The Power of Shabbat at Camp
Every moment of Shabbat, all the way through Havdallah, is special and memorable. On Shabbat, we dress differently, we live on different time, we come together as a community at times that we generally are separated into age groupings.
Shabbat Shuvah: From Whom Have You Strayed?
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 Israel, to the Eternal your God.”
The Roots of Shabbat
According to traditional Jewish belief, the Sabbath has its origin in God’s divine command to observe the seventh day as a day of rest and sanctification.
A Taste for Religion and Community - at Age 4!
My husband was working late, so my son and I had a thrown-together dinner of leftover pasta, yogurt, and carrots. I added one touch, store-bought challah, to give our table a semblance of Shabbat.
Why Are Services on the High Holy Days Different from the Rest of the Year?
When I started a new chapter in my life as a freshman at Indiana University (Go Hoosiers!), I met people left and right.
The Song of the Sea and Shabbat Shirah
Shabbat Shirah is on January 30th this year, and is another name for the week we read the Torah portion called B'shalach. In this portion, the Israelites have just been freed from Egypt and we read about the splitting of the Red Sea.
And When I Leave: A Poem for Havdalah
I am not ready
To leave this place
this time
this rest.
I am not ready
for the separation that
must come, not while
I still smell
the sweetness
of cardamon and cloves.
I want to linger
in this holy time
this sacred promise
And be
Making Soup, Making Shabbat
When I was a kid, my family did not keep kosher. The closest we got was the story my mother told about how, when she was growing up, her father once yelled at her as she poured a glass of milk to go with her BLT sandwich: “We don’t mix milk and meat!”
Why We Went: How 17 Reform Jewish Leaders Took a Stand for Civil Rights in Florida with Dr. King
A version of this post was published on the RACblog on February 12, 2014, in advance of the celebrations this summer around the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.