Ain't No Room
In this week's parashah, Ki Tavo, we read: "You shall go to the priest and say to him, 'I acknowledge this day before Adonai your God that I have entered the land that God swore to our fathers to give us.
Hank Greenberg: The Hero Who Didn't Want to Be One
Raising Secular Jews
More than two million Jews from Eastern Europe arrived in the United States between 1880 and 1924, the majority of them secular.
Mishkan HaLev: Trying Out the New Selichot Service
Selichot is the overture for our High Holidays, a chance to focus on meaning, tradition, faith, and striving to reach that spot in the heart where no one else can go.
How Can We Forgive the Unforgivable?
In theory, no one wants to be that person who can’t let go, who refuses the request for forgiveness. But is it really possible, or even right, to forgive everything?
What Can We Learn About Elul From the Lone Ranger?
Earlier this week, we marked the first day of the Hebrew month of Elul when it is customary to take stock of our actions and behaviors in an effort to do better in the year to come.
The Nudge of Selichot
After 10 weeks of swimming, biking, walking at the ocean's edge, and rationalizing that it's too hot for tennis, Saturday night Selichot services appear on my calendar as the call back from the freedom of su
How Tikkun Olam and Pikuah Nefesh Will Help Me Prepare: A #BlogElul Post
Last week I had lunch with a rabbi friend who told me he’s in the midst of preparing four different sermons for the upcoming High Holidays.
Carrying our Temple's Torah Scrolls to Safety
That photo is of me, carrying Congregation Or Ami's two Sifrei Torah on the Las Virgenes bridge over the 101 Freeway in Calabasas, CA. I had just carried the two scrolls from our synagogue building, away from smoky fire.