Looking all around from my corner of the universe
Last year I tried an experiment, I heard some good feedback, and I liked the way it turned out, so I’m going to do it again. And that was, rather than me share of my own thoughts on this Yom Kippur Day, we will share thoughts with each other, studying together and reflecting on a …
“One who destroys a single life, it is as if one has destroyed an entire world. One who saves a single life, it is as if they have saved an entire world.” This is a teaching from the Talmud, a powerful, important teaching—one that invokes the preciousness of human life, and the care we must …
Continue reading Take Risks. Think Strategically. Ask for Help. Do It Anyway. (Kol Nidre 5780)
This year Sukkot falls on Indigenous Peoples' Day. Each year the movement to recognize this day grows, as local governments are changing the observance of Columbus Day to tell a different narrative, one that honors the original keepers of this land and remembers the history of displacement and genocide that has marked the history of …
As we gather on this evening of Erev Rosh Hashanah, as is my wont and practice, I wish to ease us in to this sacred time of reflection and renewal as I usually do, with sharing a list. I have used this time—on the evening of our first High Holiday service, to share something that …
Since 9/11 was one of those events that everyone remembers where they were when they heard about it, here is mine: I was sitting in a classroom in the Conservative Yeshiva in Israel about to begin a class I was checking out (but didn't end up taking). The yeshiva catered to students from abroad, so …
This week’s Torah portion contains the powerful and clear call to justice and righteousness: “Justice, justice you shall pursue!” (Deuteronomy 16:20) We read these words after Moses implores the Israelites that once they get settled in their new home, they are to appoint judges and institute a system of justice. Law and legalism shall govern …
Continue reading Pursuing Justice in Word and Action, Together
If you are wondering if today is a Jewish holiday...why, yes, yes it is. Today is a minor, minor day on the Jewish calendar: Tu B'Av, "the fifteenth of the month of Av." I use the word "minor" twice because there are practically no observances associated with it. It is a day to note, and …
The observance of Tisha B'Av has always seemed so spiritually remote. Tucked into the middle of summer, it is a day in which we are meant to turn our attention to mourning the destruction of the ancient Temples in Jerusalem. For one, it is hard to take on a air of communal mourning when the …
Continue reading Mourning Our Downfalls, Brought About Through Word and Deed
Today on the Jewish calendar we enter into a period known as the Three Weeks, a period of mourning and sadness that culminates in the observance of Tisha B'Av, the Ninth of the Month of Av, the date that marks of the destruction of the ancient Temples in Jerusalem. Jewish tradition holds that both of …
