On the Hebrew calendar date of the 15th of Tishri, just five days after the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur (Day of Repentance) ends, the lesser-known holiday of Sukkot begins. Unlike the solemn and serious holiday that precedes it, Sukkot is a joyous holiday. In fact, this week-long holiday is known as Z’man Simchateinu, the …
Do you ever question your beliefs about Your religion? Do you question God’s word, the value of the commandments, the teachings of the forefathers, the meaning of the rituals and prayers? They say the Jewish people are God wrestlers. We don’t always accept God’s word or anything to do with our religion without questions, without …
I try not to become angry but sometimes I do. I used to feel angry quite often. Most of the time, that isn’t the case anymore. I know some people close to me who are angry a lot. I don’t like to be around them much when they are. I’m sure they mirror my own …
Yesterday many Jews observed Holocaust Memorial Day. Yom Hashoah Ve-Hagevurah, literally the “Day of (remembrance of) the Holocaust and the Heroism,” is celebrated on the 27th day in the month of Nisan, a week after the seventh day of Passover, and a week before Yom Hazikaron (Memorial Day for Israel’s fallen soldiers). It marks the …
It’s so easy to let the changes of modern day life eat away at tradition. Change happens, it seems, whether we like it or not. More often than not, however, we allow it to happen. I had reason last night to consider this. My family went to see Fiddler on the Roof with Harvey Fierstein. I’ve seen …
Tonight begins the festival of Sukkot. This year, I find myself thinking very different thoughts about his holiday. Normally, I am focused on shaking the lulav and holding the etrog while praying with my whole body in all directions with a pure soul, cleansed during the High Holy Days…well, that is still there for me this year. …
Jews say the Shema and V’ahavta twice a day. The Shema, which actually includes theV’ahavta, represents the cornerstone of Jewish belief. In the Jewish renewal world, and elsewhere, I’ve seen an interest in providing new translations for this prayer. The Reform Movement recently published a new prayer book, which provides a very nice translation of the …
Ah…the shofar on Rosh Hashanah. It’s a lovely sound when well blown. It’s a call to action, a call to prayer, a call to attention, a call to go inward, a call to return – to God, to religious observance, to community, to self. And it’s a mitzvah, a commandment, to hear it blown on the the …
Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, is almost upon us. Depending upon where you live, it might be less than 24 hours before you find yourself sitting in a synagogue somewhere thinking about the last year, the new year, what you need to repent for, who you need to go to and ask for forgiveness, and what …
It’s Shabbat, the Jewish Sabbath. Technically, religiously, halachic-ly (by Jewish law), I shouldn’t be writing, since writing constitutes work, and work is forbidden on the Sabbath. But I’m not that observant. I’m a spiritually observant Jew…but these days, despite the fact that I write about Shabbat and how to make it meaningful and spiritual, I’m …
Have you ever wondered why certain things just keep coming back into your life, almost like ghosts haunting you? I think they are the spirits of your unfinished business showing up in new and varied forms to make you face them once again and finally complete what you started. Complete. That term got used a …
I went to hear Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz speak last week. I was very excited to hear what he would have to say about Jewish mysticism, since I write about Kabbalah and have been a student of Jewish mysticism for some years now. Notice I say a student, not an expert; it matters not that I …
Rebbe Adin Steinsaltz (and me) on the Popularity of Kabbalah Read More »
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