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.
11 Ways to Celebrate Jewish Disability Awareness, Acceptance, and Inclusion Month in Your Synagogue
In honor of Jewish Disability Awareness, Acceptance, and Inclusion Month, we offer a few suggestions to help congregations adopt further awareness and understanding of disabilities.
This MLK Weekend, Observe Shabbat Tzedek in Your Community
Shabbat Tzedek, observed annually the weekend before Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, is an opportunity for congregations and members to celebrate the achievements of movements for racial justice, and to look toward the challenges ahead.
7 Jewish Resolutions for 2017
We’re almost a week into the new year, but it’s not too late to make a new resolution. In 2017, resolve to be more committed to your Judaism. Here are seven easy ways to begin – choose to do one or all of them!
When It Comes to Anti-Semitism, Here's Why I'm Not Surprised
Yesterday, someone drew a swastika on the sign-box outside of Klau Library on the Cincinnati campus of the Reform seminary. I am outraged and sickened and saddened. But I am not speechless.
What Progressive Spiritual Communities Look Like in Israel
Today’s Reform Movement in Israel is stretching the notion of what it means to build progressive spiritual communities there.
How the Pursuit of Justice Helps Us Find Strength
How can we pursue acts of justice that help fulfill our vision of a world in which every person experiences wholeness, justice, and compassion?