Category: Uncategorized
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On the Road
This week I am setting off on a journey. Yes, I know we use that image a lot to describe our life’s path. But this time I am going on an actual journey. My family and I are leaving town for two weeks on a driving and camping trip into Utah and Arizona and back…
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Expanding the Conversation for a Peaceful Future: On Israel’s 66th Birthday
This past week we moved through the most important holidays of the Israeli civil calendar: Yom Hazikaron, Memorial Day, and Yom Ha’atzmaut, Israeli Independence Day. These holidays came this year at an interesting time of reflection in the American Jewish community and its relationship with Israel. A few days prior to the observance of these…
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Enduring Shabbat
The other day I had one of those revelations when after you have it, you realize how obvious it should have been all along. More on that in a moment. We are currently in the period of the Omer. On the second night of Passover, we started the practice of counting the Omer-counting the days…
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The Holocaust is…
We have just finished the observance of Passover, in which we recount a historical narrative of slavery and liberation. Each year we read the story, and each year we find something new in it. As we make our way from the sacred observance of Passover, we enter into a season of observances commemorating events that…
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From Goshen to the Sea: Passover as the In-Between
This coming Monday is (unofficially) Red Sea Crossing Day. We mark Passover at this time of year because this is the time of the events of the Exodus as recounted in the Torah. According to the Torah the march out of Egypt began on the 15th of Nissan, the first day of Passover. It was…
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Thinking of Overland Park–and beyond–this Passover
As we sit around the Seder table this year, I am sure the shootings in Overland Park, Kansas are on everyone’s mind. A blatant act of aggression and violence directed toward the Jewish community leaves us shaken, upset, insecure and angry. For me personally, the children of a friend and colleague were at the JCC…
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More Questions for a Meaningful Passover
The Passover seder is an ethical answer to a series of questions. It is structured as a lesson, the symbolic foods and retelling of the story comes in response to 4 questions (or 4 variations of 1 question) asked traditionally by the youngest person at the table: why is this night different from all other…
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Movers and Shakers
I love my children’s elementary school, Lincoln Elementary. The school is an alternative program, called Lincoln Options, that focuses on values, community building, creativity and social justice. The experiential curriculum integrates subjects around guiding themes and topics. And there is a garden with chickens! Every year the school chooses an overall theme, and each class…
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Holidays and Red Lights: On Dayenu and Social Change
This week we entered the new month of Nissan—the month of Passover. The season of the Festival of Freedom is upon us. It is time to make our preparations for this physical and spiritual journey. We buy the matzo and special foods, we plan our Seders and special meals. And we think about the story…
Rabbi 360 