the day of judgment, not after.
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From Bangkok to Cusco, Dharamsala to Pucon, thousands of Israelis will be celebrating the Jewish New Year in Chabad houses around the world
Anat Shalev
Nothing spells family like the holidays, but then again – nothing spells a holiday for many Israelis quite as much as traveling abroad.
Those choosing to spend Rosh Hashana outside Israel, may find themselves welcoming the Jewish New Year in one of the numerous Chabad houses around the world, offering them a little taste of home for the holidays.
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Despite fickle autumn weather, tens of thousands of Israelis visit country's national parks from north to south in honor of Jewish New Year
Hagai Einav
Tens of thousands of Israelis took advantage of the first day of the Jewish New Year in order to tour the country's many national parks in the north and south, despite the rainfall that threatened to persist from the previous night. 
"The upper Galilee is hosting a lot of travelers this year," Uzi Brazilai, of the Nature and National Parks Protection Authority, told Ynet. "The Banias, Tel Dan, and the Snir (Hasbani) Rivers are full of tourists. Apparently people prefer the water sources despite the autumnal weather."
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US Government approves $15.2 billion sale of Joint Strike Fighter aircrafts, with option for 50 more in coming years; pentagon explains deal is vital for US assistance in Israel's development of 'strong self-defense capability'
The US Government on Tuesday said it approved the sale to Israel of 25 F-35 Joint Strike Fighter aircraft built by Lockheed Martin Corp and an option for 50 more in coming years – a deal valued at up to $15.2 billion.
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By Alyssa Fetini
Caught in between four countries and sixty years of conflict, the disputed territory of the Golan Heights seems closer than ever to a permanent resolution, after decades of tug-of-war between Israel and Syria over its rightful ownership. Israel's new Prime Minister, Tzipi Livni, has expressed a commitment to resolving the Golan issue once and for all, while outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert mentioned the impossibility of ever hoping for peace with the Syrians without giving up the Golan Heights in a recent interview.
The history of the rocky, Los Angeles-sized plateau, strategically nestled between Lebanon, Syria, Israel and Jordan, traces back to biblical times. From 953-586 B.C. the Golan Heights was both a buffer zone and a contested area for the ancient Kingdom of Israel and the Aramean Kingdom in Damascus.
In the following centuries, the Golan Heights changed hands incessantly, enduring brief bouts of occupation by everyone from Alexander the Great to the Roman Empire. The area finally settled under the control of the Ottomans in the 16th century, where it remained until the dissolution of the Empire after World War I. French mandated modern-day Syria emerged from its ashes and the Golan Heights was included ...   more »