Galilee Diary: Uncertainty
by Marc Rosenstein
(Originally published in Galilee Diary and Ten Minutes of Torah)
Galilee Diary: On the Waterfront
Unless You Know: A Poem for Yom HaShoah
Unless you know
what it is to look
at black & white proof
at lambs led to slaughter
at herds of the lost
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.
Can my fiancé and I get married between Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur?
Although Jewish weddings may take place on the days in between the Jewish High Holidays, it is generally discouraged because during that period, also known as the Days of Awe, we are focused on the solemn themes of the season.
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.
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)?
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.
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.