I Remember: A Poem for Yom HaShoah
I remember the absence of sound,
deeper than silence
and more lonely,
like the moment just
before Creation,
all stretched and
attenuated, waiting,
except there was no time
to measure
eternity,
so waiting was
Now.
How Social Media Helps Me Keep Track of Jewish Time
When someone asked a friend of mine what his daughter enjoys most about living in Israel, he explained that she loves the way the country’s secular rhythms synch seamlessly with religious time in a way that doesn’t happen in North America. By way of example, he described Shabbat and holidays as characterized by closed shops, quiet streets, and low-key television programming.
O the Chimney: On Forgiving Modern-Day Germany for the Shoah
Cafe Spindel is a quaint café in the center of Bad Segeberg, Germany that used to house a wool-processing factory. Because it was an unseasonably warm and sunny late summer day when I visited, our host, Pastor Martin Pommerening, suggested we sit outside.
Mourning Yom HaShoah with Jews Across the World
On Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Day 2015 (Yom HaShoah), the entire Jewish community mourns the tragic loss of life, the genocide that occurred during World War II, which resulted in the death of an estimated six million Jews.
A Reflection on Yom HaShoah: What My Mother Taught Me About Spiritual Resistance
Holocaust Remembrance and Heroism Day (Yom HaShoah v’tag’vurah, commonly called Yom HaShoah) not only memorializes the six million Jews murdered but honors those Jews who took up arms against the Nazis.
More Than Words on a Page: Social Justice in our Prayer Books
When I left for college my freshman year, I was nervous about exploring a new Jewish community. However, I immediately felt at home as I walked into my university’s Hillel’s Conservative Friday night services and saw the Siddur Sim Shalom, the prayer book I had grown up with.
On Yom HaShoah, Reaching Out to “the Other”
On Yom HaShoah, the anniversary of the Warsaw ghetto uprising, we remember the Jews killed in the Holocaust. On April 16, I will remember the six million.
And Fly: A Poem for Counting the Omer
Count your things.
Add them up.
Amass a pile of More.
Grab and gather
in forty-nine steps,
the firsts
of your herd,
your horde
your heart.
Count them
in countless succession:
A Light that Will Never Go Out: Am Yisrael Chai
How Midrash and Commentary Help Us Read Between the Lines
As Rosh HaShanah approached last year, I was living in southwestern China, where I celebrated by eating apples and explaining the Jewish New Year to my Chinese roommate.