Proudly Jewish - Proudly Progressive
Proudly Jewish - Proudly Progressive
We stand only three weeks away from the Jewish New Year, thoughts of Teshuva beginning to confront us: What should I concentrate on this year? How am I to face God on Rosh Hashanah? Has this been a positive year?…
This coming Shabbat is also the beginning of a new Month. It is the last month of the Jewish year, the last one before the High Holy Days. According to tradition, the month of Elul is the time that Moses…
The Haftarah readings on Shabbat between Tisha B’Av and Rosh Hashana are referred to as the 7 haftarot of comfort. But, comfort is often hard to come by. This week’s haftarah begins with the statement that Zion, despite being comforted,…
Our Torah Portion for this week, Parashat Va’et-chanan, is for sure the most cited section of the Torah in Jewish tradition, as it contains the Sh’ma Israel, the fundamental declaration of our Jewish faith: the unity of God; and our…
During my vacation in Berlin I was having a conversation with a friend where we were reminiscing about some events from our past. While we, broadly speaking, remembered the event in the same way, there were certain elements and details…
In Parashat Mas’ei, we read a review of the Israelite’s journeys through their forty years in the desert. It is important to understand that the journey was not orchestrated by the human mind, but was designed by God. The point…
This Friday we begin a new month of Av, it means that Days of Awe are approaching us. Traditionally during the Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur we see many congregants that not always come during the year to the synagogue.…
Wow! What a week it has been! SACRED and our co-applicants reached an out of court settlement in the Equality Court case, against the Board of Deputies. The Board of Deputies gave assurance that it would end its ban on…
How many times have we meant to call our legislator, wanted to sign that petition but let it fall to the bottom of our e-mail inbox, planned to sign up for a shift at the soup kitchen or intended to…
Parashat Balak (last week’s reading) has quite a disturbing end. The short chapter reads like a report that predicts the end of “Project Exodus”. The situation in the camp is chaotic, all boundaries are fallen and no one cares anymore…