This song is a bit of a paradox. It’s a Nigun with words. The paradox is that Nigun (plural Nigunim) is a style of Jewish music that has no words. So a Nigun with words is a bit of a paradoxical concept. Having said that, this Nigun has only four words: ora, nora, yisa, and […]
Prayer
A Prayer for Healing
We need healing. Our world needs healing. I need healing. You probably do as well. To be human is to be broken and whole at the same time. To be human is to know that our bodies are beautifully imperfect vessels. To be human is to know that our souls can soar to the greatest […]
A Poem a Day
I just read a poem or two. It’s a rainy day and it seemed like a good thing to do. It reminded me that poets exist. Many more than we will ever know. It reminded me that we might be among those poets. And we might not even know it. There are 150 psalms in […]
3 Jewish Prayers Every Person Should Recite
This morning I found myself discussing the meaning of some of the daily prayers that Jews recite each morning. It reminded me of the relevance and maybe even the necessity of finding words like these to remind and guide us as we journey through life. So here, in a bare bones fashion, are the prayers […]
Jewish Body, Jewish Soul
Jewish tradition honors both the body and the soul. The ancient rabbis understood that, as human beings, we experience the world through the body. Our senses, our physicality, our material self. They taught us to treat the body with respect, to view the body as a gift from God, and to be mindful of how […]
A Blessing for the Night Before School Starts
This blessing can be read the night before the first day of school, or the morning of… A Back to School Blessing for 2019-2020 Tomorrow our family goes back to school. While we are sad that summer break is coming to an end, we are excited for all that the new school year brings. There […]