Singing, for Joy
16/02/2016 09:32:34 PM
I am sometimes asked: “How did you become a woman rabbi?”
Read more...
How Do You Jew?
02/02/2016 08:10:19 PM
Among all of the deeply rewarding elements of the pulpit rabbinate, none has been as meaning-filled, for me personally and on a broader communal level, as guiding the study and rituals of those who choose Judaism and the Jewish people as their own.
Each of the individuals who have invited me to join them -- at whatever stage of the journey they find themselves when we meet here through our little Reconstructionist community in Ottawa,...Read more...
Journeying In the Jewish Learning Landscape
19/01/2016 06:51:11 PM
Early this month, a New York City-based philanthropy called The Covenant Foundation announced the recipients of a total of $1.6 million in grants. What does this have to do with us?
Read more...
The Awe in the New Year of the Trees
05/01/2016 08:43:42 PM
What is the most awesome, inspiring, jaw-dropping moment of all? This may be as close to a universal accord as one can find. Surely the answer must be: the birth moment.
The moment a baby comes into the world; the first tender slips of a bud; the emergence of infant mammals; the transformation of...Read more...
Lighting The Way With Sparks Of Compassion
08/12/2015 07:43:15 PM
Individuals, communities and nations are exercising compassion these days, on a global scale.
To have compassion is to expand one’s consciousness beyond limits. It is a pouring out of the ineffable capacity to care-beyond – beyond one’s own needs, beyond one’s own identity, beyond one’s own tribe, beyond one’s own benefit.
We sometimes call such people altruistic. If so, would that mean that the opposite of...Read more...
On The Full Moon of Kislev
27/11/2015 02:38:23 PM
I pen these words today bathed in the light of the full moon of Kislev, figuratively speaking. This is the 14th day of the Jewish month, and so if the clouds permit, tonight we’ll really be en-light-ened by the reflected light of our winter sun.
The leap from the light of the Kislev moon to dark night of the full moon that follows is, Jewishly-speaking, not so large. In Psalm 81:4 both new and full moon are mentioned as ritual...Read more...
Communal Mournings in Two Civilizations
11/11/2015 03:16:23 PM
When preparing class outlines for Introduction to Judaism courses, I sigh each time I see the heading “Jewish Calendar.” It’s complicated, as we often say about so many difficult matters.
We – and the majority of Jews in Canada and the U.S. – do not necessarily live in “Jewish time.” We overlay or integrate Jewish time into our weeks, months, and years, sometimes consistently, sometimes profoundly, sometimes with...Read more...
Words for the 20th Yartsayt of Yitzhak Rabin
29/10/2015 03:11:52 PM
On the night of Saturday November 4, 1995 (12 Heshvan 5756), Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin traveled to Kings’ Square in Tel Aviv, where tens of thousands of supporters massed to assure him of their enthusiastic support for his peace efforts. They rallied with wild enthusiasm under banners that proclaimed “Yes to Peace – No to Violence.”
After his speech, and the rally’s closing song, Shir Lashalom (Song for Peace), a...Read more...
Xtreme Holy Days
29/09/2015 04:50:17 PM
The Jewish year cycle can be understood as an object lesson in extremes, at least at the beginning of the calendar year. Maybe we should call this Jewish month XTishrey, and all the holiday events our XTishrey Games!
We start in joy, celebrating a new year, and wishes for sweetness, but shaded in the colors of teshuvah throughout the days of repentance. Ten days later, we are at our most abject, fasting and praying through an evening,...Read more...
Elul-Tishrey Message IV
16/09/2015 04:11:59 PM
During the Jewish months of Elul and Tishrey, I invite you to take each of four themes, and consider them in your thoughts, conversations or rituals. They represent the three simplest essentials of prayers, with a fourth seasonally-specific one: PLEASE. THANKS. YAY! FORGIVE ME.
Our fourth theme is tied to selihot, from the root meaning pardon or forgive, as well as denoting the title for the liturgical service of preparation...Read more...
Mon, 7 July 2025
Special Messages from the Rabbi
CHeck us out on social media!
Privacy Settings | Privacy Policy | Member Terms
©2025 All rights reserved. Find out more about ShulCloud