S’firat HaOmer: The Omer Period in Jewish Life
The mechanism to connect the Exodus with the giving of the Torah is a simple one-counting the days.
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.
A Reform Jew-by-Choice Begins His Journey to the Rabbinate
I began my journey to Judaism nervously. Unlike the Charedim (ultra-Orthodox) who are anxious before the word of God, I was anxious in the uncertainty of the future.
Lag BaOmer, the 33rd Day of the Counting of the Omer
Simultaneous Joy and Pain: The Wisdom of the Counting of the Omer
This year at our Passover seder, I experienced something deeply powerful which I had not felt in the context of Passover before.
Dancing in the Palm of God’s Hand
I can't seem to find a starting place in writing my reflections of Rosh HaShanah. It has become a tangled ball of string, and I’m not able to coax out a single strand. I thought about starting at the end. I could, but I don't know what that is either.
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.
The Edge of Everything: A Poem for Rosh HaShanah
We gathered,
all of us,
having walked this long road
Before.
There is so much I don't
remember of it:
Cold
and dust
and heat-cracked pavement