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If, as the Talmud tells us, the blasts of the shofar are meant to remind us of crying, (Babylonian Talmud, Rosh Hashanah 33A – specifically of Sisera’s mother – but that is another subject!), then...
When I started a new chapter in my life as a freshman at Indiana University (Go Hoosiers!), I met people left and right. I suggested to a group of new friends one Friday evening that we go to...
As Jews, we approach every autumn with the understanding that a new year is starting and that the High Holy Days are up and coming. In between Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur, we observe the Days of...
Turn the Torah scroll. Turn back to Genesis for the Rosh Hashana reading.As the Torah scroll is rolled, one person is on one side pulling forward - back to the beginning. One person is on the other...
Shabbat Shuvah is the Sabbath between Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur. The name is derived from the opening word of the haftarah reading that urges us: Shuvah Yisrael ad Adonai Elohecha, “Return, O...
by P.J. Schwartz(Originally published in Ten Minutes of Torah)It's that time of year again! Yes, that's right - it's tax season! Time to fill out your forms, collect your W-2's and...
by Annette PowersOriginally posted on The Huffington PostYom Kippur has meant different things to me throughout my life, but while in the process of getting a divorce, the acts of atonement and...
Like so many of the things we've done in the last few months, the annual Yom Kippur afternoon jaunt of my father and me to Barnes and Noble following the morning service at temple was more...
by Yehudit WerchowURJ General Shelicha(Originally published in Ten Minutes of Torah)What shall we say before You, who dwell on high?...Yet from the beginning You set us apart to stand erect...
Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, is a concept I came to understand in my early adult years. But this was my understanding during my childhood: Yom Kippur really translated into “Indian Summer...
What is the origin of the Kol Nidre melody?
by Rabbi Elisa F. Koppel I’m not ashamed to admit it: I like shoes. I’m not quite obsessive about them, but I probably have more pairs of shoes than I need, and I’m always finding new ones – you...
by Marc Rosenstein(Originally published in Galilee Diary and Ten Minutes of Torah)These are the festivals of the Lord, holy convocations, which you shall proclaim at their proper time. -Leviticus...
by Marc Rosenstein(Originally published in Galilee Diary and Ten Minutes of Torah)He will take us back in love; He will cover up our iniquities, You will hurl all our sins into the depths of the...
The Lord, the Lord is gracious and compassionate, patient, and abounding in kindness and faithfulness, assuring love for a thousand generations, forgiving iniquity, transgression and sin, and...
There is a moment during the N'ilah service on Yom Kippur that stays with me, always. I want to say that it haunts me, but that's really not the right image. It's more a flooding, a rushing-out-and...
A deep spiritual life is hard to find. While opportunities abound for spiritual connections (yoga, meditation, retreats and the like), for most of us it doesn’t come easy. The noise, unfinished to...
Our Muslim brothers and sisters are just ending the month of Ramadan, which commands both fasting and penitence, and today, my Jewish sisters and brothers begin the long, 40-day period of penitence...
When God gave us the Torah at Sinai -- so says our tradition -- we responded with na'aseh v'nishmah, "We will do and we will hear." Sounds kind of backwards, doesn't it? How can we follow...
This week, I watched the stars fall.
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I do believe that some of the time, God whispers to us in the same way that God spoke to Jonah. As I reflect upon all of these incidents, I realize that by paying attention to these divine whispers...
I have always found the notion of “belief” rather troublesome.
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As Jewish leaders, we are looked to as teachers, guides, mentors, advisers, counselors, and confidantes. People trust us; with their questions, with their challenges, with their significant...
The individual relationships we share are the backbone of creating a kehillah kedosha—a sacred community.
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We asked clergy across North America which music, books, art, movies and more help them get into a reflective state of mind as they gear up for the High Holidays. Here’s what Rabbi Joseph Black...
We asked clergy across North America which music, books, art, movies and more help them get into a reflective state of mind as they gear up for the High Holidays. Here’s what Rabbi Marci N. Bellows...
We asked clergy across North America which music, books, art, movies and more help them get into a reflective state of mind as they gear up for the High Holidays. Here’s what Rabbi Andy Bachman...
We asked clergy across North America which music, books, art, movies and more help them get into a reflective state of mind as they gear up for the High Holidays. Here’s what Rabbi Paul Kipnes from...
When we learn about repentance and forgiveness from a Jewish perspective, we often focus on what we assume are the distinctions between Jewish and Christian views, and conclude, that as Jews, we...
We asked clergy across North America which music, books, art, movies and more help them get into a reflective state of mind as they gear up for the High Holidays. Here’s what Rabbi Shoshanah...
We asked clergy across North America which music, books, art, movies and more help them get into a reflective state of mind as they gear up for the High Holidays. Here’s what Cantor Joshua Breitzer...
We asked clergy across North America which music, books, art, movies and more help them get into a reflective state of mind as they gear up for the High Holidays. Here’s what Cantor David Berger...
When I think of the word “hope,” one sentence comes to mind: Hope is a dangerous thing.
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We asked clergy across North America which music, books, art, movies and more help them get into a reflective state of mind as they gear up for the High Holidays. Here’s what Cantor Mary Rebecca...
Most rabbis spend the summer months preparing for the High Holydays. This summer, my High Holiday preparation included travelling to Lucknow, India, with 16 rabbis representing Orthodox,...
Say what you will, but I prefer the Rosh HaShanah children's service to the adult one. It's a little under an hour, and it's lighter on the lengthy recitations of the full evening service. There's...
One of the most distinctive dimensions of the High Holy Days in our tradition is that among the major observances of the Jewish calendar, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are experienced primarily in...
It happens that this year the Days of Awe align with Suicide Prevention Week.
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As I took a short walk last week during a break between Yom Kippur services, a memory, both humorous and deeply emotional, flooded my heart.
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The ducks grow fat on my sins.
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The Hebrew month of Elul begins soon. During this month preceding the High Holidays, many Jews take time to reflect on the past year and to take stock of their actions.
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Last Yom Kippur afternoon, unable to concentrate because of the rumblings of my stomach – which I hoped only I could hear – my mind began to wander. Before long, it was filled with memories of Yom...
When people ask me what prompted me to become a rabbi, I often tell them about my love of Jewish learning, or Israel, or a desire to help, or some such noble pursuit. The truth is, what really...
Last year at this season, something surprising appeared in my inbox. It was a response to a challenge:
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Guila remembers holding the prayer book for her father, who had cerebral palsy, every Yom Kippur. "What many might imagine to have been a dreary religious obligation was, for me, a highly emotional...
Thirty years ago, Rabbi Motti Rotem, the first sabra (Israeli-born Jew) to be ordained as a Reform rabbi in Israel, addressed his congregation from the pulpit before Yom Kippur. In his sermon, he...
Our Mortality
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When I left for college my freshman year, I was nervous about exploring a new Jewish community. However, I immediately felt at home as I walked into my university’s Hillel’s Conservative Friday...
