Lag BaOmer Is a Time to Connect with Our Ancestors
May 26th will mark the Jewish festival of Lag BaOmer which – like, Shavuot and Hanukkah – is not mentioned in the Torah.
A Playlist for the Omer: The Journey from Liberation to Revelation
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 BaOmer. The journey begins with our liberation from Egypt. It concludes with the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai.
Shabbat, Teen-Style
I sometimes think that my teenagers have a more demanding schedule than I do. They are in the classroom for eight hours every day, and spend their afternoons filled with multiple extracurricular activities, homework, and managing the numerous pressures and challenges of being a teenager.
That Special Yearning for Shabbat
You know that feeling you get sometimes when you hear a piece of music and it makes your heart want to leap right out of your chest? Maybe it's because of what the words mean, or because of how the melody lifts you, or because of what the song represents in your memory.
Savoring the Separation of Shabbat
Although we never take off our watches, everyone seems to know that camp time runs at a different pace.
Welcoming Shabbat - A Model for Justice
Four hundred years ago, the mystics of Tzfat began walking out into the fields to greet Shabbat (many of us reenact this by standing for the last verse of L'cha Dodi). Contemporaries scoffed: Shabbat comes to you, wherever you are!
Why Avinu Malkeinu is So Important After the Year We've Had
Every summer, I go through the same routine.
Tipping the Scales: Returning to Germany for the Days of Awe
One of my most precious possessions is a copy of the Talmudic tractate Kiddushin printed in Munich in 1946 on presses once used for Nazi propaganda.