What's New
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With Wounds Still Open, We Ask: Where is God?
September 23, 2020
I do not believe that God sent us COVID-19, and I do not believe God will cure it. That is for humans to do, using our God-given intellect and ambition to develop the vaccines and treatments that will help stop the spread of this natural virus.
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Finding Healing, Finding Hope: The Powers of Poetry
September 22, 2020
In a time as devastating as the COVID-19 pandemic, people heal in many different ways. For Cantor/Rabbinic Pastor Lisa Levine, healing comes in the form of music and poetry.
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Rosh HaShanah at the Movies: Contemplating My Relationship with God
September 13, 2020
One year, on the second day of Rosh HaShanah, we were shocked to find the doors of Temple Israel of Hollywood locked. It was news to us that most Reform congregations observed only one day of the holiday.
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3 Steps to Hitbodedut: Talking to God on Your Own Terms
Although we associate prayer with liturgy that our rabbis and sages developed over the centuries, the act of unscripted prayer is equally important and authentic to the Jewish experience.
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When You Can’t Believe in God, Believe in People
Rabbi Hillel famously taught, “What is hateful to you, do not do to others. That is the whole Torah. The rest is commentary. Now go and study.” So what does it really mean?
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This Daily Jewish Practice Is Changing My Life for the Better
Just like that, I’d committed to reading a page of Talmud every day and formed a group of more than 1,000 women, which has become one of the kindest, most welcoming and respectful places I’ve experienced on the internet.
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3 Jewish Reminders When the World Seems Overwhelming
Rather than relying on God to repair the world, Judaism compels us to take action and do it ourselves – which means that there can be a real sense of empowerment that comes with living a Jewish life.
What is Kabbalah?
Kabbalah (also spelled Kabalah, Cabala, Qabala)—sometimes translated as “mysticism” or “occult knowledge—is a part of Jewish tradition that deals with the essence of God. Whether it entails a sacred text, an experience, or the way things work, Kabbalists believe that God moves in mysterious ways. However, Kabbalists also believe that true knowledge and understanding of that inner, mysterious process is obtainable, and through that knowledge, the greatest intimacy with God can be attained.
Musar
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Practice, Practice, Practice
This Musar practice involves both external and internal reflection and action. To develop desirable traits in ourselves, we must work toward improving the lives of others--as one great Musar teacher puts it, we must "bear the burden of the other."
Reform Jews in congregations across the continent are now embracing a Jewish spiritual practice formulated in 19th-century Lithuania.