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The N’ilah service on late Yom Kippur afternoon is notable for its image of the Gates of Repentance closing their doors.  At this late and hungry hour, for the final time during the Day of Atonement, we are summoned to repentance.  The fact that many Sages argue we can actually delay our atonemen

Yom Kippur is the only day in the traditional Jewish liturgical year to have five services: in addition to the usual four shared with Shabbatot, Festivals, and Rosh Hashanah (evening, morning, Musaf, and afternoon1), Yom Kippur has a concluding service called N’ilah (li

Eighteen years ago, when I first led Yizkor on Yom Kippur at my current synagogue, I admit to having been startled by an exodus from the pews.

Each June, we honor the movement for LGBT equality and inclusion, celebrate recent victories against discrimination and recommit to making progress surrounding LGBT issues in the future.

A minute’s walk from the synagogue is the town’s war memorial, where the names of Petoskey’s fallen sons are forever enshrined. One of those names belongs to Navy SEAL Senior Chief Petty Officer Heath Robinson, z’l. Senior Chief Robinson was killed in the mountains of Afghanistan when the helicopter he was riding in was shot down on August 6, 2011. Although I didn’t know the Senior Chief, I was in Afghanistan on the day he and 37 other brave warriors died, making it perhaps the single worst day of that deployment for me and a lot of other folks serving there. Before each Shabbat in Petoskey, I went to the memorial, knelt down, put my hand on his name, and simply said “Thank you.”

This week’s Torah reading is Parshat Kedoshim, which includes this famous verse from Leviticus 19:18, “You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against your countrymen.

This week, Google announced that it will no longer allow advertisements for predatory payday loans on its website.

Here are a few simple action steps that synagogue leadership can take to improve the experience of your youngest congregants, to attract and retain family memberships, and to protect the future of the Jewish people.

This is the beginning not only of changing perceptions of Jews in Indonesia, but also of simultaneously working toward a greater acceptance of Islam in America. This task – of advocating for those who are discriminated against on the basis of religious identity, in the hopes that we may live and learn together – is no more important and timely than today.