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These are search results for "simchat torah"
I'm often asked, “Now that you’ve written about lying, do you tell fewer lies?” What nerve!
As Netta’s mom, I maintain balance between others accepting Netta for who she is – a child who has medical and developmental needs – and holding expectations high.
A journey is not one singular event, but a compilation of experiences that constitutes parts of a whole. Each piece is its own adventure, contributing to the whole.
I know that Shavuot is near when I can hear the fruit vendors in the shuk (open-air market) extolling the virtues of the newly arrived crops of peaches, plums, apricots, and nectarines.
In vain I searched the Internet for the words from Yitzhak Rabin seared into my memory but apparently forgotten by Google among his more famous speeches.
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My name is Tali, and I just spent three and a half weeks learning how to be an effective and just leader
As Rosh HaShanah approached last year, I was living in southwestern China, where I celebrated by eating apples and explaining the Jewish New Year to my Chinese roommate.
The only thing I needed to see with my own eyes was the infamous sign over the main gate that reads ARBEIT MACHT FREI, “Work makes you free.”
A day of love, romance, flowers, chocolate, amorous notes, and intimate poems turned into one of hate, fear, bloodshed, tragedy, and death.
Inquisitive and intelligent campers spent time studying astronomy, 3D animation, computer programming, and more this summer, but what makes these things Jewish?
Stricter adherence to the Ten Commandments might be just what America needs to restore trust in government and civility in political discourse.
Earlier this month, there was a nearly three-hour debate in the greater Cincinnati area. It went relatively unpublicized, but it was quite a sight to be seen. Bill Nye the Science Guy went to...
When we can’t be Moses or Esther or whomever we want to be like, it’s OK – it’s necessary, even – to be Noah. Being “good enough” may not have the same glamor as leading an entire people to the...
At the end of the secular year, "top 10" lists abound. Check out our picks - in no particular order - for the most exciting moments of 2014 within the Reform Jewish world. Do you agree with our...
One writer reflects on World Refugee Day through the lens of sacred Jewish texts.
With more than 40 million Americans struggling to put food on the table, gifts of food affirm the dignity and humanity of the most vulnerable among us.
Parashat B’midbar is an interesting Torah portion because it includes what some might consider one of the drier parts of the Torah, a census – and yet there is a lot to be gleaned from it. It...
In this week’s parashah, even as one of God's hands reaches out to liberate the Jews, God's other, largely invisible hand brings death and plagues upon the Egyptians.
At the ancient Temple, our rabbis warned us about unchecked hatred. Recently at this very site, I shoved and pushed to protect others from such hate.
Remembering his colleague, friend, and an extraordinary, brilliant human being, Rabbi Rick Jacobs delivered this eulogy at the funeral of Rabbi Aaron D. Panken, z”l.
Our congregation has tried to live up to the Torah’s challenge, reaching out to refugee neighbors who come from cultures and communities very different from our own.
It should not surprise us that in this week's Torah portion, parashah Balak, the animal that saves Balaam’s life is female. How consistent this is with the theme that it is often the women in the...
I grew up Jewish. Simply Jewish.
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Genesis calls us to see the promise of growth and renewal, and to be warned about how discord and mistrust stand in the way of human progress.
Shabbat is an ever-evolving practice. When things are easy, I have a regular Shabbat practice and rituals that I practice every week, providing a Shabbat that is full of rest. Before 2011, I had...
As a veteran, it is nice to hear “Thank you for your service.” It is much more meaningful, however, to hear “Tell me about your service.”
With so many "revolutionary” musicals to enjoy, I’ve taken to musing about the value of independence they so dramatically explore.
We find ourselves in the midst of the Omer, when we count off the days, and weeks, in between Passover and Shavuot. Last week, we celebrated the 33rd day of the Omer: Lag...
Ever since its sixth season ended a little over a year ago, viewers have been sitting at the edge of our couches, remotes in hand, poised to tune into the next season of the astoundingly popular...
This is the season of milestones. Labor Day marked the unofficial end of summer. Last week, I loaded my daughter onto the school bus for the start of first grade. And on Rosh HaShanah, the Jewish...
How did your parents meet?
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In his greatest hour, Moses showed us we have nothing to fear. The tablets of God were broken, but we remain intact. Our task, too late for my patient but perhaps not too late for us, is to break...
Joseph’s story, from slave to prisoner to prince, illustrates an important lesson: all prisoners, no matter their alleged crime, are capable of redemption and renewal.
As the High Holidays approach, Rabbi Ruth H. Sohn explains the importance in Jewish tradition of holding up the mirror of truth to others and to ourselves. She also offers 10 pointers on mastering...
Becoming a bat mitzvah as an adult was one of the high points in my life; I felt proud to be Jewish in a way I had never previously experienced.
I always wanted children, so I took parashat Vayeira as a good omen. Maybe I, too, would be a mother later in life - but now I’m 43.
Let’s celebrate Canada Day by embracing diversity, reaffirming our duty to care for each other, and ensuring our communal places reflect hospitality and lovingkindness.
Every June, we mark World Refugee Day. Today refugees are a part of the global conversation and the human experience in almost every country in the world.
As Reform Jews, we have a unique obligation to care for the immigrant because we, too, were immigrants. Our collective memory is anchored by our wandering.
Reform Judaism is playing a key role in efforts to reclaim something that has for too long been seen as the exclusive preserve of the Orthodox.
When someone asked a friend of mine what his daughter enjoys most about living in Israel, he explained that she loves the way the country’s secular rhythms synch seamlessly with religious time in a...
Our things are important and precious to us. They are physical manifestations of our memories. They are our attachment to people and places. They are infinitely meaningful.
Like those Abraham welcomed into his tent, many in today’s world are without homes. Our Torah doesn’t allow us to pretend they are not our problem.
Tonight marks the Sabbath before the yahrzeit for 14 youths and three adults shot to death at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School.
I grew up in Chelmsford, MA, where we belonged to a small Reform Jewish community. For Judaism to exist there, you had to show up – so we showed up for everything.
In Parashah Vayeitzei, Jacob names the place of his famous dream Beth El, House of God, because he senses God’s presence there. As a member of Temple Beth-El of Great Neck for 31 years, I find...
I have this terrible image I can’t quite shake, of walking into high school on the first day and being terrified.
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During the 40 years that I served as a congregational rabbi, Purim evolved from a pleasant celebration into what has become, in my view, almost a third High Holiday.
The Detroit Red Wings didn’t invent oddball sports superstitions, but they certainly have one of the oddest: the throwing of an octopus onto the ice during the Stanley Cup playoffs.
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As I was leading Torah study at our synagogue nearly a year ago, an evil man murdered my friends and co-religionists because to him, Jews are strangers and dangerous.
