I am part of a group of rabbis and Jewish leaders from across North America thinking together about Racial Justice. As a group of white Ashkenazi leaders, it is a context for each of us to engage in the personal work of looking at the ways we participate in the structures of racism and privilege …
As summertime usually brings vacation and swimming, juicy summer fruit and the stretch of long, sweetly lazy days, as a young person, I always found it to be such a bummer that in the Jewish calendar, the three weeks from the 17th of the month of Tammuz until the 9th of Av (this year, from …
Miriam’s Cup: A Letter Against Annexation and the Brokenness of The Three Weeks Read More »
A Special Article in Preparation for Shavuot by Colleen Morawetz Every other Thursday evening since January, I’ve been doing something I never seriously expected of myself – group Torah study. Our nine intellectually curious and emotionally intelligent participants take turns leading the discussion on the week’s parsha and, until March, hosting the group at their …
Torah Study: An Intentional Space for Growth and Community Read More »
Whether your connection to Jewish celebrations comes through brisket-making Ashkenazi lineage, Moroccan-heritage lamb and couscous tagine or Sephardic pastelicos (meat and rice pies), to name but a few meaty Jewish cultural delights, the upcoming chag (holyday) of Shavu’ot puts a full stop to the rich, slow-cooked fleishig/meaty festival meals. After counting the Omer each day …
Do you know when the first Seder took place? Stop reading for a moment – what do you think? Perhaps you imagine the Israelites in the wilderness, with Mitzrayim/Egypt behind them and the wide, open desert in front of them as their first taste of freedom and having a matzah picnic on the shore of …
It never ceases to amaze me that whatever Torah reading or holyday we are encountering in the Jewish calendar, it conveys valuable questions and insights that seem crafted just to address this exact moment. So, with Purim around the corner (from the evening of March 9th to March 10th), I turn to Megillat Esther as …
Our lives on this beautiful planet depend on trees for oxygen, food, medicine, shelter, climate stability, habitat for wildlife and beauty. According to scientific research, planting billions of trees around the world could remove two-thirds of all harmful emissions caused by human activity. A global tree-planting program would be one of the most inexpensive and …
Welcome to 2020! I have, in my lifetime, occasionally counted down to midnight on Dec. 31st at large and small parties and toasted the arrival of a new secular (Christian calendar, really) year with bubbly beverages and cheers. That said, it probably doesn’t surprise you that the New Year I resonate with most as richly …
Chanukah celebrates the Maccabees’ rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem, the Jewish people’s sacred home, and the relighting of the ever-burning menorah within the Temple, after they had been desecrated by the Syrian Greeks in 164 BCE under the oppressive rule of King Antiochus IV Epiphanes. Much later, rabbinic tradition ascribed the 8-day rededication celebration …
Kol Nidrei Sermon 5780 The theme we’re focusing on this Yom Kippur is The Capacity to Change. What a valuable theme. What a challenging endeavour. On a day that is focused on repentance, renewal and change, it is important to be honest about how difficult it is to change. When we are wired for survival …
Erev Rosh Hashana Sermon 5780 In the not too distant future, the news is announced – the environmental apocalypse is here. In 3 days, every continent on planet earth will be underwater. Religious leaders from around the world address their followers, offering words of guidance and solace to face this cataclysmic moment. The …
Rosh Hashana Sermon 5780 This sermon was greatly inspired by and draws from We Are the Weather: Saving the Planet Begins at Breakfast by Jonathan Safran Foer. Ready? Dai-dai-ey’nu… Don’t worry. I’m not confused. I know it’s not Pesach. But these words that we sing out with glee at the Pesach seder – …
