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5773 on our doorstep.
The summer feel is still in the air, yet we are busy with a brand new academic year and that can only mean one thing: fall is not…
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Building the Future…
Back in December I attended the biennial conference of the Union for Reform Judaism in Washington, DC. Six thousand people, amazing atmosphere, learning, camaraderie… When I bumped into…
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Dayeinu – or What is Enough?
Passover is a time for getting in touch with our past. We look back at the history of our people; we remind ourselves where we came from –…
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Music to our ears…
“The individual may pray in prose or even in wordless silence; a congregation must sing or disband.” Israel Abrahams, Poetry and Religion (1920) Music has always been a…
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The joys of Purim… Adar is here!
Mishenikhnas Adar, marbim b’simchah… From the moment the month of Adar begins, we increase the joy… This ancient rabbinic dictum reminds us that we are to celebrate Purim…
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The quiet months are over…
‘Deep winter, still winter, but the days are visibly longer. The sun is visibly brighter. In the Land of Israel, it is still raining – but the rains…
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Dreaming of camp…
Happy New year! May 2012 bring you all much joy and happiness – and a little fewer snow days than last year! 🙂 Together with Lew Shaffer and…
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Prayer is for everyone…
There is a wonderful Chasidic story about a boy who did not know how to pray – so the rabbi advised him to recite the letters of the…
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Building the community…
If God does not build the house, the workers labor in vain… (Psalm 127). There is an ancient Jewish tradition: when building a house, to leave one corner,…
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Slach lanu… forgive us before the High Holy Days?
In our tradition, the Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are known as the most awe-inspiring and powerful Holy Days. In our modern reality, the High Holy Days continue…
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Shiru l’Adonai Shir Chadash, Sing unto God a new song…
If favorite books are like old friends, prayerbooks are like trusted and beloved family members. We turn to them in joy as well as in sorrow, in wonder…
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Chag Urim Sameach – a Happy Festival of Lights!
I could not honestly remember if I had ever experienced Chanukah begin on December 1st – but even if I did, this still feels very ‘early’! As the…