Seeking God and Community in Synagogue Life
Havdalah Square
A few weekends ago, I brought 20 congregants, mostly of the teenage variety, to New York City for a "Jewish New York" experience.
On the Outside Looking In: Approaching Conversion
Next week at this time, I’ll be stepping into the mikveh, the Jewish ritual bath. It’s been a yearlong journey that will lead me to that holy space, one I’ll enter as a former Catholic/not-quite-Jew and exit as a Jewish woman – no longer an outsider.
These Are Our Neighbors: Remembering Victims of Gun Violence
When I witnessed a gun homicide, I struggled with how best to incorporate my own mourning and my sense of community loss into my Jewish worship.
This Shabbat, Make Time for Souling
I thought I invented the word until I Googled it and discovered it already exists.
Cold: Prayer for a Chilly Shabbat
Snow days can be fun; not so this kind of cold. It was colder in Chicago this week than it was in the North Pole.
Shacharit
Morning prayer service. Prayed every day, though the content is different on weekdays, Shabbat, and Festivals. Derived from the Hebrew word for "dawn."
Minchah
Afternoon prayer service. Prayed every day, though the content is different on weekdays, Shabbat, and Festivals.
Maariv / Arvit
Evening prayer service. Prayed every day, though the content is different on weekdays, Shabbat, and Festivals. Derived from the Hebrew word for "evening"
Amidah
Literally, “standing.” A central prayer of the worship service, often recited privately. A chain of blessings in which the first three and final three are always the same, and the intermediate blessings change based on the day (i.e., Shabbat, weekday, holidays).