The Elul Mitzvah Challenge: Join In!
In Pirkei Avot, the rabbis wrote, “Mitzvah goreret mitzvah, averah goreret averah,” one mitzvah (commandment/good deed) leads to another mitzvah, and one transgression leads to another transgression.
Discovering Israel Beyond Its Borders
Growing up in rural Massachusetts, Judaism held a much different context in my life than it does now. Until college, I did Judaism, mimicking the motions of being a "good Jew." I didn't combine milk and meat in my house because my father told me not to.
Hey, That's Not Our Torah Scroll!
Recently at the regular Shabbat minyan at Temple Shaaray Tefila in New York City, we worshipers were thrown for a bit of a loop when, at the beginning of the Torah service, the rabbi took a scroll from the ark that was different than the one we
More Than Words on a Page: Social Justice in our Prayer Books
Take Action to Support Transparency in the Criminal Justice System!
Urge your Senators to introduce and pass this important legislation. Take action now!
What an Atheist Belgian Musician Taught Me about Judaism
As a teenager, I would sit on my bedroom floor listening to old records of Belgian singer-songwriter, poet, and performer Jacques Brel. I didn’t need to keep a journal, because his lyrics wove together everything I felt at the time. Brel had a fire within, and his anger, longing, passion, and truth blazed through every word he sang. His music, raw and real, transformed and fed my soul; it informed and shaped who I am today.