Rosh Chodesh: Marking Time with Friends
The actual Rosh Chodesh celebration is hardly mandated, so there's a lot of room for creativity in designing a ritual celebration. Here are a few ideas for starting your own.
Opening the Door, at Passover and Always
There is a moment during the N'ilah service on Yom Kippur that stays with me, always. I want to say that it haunts me, but that's really not the right image. It's more a flooding, a rushing-out-and-rushing-in-at-the-exact-same-moment kind of thing.
What Can We Learn From the Juxtaposition of Joy and Sorrow?
Several times during the year, the Jewish calendar places joyous and challenging holidays near each other. What lessons we take from this juxtaposition?
My Friends and I Were Attacked at the Kotel
I was making my way outside of the Kotel with four other college students when a group of about 50 Haredim started following us through the streets. Quickly, things turned violent
What Does It Mean To Be Holy?
In the democratic society of Israel, we with struggle the concept of what it means to be am chofshi b'artzeinu, "a free people in our land." We ask, "What does the responsibility of freedom require from us?" Every year, it seems the answers are less obvious and the search to find them be