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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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הִנֵּה מַה טּוֹב וּמַה נָעִים שֶבֶת אַחִים גַם יָחַד Hineh Mah tov umah na'im shevet achim gam yachad. Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!

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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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Elul (Hebrew: אֱלוּל) is the twelfth month of the Jewish civil year and the sixth month of the ecclesiastical year on the Hebrew calendar. It is a summer month of 29 days. Elul usually occurs in August–September on the Gregorian calendar. The name of the month, like the names of the rest of the Hebrew calendar months, was brought from the Babylonian Exile, and originated from the Akkadian word for "Harvest".  In the Jewish tradition, the month of Elul is a...