Jewish Values

Film reel and a spilled container of popcorn against a red background

Two New Films, "An American Pickle" and "Palm Springs," Reflect High Holiday Themes

Wes Hopper

September 4, 2020

Both films show us ways to examine our flaws and make amends, either with the people we’ve wronged or for the ways we’ve scorned the sacrifices of those who came before us.

Rosh HaShanah

Inspired 5781: More Art, More Awe

Rebecca Guber

September 2, 2020

I grew up going to services. A lot of services. I was adept at counting the ceiling tiles, reaching into the thousands as my grasp of numbers grew more sophisticated.

Women wearing a yellow coat facing away from the camera wearing a pair of headphones and looking out over a dock

Jewish Music

RAP-ENTANCE: A Soul-Opening Experience for the High Holidays

Rabbi Alex Kress

September 1, 2020

Long before I became a rabbi, I was a DJ and a hip-hop-head. Music always scored my life, and for years I've wondered, "How can that music be harnessed for religious practice?"

Rabbi Max Chaiken wears a green shirt and blows the shofar

COVID-19

Navigating COVID: Our Ancestors Pointed the Way

Aron Hirt-Manheimer

August 25, 2020

Rabbi Max Chaiken, our Ten Minutes of Torah commentator for the Book of Deuteronomy, is the associate rabbi of Congregation Kol Ami in Los Angeles, CA. We talk to him about his Jewish journey and the ideas behind his commentaries.

Forest path with light shining through and if elucidating the way

High Holidays

What Does it Mean to Make Successful T’shuvah?

Lee B. Kass

August 20, 2020

For the first time this year, High Holidays will be conducted remotely for our community – but it will show us that we can, as Rabbi John Rosove taught, truly “overcome the past for the sake of a better future.”