Early Hanukkah in 2013: Jewish Calendar Fun
Whenever I'm asked if the Jewish holidays are coming early or late this year, I promptly answer that they'll be coming on time. And that's partially true. Rosh Hashanah will always arrive on the first day of the Jewish month of Tishrei just as Hanukkah will always begin on the 25th of Kislev.
Miracles: They're Not Just for Hanukkah Anymore
I’m not even certain of the year, but it was sometime after the tattoo and before the death march. Aron Lieb was in his early twenties, but he felt elderly. He was working in a coal mine, forced by the Nazis to supply fuel for their war effort.
Tishah B’Av - A Day of Reflection
Tishah B'Av means "ninth of Av" and refers to a traditional Jewish day of fasting and mourning. Av corresponds to July or August of the secular year.
On Tishah B’Av, Feeling the Loss from the Flames
On Yom Kippur, we ask “Who by fire?” Sadly, this year at Tishah B’Av we already know who - the 19 firefighters who perished in Arizona.
An Absence of Color and Light: A Poem for Tishah B'Av
We sat among the willows,
and we wept,
there by the river
that flowed
clear and cold and swift,
--branches dancing,
barely dancing--
as they swayed
and swept the ground.
We stood among the weeping trees,
Prayers mixed with
visions of ash.
Why I Don't Mourn the Temple
My son’s birthday is in July. Last year, we sent out invitations to his bunkmates for a typical kindergartener’s birthday bash - pizza and ice cream cake at a moon-bounce place.
Catastrophe in America: Racism, Violence, & Tishah B'Av
I had a friend in college named Ray. He was a good guy. He had a lot of the qualities I thought I lacked when I was in college. Ray was good looking, athletic and charismatic. He was a running back on the school's football team.
The Work That Awaits Us
Last night, for the first time ever, I attended a Tishah B’Av study session – a joint venture between my own Temple Shaaray Tefila and O
Reimagining High Holiday Engagement
The Season of Healing
The High Holidays are a time of introspection and self-assessment in anticipation of repentance, forgiveness, thanksgiving and rejoicing. It is a season of healing.