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The "New" Jewish Funeral
In the past, when meeting with a family, a rabbi would say, "Tell me about the deceased." Nowadays they is more likely to ask, "Who will be speaking at the service?"
Healing from the Past, Preparing for the Future
Baruch Atah Adonai Eloheinu Melech Ha'olam, hagomel li-chayavim tovot shegamalni kol tov.
Blessed are You, Eternal, our God, King of the universe who bestows goodness upon the accountable, who has bestowed every goodness upon me.
At Home with Death
When my wife Merrily died of ovarian cancer last fall, we did something highly unusual in this age and place: we kept her body with us at home until the funeral. I am glad we did. The custom of watching over a body is ancient, both in Jewish culture and in many others.
The Last Dance
There are few things more painful than to watch a loved one slip away. Ask any caregiver, any spouse, child, sibling, or parent, and they will tell you that waiting for the other shoe to drop can suck the marrow from your bones.
Why is the Music Different During the High Holidays?
Close your eyes for a moment. Imagine that you are gathered with your congregation for High Holiday worship. It is Erev Yom Kippur - the holiest night of the year.
A House of Prayer for All Children
"Jews with disabilities are not invisible anymore," emphasizes Becca Hornstein, a consultant on disability and family-related issues and executive director of the Council for Jews with Special Needs. Twenty-six years ago, she began searching for religious education for her nine-year-old son who has autism and was told, "We're not aware of Jews with disabilities." At the time, the fledging special education program she soon helped launch at Temple Chai, Phoenix, Arizona instructed four students; today, 12% of the congregation's religious school children have a special need, and the temple is there to help.
Musical Settings: La'asok B'divrei Torah
Wasn't it Thomas Edison who said: Success is 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration? That may be true for some endeavors, but songwriting is different. When composing liturgical music I rely 100% on IN-spiration. Without inspiration, whatever I come up with just won’t mean as much as it could.
Blueprints for Green Living
According to the Mishnah, in the hour when the Holy One created the first human being, God took Adam before all the trees of the Garden of Eden and said: "See my works, how fine and excellent they are! Now all that I created, for you I created.
Why Join a Reform Congregation?
Each synagogue is unique, with its own distinct character and culture. But all synagogues have one fundamental thing in common: they are the Centers for Jewish Living in your community.
The Future of Jewish Sacred Music
Where are we going with the music of prayer of our Reform synagogues? Does some larger cultural process exist within the contemporary Jewish community that somehow will predetermine our sacred music as it develops into the next century?