Scarcity and abundance. Need vs. desire. These aren’t the themes we readily associated with Passover, never mind with Purim. Liberation! Triumph over our (Eternal) Enemies! Freedom from Slavery! And of course: Food! Passover represents the apex of the Jewish calendar’s – and the Jewish people’s – focus on the food-festival connection. Fundamentally, the holiday is […]
“Judaism has little interest in using thought control. Prior to the emancipation of the Jews, bans were sometimes used when the coherence of a Jewish community, living in gentile and often hostile surroundings, was at stake. Yielding to unity then was crucial to the survival of the Jewish people. The rabbis, however, were very reluctant […]
(Sung to the tune of “Found a Peanut”) Tishrey, Heshvan, Found a peanut Kislev, Tevet, found a peanut Shvat, Adar, found a pea- Nisan, Iyar, nut la-ast night Sivan, Tamuz, l a-ast night I Av, Elul, found a pea-nut our calendar is sung*. found a peanut la-ast night *Or nuts! (or legumes!) Seriously, the Jewish […]
“Dear Members of Or Haneshamah, As many of you are aware, there was a massive accident yesterday morning in Ottawa involving an OC Transpo bus and a Via Rail train.” That was the opening of my very first message to you as a community, early in September 2013. What a shattering afternoon it was this […]
“Israel” has long been regarded as the third-rail of Jewish communal discourse. The quotation marks here signify the fluid, elusive nature of that word. It signals questions: what exactly are we referencing when we say “Israel?” Is it the current country? How we define its boundaries? The idea of a Jewish nation? A Jewish nation-state? […]
It’s not the darkest time. Not yet. This year the lights of Hanukkah wane, along with the dimming sunlight, as we approach the winter solstice. Often the secular and religious calendars provide an overlap between the Jewish and Christian holidays that fall on the 25th – of Kislev and December respectively. These two festivals, just […]
Three OrH members – Sarah, Jean, and Diana– along with Rabbi Liz, attended the 2018 Reconstructing Judaism convention in Philadelphia, November 15-18. Instead of the usual Words of the Spirit column from Rabbi Liz, we wanted to share with you Sarah, Jean, and Diana’s reflections on the experience. Read their reflections and see photos of […]
Although the English date fell this past Sunday, I missed Yitzhak Rabin’s traditional yartsayt date, which fell back on October 20, the 11th of Heshvan. November 4, 1995 was still in the month of Heshvan, our month of no holy days following the busy Jewish New Year month of Tishrey. In both cases, the parshah […]
Central to any spiritual journey is the concept of self. As embodied beings, it can’t be otherwise. Yet this also entails a certain contradiction. Though of course many spiritual practices may unfold in embodied forms, spiritual journeys are broadly understood to be originating, manifesting, or residing in realms beyond the body. Transcendence is therefore a […]
A few months ago I was contacted by Rev. Anthony Bailey with an invitation to participate in a clergy Interfaith “Build Day” with Habitat for Humanity. I was delighted to see that the prospective date fell during hol hamo’ed sukkot – the intermediate days of the holiday. Of course I said yes, and have been eagerly, if […]
