Rosh Hashana 5785: Renewal in Challenging Times
Around this time of year, we sometimes talk about forgiveness as if we could just cast off the things we regret, like some sort of...
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Writings & Recordings
- Sep 24
God's Hands
Rabbi Brent Chaim Spodek and Ruth Messinger reprinted from Who by Fire, Who by Water , Lawrence Hoffman, editor For most American Jews,...
- Sep 24
How to Have a Hard Conversation
The public celebrations of Rosh Hashona and Yom Kippor are the culmination of work that we are called to do all during the Hebrew month...
- Aug 30
Shabbat After the Law
cross posted from the Times of Israel I can’t remember the first time that I had a proper Shabbat dinner, the first time that I heard the...
- May 7
Listening as a Spiritual Practice
In traditional Jewish thought, we are talkers before we are anything else. This sounds like a set-up for a dated ethnic joke, but in...
- Apr 29
5% For Ever After - Investing in Your Marriage, as well as Your Wedding
Invest 5% for ever after - whatever your budget for the one day wedding, be sure to invest at least 5% in the decades long marriage.
- Apr 17
Resources for Pesach 2024
At the practical level, the hallmark of the holiday is the Seder, in which Jews discuss the liberation and its meaning for today....
- Apr 2
Criticism: Don't take it (or give it) personally
What I lack in rock climbing skill, I make up for with rock climbing enthusiasm. I love the physical and mental challenge of finding my...
- Dec 6, 2023
How I learned to pray on a walk in the woods
Few teachings in the Jewish tradition have shaped me as much as the words of Rebbe Nachman's Tefilah 11, in which he writes, "Holy One of...
- May 30, 2023
How to be a Good Jewish Lover: The Basics
Strong marriages aren’t frictionless; strong marriages have deliberate practices that allow for complicated, fallible people to be in...
- May 25, 2023
Conversion Lessons in Agriculture and Compassion
cross posted to The Forward The Jewish community has been welcoming and celebrating converts to Judaism since at least the time of Ruth,...
- Dec 19, 2022
Becoming a Man
cross posted to the Times of Israel When I was a teenager, I had two posters on my bedroom walls — one of Samantha Fox, the ubiquitous...
- Nov 9, 2022
Masters of the House
cross posted to Beacon Hebrew Alliance My wife should have been born on a small street in Rexingen, a small town in Germany’s Black...
- Sep 29, 2022
Exiled from our Souls
cross posted from the Times of Israel When the Spanish fleet conquered Mexico in the 16th century, Luis de Carvajal y de la Cueva was...
- Jun 22, 2022
Mapping Our Love
crossposted with JTS Torah Online; podcast audio here Moses had no idea what he was getting into. It wasn’t just when he was talking to...
- Apr 27, 2022
How to Be a Good Jewish Lover
My grandma used to tell me that it didn't matter what you knew as much as it mattered who you knew. Oh, but grandma, there are a lot of...
- Mar 3, 2022
Carry that Weight
cross posted from the Times of Israel The first and only time I tried to impress a girl by singing was when I was 15 years old. I had...
- Nov 8, 2021
This Thing Called Prayer
It's tempting to think of prayer as an eloquent form of begging. Please let me live. Please let me get this job. Please let my team win...
- Nov 3, 2021
This is the day
Oy vey, what pain I caused myself today! Last night, I got some stressful news, so I stayed up late trying to rectify it. Of course, I...
- Nov 1, 2021
The Face Has Already Been Revealed
Many people who live a religious life, or aspire to one, pray that God will appear to them in a cacophonous moment of revelation. We...
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