My Alphabet of Failings: A New Ashamnu
Each year on Yom Kippur, I join my congregation is reciting the Ashamnu, an alphabetic acrostic of sins for which we repent. And each year, it occurs to me that most of the sins named in the Ashamnu don’t hit me in the heart I’m beating – and so, I wrote my own version of the prayer.
How the High Holidays Are Like a Charles Dickens Tale
Whether you prefer the 1843 book or any of the many movie versions made since, there is no question that Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol is a classic.
Now, despite the season for which Dickens wrote it, A Christmas Carol is a Yom Kippur story if there ever was one.
Yom Kippur Wasn't Always the Holiday It Is Now
As the summer passes its midway point, rabbis begin to think seriously about the coming Days of Awe.
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.
14 Recipes for a Festive Sukkot
ReformJudaism.org has the perfect recipes to help you give thanks for the fall harvest. Find your nearest sukkah and start noshing!
Kol Nidre: All Vows and One Haunting Melody
Perhaps the most familiar melody we hear each High Holiday season is Kol Nidre – the introductory prayer recited before sundown on the eve of Yom Kippur.
When Yom Kippur Coincides with National Coming Out Day
As we begin the year 5777, let us commit to putting greater inclusion, equality, and acceptance of all God’s children front and center.
Sukkot and Food Day: A Time for Earthly Intentions
The Jewish Holiday season is in full swing. We have celebrated Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year and Yom Kippur, the day of repentence, and now we are rounding the corner to Sukkot and Simchat Torah. Jewish tradition asks us for introspection and reflection during this season.
My Dream Ushpizin (Guests of Honor) This Sukkot
It’s been a particularly great year for Jews in pop culture, and I’d be honored to celebrate the fall harvest with some of them.
Remembering our Impermanence: Sukkot and Congress' Continuing Resolution
“All citizens of Israel shall live in booths, in order that future generations may know that I made the Israelite people live in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt” (Leviticus 23:42).