The wisdom of Tu BiShvat is coming right when we need it, as we face another round of Covid restrictions, illness, financial strain, separation and concerns. Tu BiShvat (from the evening of January 16th through January 17th) is the New Year of the Trees. What started as a day for fruit-tree taxation in ancient Israel …
Miriam’s Cup: Tu BiShvat’s Outer Shells and Hidden Sparks Read More »
We’re in the time of the year when we wake up and it’s dark and cold out, and it’s dark again by 4:30 in the afternoon. This year, winter during the Covid pandemic is bringing news of yet another variant, questions about the effectiveness of the vaccine and more waves of uncertainty. For many of …
Miriam’s Cup: Training Our Eyes to See Hidden Light Read More »
I’m part of a newly formed group called the Shmita Sisters (we will definitely need T-shirts!). We’re a group of creative Jewish women leaders and teachers in Toronto, meeting monthly to explore how we might live the biblical practices of Shmita/the Sabbatical year that arrives every seven years. And this year is a Shmita year. …
Miriam’s Cup: Building Sabbatical Culture – DJC Learning and Practice for the Year Ahead Read More »
It is a worthwhile question, as we begin Yom Kippur, as we enter this 25-hour period engaged in the central activity of kaparah – atonement – to ask, does it actually makes a difference? Does it change us? I don’t want to talk myself out of a job, so you can probably guess that I …
I want to share a cartoon on the screen that you may have seen. I’ll describe it as well. There is a person sitting at a table in front of a lemon squeezer. To their right, are mountains of lemons and a cannon firing lemons right at their head. To their left are jars and …
So, imagine it – you’re sitting in your bathrobe, drinking your morning coffee and looking out your garden window. A cluster of people you’ve never seen before are sauntering in and out of your garden. As they fill bowls with figs and apples from your trees, they smile and wave at you. You feel the …
Rosh Hashana Day Sermon 5782 – On Becoming Ownerless Read More »
We will be gathering on Zoom for High Holyday services again this year. Of course, I would rather be physically together – singing together, crowding side by side under outstretched tallitot on the bimah for the group aliyot, and hugging in the aisles. But spiritual practice is perpetually a practice of meeting reality with an …
The Revolution Will be Televised – Let’s Get Ready Read More »
How do you grow a courageous heart? There have been so many times during the past year when I have needed to call upon resolve and fortitude, abiding patience and grounding stability; when I needed to be able to consciously gather in goodness and let it bolster me; when I needed the capacity to meet …
I want to tell you about some of the work I’ve been doing in the last couple of weeks. There are a lot of aspects of a rabbi’s work and the happenings in the life of a shul that you might not be aware of. I want to tell you about them because this is …
Miriam’s Cup: A Queer Ketubah – One Snapshot of What Your Membership Grows Read More »
I spent this past Sunday in a sunny backyard – not with a barbeque or a beer but with the Torah and revolving groupings of B’nei mitzvah students and their families. Because our group B’nei Mitzvah celebrations will be online this Shabbat and next Shabbat mornings, we wanted to give the students an opportunity to …
Last Tuesday, the judge in the Derek Chauvin trial read aloud the decisions of the jury. Chauvin was found guilty on three charges for the murder and manslaughter of George Floyd. Millions of people across North America celebrated the verdict and breathed a sigh of relief. In this case of blatant police violence, in this …
In Jewish practice, brachot/blessings give us the language to express joy and gratitude. Brachot also function as the spiritual technology for lifting experiences, mundane as well as sublime experiences, into elevated moments of consciousness and wonder. Particular experiences are assigned their particular blessings to root us where we are, directly linked with the action we …
Miriam’s Cup: What’s the Blessing for the Covid Vaccine? Read More »
