What is Shemini Atzeret? I can’t imagine how many Jews have asked that question and are still left wondering! Here’s a bit of an explanation/interpretation. Shemini Atzeret is a festival that follows immediately on the heels of Sukkot, one of the 3 major festivals of Jewish tradition. Because Shemini Atzeret starts just as Sukkot […]
Holidays
Predictions for 5778
Here are some predictions for 5778. I’m pretty confident they’ll come to pass. 5778 will be a year of… radical love and radical hatred profound peace and profound violence deep connection and deep alienation wisdom and folly clarity and ambiguity health and sickness laughter and tears life and death progress and decline momentum and […]
Overcoming Boredom: Rabbinic Advice for High Holy Day Services
In spite of our collective best efforts, I still hear people reporting anticipatory boredom when discussing their upcoming attendance at High Holy Day services. It’s a shame for a couple of reasons. First, High Holy Day services actually aren’t boring at all. Second, with all that life has to offer, there’s no reason to […]
Celebrating our Human Voice: S’lichot at The Temple
Last night, I had the honor of leading a S’lichot program at my home congregation, The Temple. Over the course of two hours our congregation gathered in a generous and engaged spirit for study, spiritual writing, and worship. It was a special evening for me personally because I was able to integrate three passions of […]
Celebrating our Human Voice: S’lichot at The Temple
Last night, I had the honor of leading a Selichot program at my home congregation, The Temple. Over the course of two hours our congregation gathered in a generous and engaged spirit for study, spiritual writing, and worship. It was a special evening for me personally because I was able to integrate three passions of […]
The Naivety of Hate- Tisha b’Av
Today’s Hebrew calendar date is the 9th of Av (Tisha b’Av). Tisha b’Av is a day of mourning. It commemorates the destruction of the 1st and 2nd Temples in Jerusalem. It commemorates other tragedies in Jewish history. There are many reasons given for the destruction of the 2nd Temple. There are military reasons, economic […]