Jewish Holidays
My first experience with Selichot occurred during my first year of rabbinical school in Israel. In the wee hours of the morning, we boarded a bus to a Sephardi synagogue in Jerusalem. The service, in the Sephardi custom, was held before sunrise. Forced to take anti-nausea medication before the bus ride, I remember little of that service, except for the warm, spiced tea that was shared with us during the service. Ever since, though, I have had a fondness for Selichot. There are a variety of points during the summer that could mark the coming of the High Holidays – Shabbat Nachamu after... Read More
The chirping of the end-of-summer cicadas and the waning of the season’s long, warm days are sure signs the Hebrew month of Elul is upon us. With its arrival, I begin to contemplate the approaching Days of Awe and how I can best prepare for them. In traditional Jewish communities, the shofar is sounded at synagogue during this month of spiritual preparation. Many Jews also recite Psalm 27 twice each day, as they shift to a mindset of repentance and forgiveness for the new year. Interestingly, pervasive anxiety – not forgiveness – is the focus of this psalm. Initially, the anguished... Read More
Our lives can get so hurried and hectic sometimes. With long hours of work, responsibilities at home, errands, bills, the breakneck speed of life set by the modern technologies that we love and can’t seem to live without, at times we need moments just to catch our breath. “Summertime, and the livin’ is easy,” wrote Ira Gershwin in “Porgy and Bess.” Even in the year 2018, hopefully there is still some truth to this great lyric. If the livin’ is not easy, perhaps at least, it’s easier. Our burdens may lighten. The pace may slow a few notches. Nature may beckon us toward repose. These are all... Read More
There is a time for mourning and a time for dancing. -- Ecclesiastes 3:4 Tu B’Av (a minor Jewish holiday that celebrates love, observed primarily in Israel) occurs six days after Tishah B’Av. If you know Hebrew, this fact is not news to you: Tishah B’Av means the 9th of the Hebrew month of Av and Tu B’Av means the 15th of the same month. So, why am I telling you this? I am intrigued that Tu B’Av, a holiday that began in Second Temple times, is still celebrated six days after Tishah B’Av, a somber holiday that commemorates the destruction of that Temple – in 70 C.E. – and other... Read More
I am sick with sorrow. Sick with revulsion. Sick with tears. On Saturday night, at the corner of El Wad and Sha’ar Barzel streets in the Muslim Quarter of Jerusalem’s Old City, five police set up a human barrier to prevent a gang of young, religious Jews from marching deeper into the quarter. Sha’ar Barzel leads to the Kotel HaKatan – the Little Kotel – the continuation of the larger part of the Western Wall, which almost exactly faces where the Holy of Holies of the ancient Jewish Temple is believed to have been. For the past five years, on the evening of Tishah b’Av, I’ve gone to... Read More
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