The Shofar Blasts as a Metaphor for Life
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 I would offer the following.
Yom Kippur: A Personal Reflection
by P.J. Schwartz
(Originally published in Ten Minutes of Torah)
Yom Kippur
8 Tips on How to Be a Positive Jewish Role Model
What does it take to be a positive Jewish role model?
Celebrating Shabbat in Tel Aviv the Reform Way
Last Friday night, I celebrated Kabbalat Shabbat in Tel Aviv, but not in my usual manner.
In the Desert: A Poem for Shabbat Zachor
I remember
I remember slings and arrows,
Cruel fortune that cast me into the desert
No, no-
The first desert was freedom
And faith
And miracle.
So no: not that desert.
This was a desert of
What Children Can Teach Us at Rosh HaShanah
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.
Vodou Rock and Cherry Manischewitz: Reflections of a Jew Visiting Haiti
At the last count of the World Jewish Congress in 1997, there were 25 Jews living in Haiti. There is no native Jewish population to speak of in what is currently the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere.
The Nudge of Selichot
After 10 weeks of swimming, biking, walking at the ocean's edge, and rationalizing that it's too hot for tennis, Saturday night Selichot services appear on my calendar as the call back from the freedom of su
#BlogElul 2013: Who’s In?
Although we’re barely into the dog days of August, the High Holidays are fast approaching. The first of Elul, the Hebrew month that precedes Tishrei and the start of Rosh HaShanah, begins at sundown this Tuesday, which means that Wednesday, August 7th is the first of Elul.