Repentance, Redemption, and Ray Rice
At this time of year, many in the Jewish community have a heightened awareness of matters of forgiveness and redemption. With the High Holidays approaching, we are mindful of the need for teshuvah (repentance), and we do our best to turn away from past sinfulness.
For The Sin of Prejudice: Growing Up Jewish as a Person of Color
Every year on the High Holidays, police officers sit outside our synagogue to protect our community and building from harm.
A Nice Place to Visit, But…
There are people with hearts of stone; there are stones with human hearts.
-The Wall, by Yossi Gamzu
Holding My Father's Prayer Book
Guila remembers holding the prayer book for her father, who had cerebral palsy, every Yom Kippur. "What many might imagine to have been a dreary religious obligation was, for me, a highly emotional, touching experience."
On Yom Kippur and Year-Round, Help Others to Choose Life
“…I have set before you life or death, blessing or curse; choose life, therefore, that you and your descendants may live.”
This Yom Kippur, Try a Little Tenderness
Thirty years ago, Rabbi Motti Rotem, the first sabra (Israeli-born Jew) to be ordained as a Reform rabbi in Israel, addressed his congregation from the pulpit before Yom Kippur.
Confession: A Poem for the Vidui
Although we may not think of Judaism as a religion of confession, we often are called to profess our sins – privately, between oneself and God.
A Time to Follow Rules and a Time to Break Them
As a young girl, I was very compliant. If I was told to do something, I generally did it; if I was told not to do something, I usually didn’t. Of course, there were exceptions – ah, the motorcycle ride – but I think of myself as a rule follower.
The Calendar, Yet Again
The number of months, with God, is 12 in the Book of God, the day that He created the heavens and the earth… The month postponed is an increase of unbelief whereby the unbelievers go astray; one year they make it profane, and hallow it another…
-Quran 9:36-37