How can we help children cope with natural disasters?
Hearing about and seeing images of people weeping, clutching loved ones in relief or in grief while standing in front of devastated homes and schools evokes painful feelings of sadness, fear and helplessness.
Why Do We Light Two Candles at the Beginning of Shabbat?
The traditional practice is to light two candles on Shabbat.
Does listening to a podcast count as study? Is it OK to say the blessing if I’m listening to commentary without reading or hearing the Torah portion?
Listening to the podcast definitely counts as Torah study. It’s an opportunity to learn a bit of Torah and start to think about the weekly Torah while also incorporating some modern-day thinking into the traditional message.
How do Reform congregations commemorate Kristallnacht?
Kristallnacht, which literally means, “the night of broken glass,” occurred on the night of November 9, 1938, and marks the beginning of the Holocaust. On Kristallnacht, Jewish homes, synagogues, and businesses were destroyed by the Nazis and the streets in Germany and Nazi-occupied Europe were covered with glass from the shattered windows of synagogues, Jewish homes, and businesses.
Do Reform Jews Believe in the Messiah?
In the Jewish prayer book, the siddur, there are references to an “end of days”: the Temple in Jerusalem will be rebuilt, the dead who were righteous will be resurrected, and a figure known as the Messiah, or in Hebrew the Moshiach, will restore Israel to new-found glory.
Stories We Tell: The Wooden Sword
On the Other Hand: Ten Minutes of Torah - P'kudei: The Individual and the Collective
What is the difference between individual spiritual experiences and collective experiences? Is one more powerful than the other? And, if so, what does that mean? Rabbi Rick Jacobs teaches how Parshat Pikudei highlights what can happen when communities become holy.
On the Other Hand: Ten Minutes of Torah - Vayikra: Balancing Innovation and Tradition
How can we be religious innovators, keeping the essence of tradition, but remembering how far we can go? Learn about these themes in Vayikra with Rabbi Rick Jacobs.
Four ways to listen:
On the Other Hand: Ten Minutes of Torah - Tzav: What Are We Obligated to Do?
What are we actually obligated to do? What is imposed and what do we choose? Rabbi Rick Jacobs explores Parashat Tzav
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On the Other Hand: Ten Minutes of Torah - Sh'mini: Is there a Moral Dimension to Our Food?
Is there a spiritual or moral dimension to how we choose what we eat? Parashat Sh'mini from the book of Leviticus opens up a conversation about keeping kosher – Rabbi Rick Jacobs moves it along.
Five ways to listen: