The big crush of Chanukah meets Christmas will begin this coming weekend when Chanukah starts on Sunday night. With it comes the question of just how many presents do we give the kids? How will we wrap them? Where and when will we open them? I vote for fewer presents and more memories. Every…
Read More »Holidays
Holiday Happiness Guidelines
Every year I advocate for memories over materialism. Be with the people you love instead of shopping for them. I always send you a list of things you can do with loved ones. Take each night of Chanukah, and add any nights for Christmas or other holidays you observe this month and have fun with…
Read More »Thinking about Santa
Thinking about Christmas I have spoken to several people about Christmas and I want to reiterate what I hope you all will do – don’t try to change your observance of the holidays now. It’s too late in the year to suddenly tell your sweetheart that you can’t bear to have a Christmas tree…
Read More »Yom Kippur
Yom Kippur begins Wednesday night I hate fasting. Let me count the ways. 1. I hate having to get off coffee and caffeine so that I won’t have a headache all day. 2. I hate feeling weak and lacking focus. 3. I hate being thirsty and that dry sound your mouth makes. 4. I hate…
Read More »Shana Tova!
Shana Tova! Happy New Year! Do Rabbis have a Sense of Humor about the High Holidays? Take a look at this video and you tell me! That’s Rabbi Bloom of Temple Beth Abraham in Oakland. You can join him for Yom Kippur or all year long on Shabbat. Call the synagogue for more information: 510-832-0936….
Read More »Spring Holidays
Holidays just ahead: Lag B’Omer and Shavuot Lag B’Omer One-day suspension of the traditional mourning period during Sefirat HaOmer (“The Counting of the Omer”). On this day, a plague afflicting Rabbi Akiva’s students ceased. Also commemorates Bar Kochba’s recapture of Jerusalem from the Romans. Celebrated with picnics and nature outings. Sefirat HaOmer is a seven-week…
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