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…
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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…
Read More »Fall Programs and the High Holidays
Well, this is it – September. The Jewish year really ramps up! High Holidays are just around the corner, kids go back to school and we all go into our work mode. As we approach those Days of Awe let me remind you, please don’t think that High Holy Day services are the time to…
Read More »May You Be Inscribed for a Good Year
A wonderful message from Rabbi Larry Milder of Beth Emek in Pleasanton – with both heart and humor. I couldn’t say it any better. Happy 5774! God Writes a Blog At the beginning of the Jewish New Year, it is customary to greet one another with a special wish: L’shanah tovah tikatevu, may you be…
Read More »Rosh Hashanah Bird Rolls
Why Bird Shapes? According to “Joan Nathan’s Jewish Holiday Cookbook” (Schocken, 2004), bird-shaped challah rolls, called feygelekh (Yiddish for “little bird”) symbolized “the protection of God’s people as stated in Isaiah 31:5: ‘As birds hovering [over their fledglings], so will the Lord of hosts protect Jerusalem.’” Another interpretation, offered by Linda Burghardt in “Jewish Holiday…
Read More »Secrets of the Synagogue Sanctuary
Secrets of the (Synagogue) Sanctuary Most Americans have never been inside a synagogue. Those that have may not know the parts of the sanctuary and their meaning. What is the bema? What’s the Eternal Light and is it really eternal? Do Jews kneel? Where should you sit? Should visitors wear head coverings? What about prayer…
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