Holidays
It’s Kol Nidre. Perhaps the holiest moment of the year. You are about to embark on a luxurious journey that few people get to experience. That is, the journey into yourself, into your own inner self, taking this sacred moment to step out of the hustle and bustle, the…
This year, in particular, has been a really hard year. Really hard. The ongoing situation in Israel has cast a huge cloud. I worry about the families who have lost loved ones. I worry about the hostages and their families, holding up after almost two years of uncertainty. I…
It’s the final Shabbat before Rosh HaShanah, and our deepest opportunity to look within and ask ourselves if we are ready? Are we ready to change? Are we ready to return to our essential selves, to the sparks of holiness in our innermost soul? The word teshuvah, which we…
After perhaps too much preparation, we find ourselves in the midst of our Passover celebration. Perhaps the message of “Dayenu” has found its way into our hearts? Instead of spending all of our time shopping and cooking and cleaning, what if, instead, we shifted our perspective on Passover and understand…
Why is this Passover seder different from all other Passover seders? Passover celebrates liberation. It celebrates freedom. It celebrates the exodus from slavery. And yet. . . Over 100 Israeli hostages are not free to celebrate with their families this year. Our joy is diminished as we feel the lack…
I’ve been thinking a lot about the upcoming holiday of Purim, a moment in our calendar characterized by much joy and not a small amount of silliness. Drinking is encouraged, cookies and costumes are an integral part of the celebration, lots of noise and things turned topsy turvy. I’m not…
As the holiday of Chanukkah draws to a close, I am struck by the fact that this is the only Jewish holiday that celebrates a military victory. The victory of the few against the many when it had seemed improbable, the struggle for the right to be different, to live…
Are you happy to be here this morning? I am! First of all, I’m happy that we can be together. Personally I am not yet so far past the trauma of the COVID-era as to take for granted what it means to have the option of being with each other…
Labor Day- check. Selichot- tomorrow night. Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur- imminent. Are you ready for yet another holiday? And I don’t mean Sukkot or even Hoshanah Rabbah! Get this! I just learned that this past week was- drumroll please- the International Week of Enthusiasm. You heard me right. The…
I wanted to call to your attention a special feature of our prayers during Chanukkah – the addition of “Al Ha-Nissim” to the Amidah. Al Ha-Nissim- Nissim is the plural of “Nes,” which you know from dreidel fame- nes gadol haya sham- a great miracle happened there. It might be…