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Tefillat Ha’Derekh from Montgomery Alabama  Written by Rabbi Nina H. Mandel during the T’ruah delegation to the Legacy Museum and National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, Alabama, January 26-28, 2020 Bo Bo el Par’oh Come after the oppressor Join the trouble Muster your strength Gird your loins Mobilize your anger Disrupt, disrupt, disrupt Watch for bias Cry out for truth Soften your hardened heart Embrace your neighbor Persist, persist, persist Ad matai? Until when? Until there is no longer...

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High Holidays in Five Senses  What do the High Holidays smell like?  They smell of freshly-baked sweet challah, the vanilla-y pages of an old book, your grandfather’s aftershave, the tang of the etrog and the perfume of lulav branches. What do the High Holidays feel like?   They feel like fists beating on chests, shifting your tush on a wooden pew in an unairconditioned sanctuary, running your fingers through the fringes of a tallit, dropping crumbs into the water as you cast...

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No matter what temper tantrum or adolescent rebellion marked the week that is past, we take a moment to place our hands on our children’s heads and to offer them words of pure love. The blessing for boys derives from Jacob’s blessing to his grandsons, Ephraim and Menashe, who are the first pair of siblings in the Bible who love each other rather than fight each other. The blessing for girls invokes the memory of our four matriarchs — Sarah, Rebekah,...

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Unending Love by Rabbi Rami Shapiro We are loved by unending love. We are embraced by arms that find us  even when we are hidden from ourselves.  We are touched by fingers that soothe us  even when we are too proud for soothing.  We are counseled by voices that guide us  even when we are too embittered to hear. We are loved by unending love. We are supported by hands that uplift us  even in the midst of a fall.  We...

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THE CLASSIC STORY... Way back in 167 BCE, the Jews were living in the land of Israel, and were ruled by a Syrian Greek king named Antiochus IV Epiphanes. Antiochus wanted the Jews to assimilate into Hellenistic culture, so he outlawed three core Jewish commandments: circumcising male babies, observing the Sabbath, and studying Torah. He also desecrated the Temple in Jerusalem. A Jewish priest named Mattathias and his five sons--collectively known as the Maccabees, which means “hammers” — led a revolt...

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Hear, Oh Israel, The universe is one. All humanity is one. Shma Yisroel Ha-olam echad! Ha-enoshiut echad! And you shall love your fellow humans With all your heart And all your soul, And all your might! These words inscribe on your heart And on your doorposts. Repeat them and teach them to your children By day and by night. Teach them to revere all life.

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Full Kiddush for Rosh Hashanah Evening Barukh atah Adonai Eloheinu melekh ha'olam, borei peri ha'gafen. Barukh atah Adonai Eloheinu melekh ha'olam asher bakhar banu m'kol am, v'romemanu m'kol lashon v'kidishanu b'mitzvotav. Vatiten lanu Adonai Eloheinu b'ahava et Yom HaShabbat ha'zeh v'et)Yom HaZikaron ha'zeh. Yom zichron teruah b'ahava mikra kodesh, zekher le'yitziat mitzrayim. Ki vanu vakharta v'otanu kidashtah m'kol ha'amim, u'devarkha emet v'kayam la'ad. Barukh atah Adonai melekh al kol ha'aretz, mekadesh haShabbat v'Yisrael v'Yom HaZikaron.    Blessed are You, Adonai our God,...