Galilee Diary: The Old Songs
We will still return to an ancient melody
And the song will be beautiful and sweet…- Ancient Melody, a 1950s popular classic Israeli folkdance by Michael Kashtun
Remembering Emma Lazarus, A Legacy in Reform Liturgy
Most people, if they’ve heard of her at all, connect Emma Lazarus to the most famous phrases of her sonnet, “The New Colossus,” written to help raise money for the Statue of Liberty’s pedestal fund in 1883. But poems she translated and composed before that generated another kind of legacy.
My Alphabet of Failings: A New Ashamnu
Each year on Yom Kippur, I join my congregation is reciting the Ashamnu, an alphabetic acrostic of sins for which we repent. And each year, it occurs to me that most of the sins named in the Ashamnu don’t hit me in the heart I’m beating – and so, I wrote my own version of the prayer.
How the High Holidays Are Like a Charles Dickens Tale
Whether you prefer the 1843 book or any of the many movie versions made since, there is no question that Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol is a classic.
Now, despite the season for which Dickens wrote it, A Christmas Carol is a Yom Kippur story if there ever was one.
Yom Kippur Wasn't Always the Holiday It Is Now
As the summer passes its midway point, rabbis begin to think seriously about the coming Days of Awe.
So, Rabbi, What Do You Really Think about Jesus?
Of course, Jews will never see Jesus as God or as an object of worship as Christians do. But when Jesus is the inspiration to feed the hungry, cloth the naked, and do the things I see so many churches in Germany do today in his name, then I look at him very positively.
Why I Sat Shiva for My Brother, Who Wasn't Jewish
When my brother Jerry died, the questions were not just where to sit shiva or for how long. They were more fundamental: Should I sit shiva for my non-Jewish brother at all?
Election Day: Do Not Separate Yourself from the Community
When I turned 18, I was overjoyed to have the right to vote. I distinctly remember registering to vote as part of a high school government class.
Program Idea: Making a Difference in the Lives of Kids with Disabilities
Almost 40 years ago, Temple Israel Sisterhood in Memphis, TN, began a project with the Memphis City Schools’ summer program for visually impaired campers.
Did Jacob Need Esau to Become Israel?
Parashat Tol’dot opens with matriarch Rebecca carrying twins – Esau and Jacob – who, even before birth, struggle each with the other.