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I hate not being perfect. When I discover a typo in an email that I’ve sent, it’s painful. If I forget to call someone, I beat myself up. I know- it’s an impossible standard. And it’s not so healthy, because I sometimes, then, kind of, sort of, also expect other…
This is my first yizkor. I graduated from rabbinical school 34 years ago, and have led yizkor services multiple times every year since then. Yet, and, this is my first yizkor. It has always been a point of personal pride to smugly excuse myself, at least symbolically, from the yizkor…
Erev Rosh HaShanah- The story of the Jewish people begins with God saying to Abraham, “Lech Lecha – Go forth.” Abraham and Sarah pack up their life and their family and go, having no idea where their journey will lead them. Beginnings are exciting and frightening, especially when we don’t…
Rosh HaShanah begins, joyously and appropriately, with the story of the birth of Isaac. A beautiful metaphor for all the possibilities of a new year. And yet, something is drastically wrong. If we look just below the surface, there is a sub-text of bullying and exclusion. First, there is this…
Yes, Erev Rosh HaShanah begins on Sunday, yet, as we turn to the Hashkivenu, I’m thinking about Sukkot. “Ufros alenu sukkat shlomecha- spread over us a sukkah of peace.” When we sit in our Sukkot in a few short weeks, we are reminded of the fragility of our homes and…
HOW TO BE GOOD As we come together this evening to begin the High Holiday season in earnest, we all are, or should be, obsessed with one question- “How to Be Good”, which is coincidentally, the name of a novel by Nick Hornby which I read this past year. The…
Only one thing do I ask of You, Holy God Just this alone do I seek: I want to be at home with You, Adonai All the days of my life. I want to delight in seeing You, When I come to visit You In Your Temple. What’s the…
The shofar has been described as “the alarm clock of the soul.” Each morning during the month of Elul we blow the shofar and take in its urgency- wake up! Wake up! The shofar reminds us that we need to be doing teshuvah NOW. That we need to be healing…
I spent last weekend in Salt Lake City where my Army unit, the 807th Medical Command, has its headquarters. One of the things that I enjoy about the military is its respect for ritual, which parallels Jewish tradition. Last weekend was filled with festivities in honor of the change of…