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.
Sports vs. Values: What are We Teaching Our Children?
What do we teach our children when we seek entertainment in the spectacle of two human beings each trying to maim the other or render her senseless? And yet, should we be surprised? After all, we live in a country where mass murder occurs on a regular basis.
The Good Book: Writers Reflect on Favorite Bible Passages
The Bible continues to be the best-selling book in history, perhaps because each reader can identify with some aspect of its ancient text. It is this notion that informs the essays of the 24 novelists, poets, scholars, and journalists who answered the call to write about a Biblical book or passage with personal meaning to them.
Five Ways Jews Can Respond to Anti-Muslim Rhetoric
As Jews, we have an obligation to defend a fellow minority under siege – but some of us don’t speak up because we don’t know what to say. Here is list of statements you are likely to hear and how you might respond.
Blockbuster Achievements and Coming Attractions: The URJ in 2016
According to box office reports, I was not the only person who saw the new Star Wars movie over the long New Year holiday weekend.
In addition to having a great time for a couple of hours, I was struck by what a Reform approach the moviemakers took.
How so?
Reproductive Justice as a Jewish Moral Imperative
In the days before Roe v. Wade declared abortion a constitutional right, the symbol of women’s underground, dangerous – and persistent – efforts to obtain abortions was the simple wire coat hanger. Despite the constitutional protections in place since 1973, this gruesome symbol has recently made a troubling return to our discourse on reproductive justice.
The Stories That Shape our Work to Eradicate Homelessness
Participants of the RAC’s Bernard and Audre Rapoport L’Taken Seminars, often share with us that one of the most inspiring moments of the weekend is hearing a presenter from the