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Habari Gani? How My Family is Melding Kwanzaa and Hanukkah Customs
As we each shared some favorite holiday memories, my partner asked, “So what does each candle of Hanukkah symbolize?” Puzzled, I asked him to explain what he meant. “You know, like for Kwanzaa.”
How to Use the URJ Reflection Tool
We recently introduced the URJ Reflection Project, a tool for the High Holidays that can be found at reflect.reformjudaism.org. Here, we share suggestions of how to use its many ideas with your congregation.
7 Things to Know About Selichot
S’lichot, penitential prayers said before the High Holidays, offer us opportunities for personal reflection and to seek forgiveness from those we wronged during the year.
How to Get into the High Holidays State of Mind
It's a challenge and necessity, especially during this pandemic, to set boundaries between work time and family or personal time, between home office and home. How do we do that, emotionally?
How to Turn Your Home into a Sanctuary for the High Holidays
Like our ancestors before us, we must again bring worship “inside” and create a sacred space at home while we are in front of our computers.
Why Is Challah So Beloved by the Jewish People?
How did challah become the favorite Jewish bread? It goes back to the medieval times, when in South Germany (15 th century), Jews started to adopt from their neighbors this type of bread for the Sabbath and holidays.
The Day the Music Died: Jewish Lessons from a Previous Plague
As we consider our preparations for the Days of Awe, let us be thankful that science has permitted us to understand how plagues are spread and seek out knowledgeable guidance from those who can protect us in 2020.
From Tragedy to Celebration, We Honor the State of Israel
Just as each of us goes through a process of self-examination during the Days of Repentence in Tishrei, this week is an opportunity to do so on a collective and national level.
Finding Shabbat When the Holiday’s Magic Seems to Have Disappeared
When my son Sammy was in preschool, Shabbat was magical.
Seeing Through the Darkness: Inside Charlottesville’s Synagogue One Week Later
May we continue to be inspired by Congregation Beth Israel to turn darkness into light, to turn fear into resolve, to turn xenophobia into acceptance, and to turn hatred into hope.