Rethinking the Holy Days
I’ve come to the conclusion we need to change the date of Simchat Torah. Our Jewish festivals must be re-envisioned as inspirational community gatherings of joyful spiritual Jewish celebration. Every single festival needs to be a time of great community involvement and meaning.
10 Jewish Reasons To Quit Smoking
Rosh HaShanah is over, and it’s time to start acting on your new year’s resolutions.
Why Our Synagogue Switched to Solar Power
Doing the right thing paid off at the bottom line. How often can you say that about doing a mitzvah?
It’s Hard to be a Jew at Christmas, But Even Harder on Tu BiSh’vat
It is a truth universally acknowledged that it can be difficult to be Jewish at Christmas time. It has seeped into North American cultural consciousness so thoroughly that South Park even wrote a song about it, complete with trademark expletives.
How Not to Repent, as Taught by My Favorite TV Show
Season three of Transparent premieres September 23, and it couldn’t come at a more appropriate time: in the middle of Elul, the day before we begin reciting Selichot.
How to Open Doors to Connect Seekers to Jewish Life
Anyone can open the door to Judaism for another, but will those standing at the door be intimidating shomrim (guards) or welcoming mezuzot (encased Torah texts on doorframes)?
For Creation
Like this prayer, Rosh HaShanah, the birthday of the world, celebrates creation and the Creator.
10 Awesome Books for the Days of Awe (and After)
Here are 10 volumes, from the humorous to the humbling, that you’ll want on your reading list to help heighten the High Holidays.
Lessons I Learned on a Camping Trip with 20 Jews
When my congregation publicized its four-day camping and canoe trip in Michigan, how could we resist such an unusual temple offering?
The King Is in the Field: Lessons of Elul
Elul is our time to connect to Israel – for ourselves, for our people, and for our land.