The Hebrew month of Elul begins tomorrow. It’s a month of spiritual reflection and preparation culminating in Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. In honor of Elul I’ll be posting what I’m calling “30 essential questions for life.” Here are the first 5: 1) What am I running toward? What am I running from? 2) […]
Holidays
Making room for Shabbat
Behold our dining room table: Tonight we pushed back some of the stuff of daily life to make room for Shabbat. Hence our dining room table is 1/2 Shabbat and 1/2 the stuff of daily life. Two kids, two jobs, Amazon prime, birthday party supplies, unpacking from recent Israel trip: the […]
How we celebrate
Jewish tradition teaches, “Rejoice in your holy days, and may your holy days be joyous.” As it turns out, Judaism has dozens of words that are all synonyms for “celebrate.” Simcha, rina, ditza, oneg… These are just a few. We learn a lot about a culture from its language. That Judaism has so many different ways of […]
How we remember
How we remember says a lot about who we are– as individuals, as communities, as societies. This week marked Israel’s 67th Yom HaZikaron (Memorial Day). The exact number of fallen soldiers and victims of terrorist attacks is read. Traditional prayers are recited and bereaved mothers, fathers, sisters, and brothers share their stories. We cry. All […]
Passover questions 2015
How is it we can eat all we want of meat and vegetables but no bread? I don’t think the Jewish people had lots of food in the desert. What is your favorite part about Passover? What does it mean to be enlightened? What are traditional Passover sweets? What makes a home a Jewish home? […]
Passover questions 2014
What non- tourist places should we see in Israel this summer? In light of the conflict in the Ukraine, what do you think the US role should be as it relates to world conflicts? Best advice about raising kids in an interfaith marriage? What is the difference between regular wine and kosher for Passover wine? […]