Jewish Holidays
This week, I tell a friend I’d love to chat but actually I have to run Yom Kippur services are starting soon and I’ve got to repent for my sins before the gates are closed. She laughs. “Well, you’re gay, so you’ve definitely got a lot of repenting to do.” It’s a joke, I know, but I still tell her don’t worry. My God is compatible with my queerness. I tell her my love is not my sin, but my tongue stumbles on the words because they ooze out from the pit of my rotten belly. Lies. You see, the only girl I’ve ever loved boiled my God into mud and told me it was medicine... Read More
As I write this, Shavuot has just come to a close. As fulfilling as it was to engage in Tikkun Leil Shavuot programs facilitated by the Reform Jewish community, a lot weighs on me. With COVID-19 continuing to ravage Black communities and racist violence all over the news, I almost feel like it’s Yom Kippur instead – the time when Jews are supposed to be most aware of their own mortality. I’m a Black man living in America, and I have never felt more mortal than I do in 2020. In February, two white men murdered Ahmaud Arbery while he was out for a jog in Brunswick, GA. Further, the county... Read More
Shavuot, like most other Jewish holidays, has been celebrated in many different ways throughout Jewish history. What began as an agricultural festival marking the beginning of the summer wheat harvest transformed into a holiday celebrating the Jews receiving the Torah at Mt. Sinai, often accompanied by eating dairy (or dairy-tasting) foods and all-night-long Torah study. The COVID-19 pandemic has shifted so much of how we engage Jewishly, but Shavuot is fantastic holiday for families to celebrate from the safety of their homes. Below are a few ways you and your family can observe this rich... Read More
Around the world, stay-at-home orders and the need for extreme physical distancing has led engaged couples to cancel and postpone their wedding plans – an emotional decision for those who have been anticipating joyous celebrations of their love. Right now, you may be feeling grateful for the health of loved ones, frustrated or resentful of the situation you find yourself in, disappointed to have to postpone your celebration, and/or worried about the resulting consequences of doing so. Whatever you and your partner are feeling, just know: It’s OK to feel that way. There is some small... Read More
When I was 6 or 7 years old, my older sister, our friend, and I draped a sheet over my mother’s backyard clothesline in Champaign, IL, to create our secret clubhouse. In the 1940s, if you didn’t have a tree house or some kind of playhouse in your backyard, you rigged up a makeshift shelter where you could chat, share secrets, and keep a stash of forbidden goodies. One day while in our hideaway, the chit-chatting got to me, and I screamed, “We’re not getting anything done.” I made a quick exit out of the hideaway and ran into our house. “Getting something done” has been my mantra for my... Read More
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