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.
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.
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 Light that Will Never Go Out: Am Yisrael Chai
On Yom Kippur, Our Actions Should Aim for the Bullseye
I often use the imagery of a bullseye when teaching young children the complicated concepts related to the High Holidays and Yom Kippur. Each day when we try to do our best, it’s like we’re aiming for the center of the bullseye. But sometimes we say something that hurts someone a friend’s feelings, or we do something unkind to a loved one. That’s when we land on an outer ring and miss the mark.
Confronting Death is an Important Part of Life
If on Yom Kippur we rehearse our own death, then on Tishah B’Av (observed last month), we begin the annual process of preparing for death. The seven-week period from Tishah B’Av to Rosh HaShanah provides an opportunity to cultivate our souls, to reestablish our relationship with God, and to reconcile with ourselves and others. We transform the potentially passive experience of judgment into an active process of self-awareness, acceptance, engagement, and transformation.
Disney and Elul: What Do They Have in Common?
I am a huge fan of everything Disney – movies, Mickey, and now even Marvel. Our family has vacationed at Walt Disney World (WDW) and Disneyland more times than we can count. Our daughter was married at WDW, and we have a room in our home devoted to Disney “stuff.” Believe it or not, some recent Disney movie releases have a distinct connection to the Days of Awe.