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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.

 As we begin the year 5777, let us commit to putting greater inclusion, equality, and acceptance of all God’s children front and center.

In the game “Truth-or-Dare,” I choose “truth” nearly every time. I’m not much of a dare-taker. Thus, if you and I were playing “Special Edition Truth-or-Dare: High Holy Days,” I would confess that the prayer Avinu Malkeinu provides me with both my second-favorite liturgical moment and my second-greatest pet peeve of the year’s liturgy. (Note: Even though I may have to repent for it, I will leave you in suspense about my favorite liturgical moment and my greatest liturgical pet peeve. Also, “Special Edition Truth-or-Dare: High Holy Days” is fictional, although I hereby declare copyright in the event Mattel or Hasbro comes knocking at my door.)

I have a hard time believing that, however good the intentions may be, typing "Please forgive me if I hurt you" into our browsers can create change.

If posting an apology online serves as a starting point for follow-up conversations, I say go for it. How could that ever be a bad thing?

I vowed that if Israel survived, I would never again abandon my people, never again be indifferent to Israel’s fate.

It is for good reason that Jews close Yom Kippur — just before the blowing of the shofar — with the triumphant cry from the wonderful passage (First Kings, Chapter 19) in which Elijah vanquishes the prophets of Ba

For many Jews, the Yom Kippur fast is one of the hardest and most meaningful Jewish acts they will perform during the year.

Yom Kippur has concluded. The break-the-fast has been consumed, and the prayers about becoming the person we could be are now a memory.