Rabbi Aderet Drucker sent an email to her congregation, B’nai Shalom, explaining the practices of Yom Kippur. I am sharing them here with you. Don’t worry if you don’t do all these things. If one or more of them speaks to you, you can plan to include it next year. Before sunset on the eve…
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The Greatest Hits of The High Holy Days
Rabbi Fox just emailed me to be sure I knew that Beth Jacob in Oakland is again doing Greatest Hits of the High Holy Days. Anyone can drop in for a little bit of soul refreshing. If you have to dash out to work afterwards you’ll do it with more energy. The Greatest Hits of…
Read More »Getting Ready for the High Holy Days
I just love this message from Rabbi David Booth of Kol Emeth in Palo Alto. Don’t make your introspection on the High Holy Days negative, find the joy. It is Good to be Joyful I feel the need to advocate for joy this week. We’re entering a time traditionally associated with introspection. Yet too often…
Read More »Rosh Hashanah begins at sundown on Sept. 13
The High Holidays are coming: Rosh Hashanah begins at sundown on Sept. 13 Tomorrow is the first day of August; that means the High Holy Days are getting very near. For those who joined this group in the last 11 months let me repeat my annual admonition: DO NOT make the High Holidays your non-Jewish…
Read More »Parents’ divorce set young Jew adrift at the Holidays
The High Holy Days can bring up some intense feelings for every Jew. One young man contacted me with a unique issue around the Holidays – his interfaith parents’ divorce and the subsequent lack of clarity about his status. My dad is Jewish and my mom converted before they got married. Her conversion was…
Read More »Selichot – a peaceful opening to the High Holidays
As we move closer to the High Holidays in the shadow of 9/11 it is a good time to think about Selichot. To quote Rabbi Mark Bloom of Temple Beth Abraham in Oakland, “Selichot, the penitential service which occurs on the Saturday night before Rosh Hashana.” Selichot is a time to reflection on who we…
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