Reconciliation takes many forms. Today, I’m thinking about David. He came to our synagogue occasionally, on Shabbat. He was quiet and a bit odd. Our interactions had a ritualized pattern. First, he would compliment me, saying, “You’re beautiful inside and out.” Next, he would ask for what he wanted. Lunch. A Safeway gift certificate. Or an opportunity to tell…
Category: Jewish Practices
Offering Worship: Did Moses Make It All Up?
Offering as a form of worship. Take a look at Leviticus. God offers some weird instructions for worship! Like a precise system of offerings. Specifically, butchering and cooking. Such rituals seem out of place in our modern urban society. They probably weren’t relevant to the earliest human beings either. Torah itself says they were vegetarian. Offering at the…
Chant: Multi-faith Spiritual Exploration
Chant. A weekend of multi-faith learning at the Bethlehem Centre. Forty-two enchanted hours of spiritual elevation. Five leadership teams, each opening us to a dimension of chant. Chant is Holy Play: Trio SaySo Trio SaySo — Allannah Dow, Leah Hokenson and Tina Jones — tossed us into the world of chant. We all have voice,…
Psalm 148: Nature's Rap
Psalm 148: what a beautiful vision of creation! Spiritual beings sing God’s praise. Sun, moon, and clouds sing. So do animals and plants. Along with people of all ages, genders, and social classes. Why? Because God created them. God loves them. And God praises them, too. Psalm 148: what a great way to start the…
Hanukkiah: "I'm Here To Tell You Resistance Never Ends"
Hanukkiah. The eight-branched menorah we light at Hanukkah. What Does the Hanukkiah Mean? The prophet Zechariah never heard of a hanukkiah. But he can help us understand its meaning. In synagogue on Shabbat Hanukkah, we read Zechariah’s vision of the menorah. It’s a good choice, right? We light a type of menorah, so we read about a…
Sukkot: Our prophets recommend interfaith outreach
Sukkot is a great time for interfaith outreach. Twelve students are taking my graduate course on “Ritual and Sacred Ceremony” at the Vancouver School of Theology. They represent nine distinct religious traditions. Our family has invited the whole class to visit our sukkah. Students will enjoy the best of Jewish ritual: home based, food filled, seasonally attuned.…
Teshuvah: Can it Change the Timeline of Your Past?
Can teshuvah – repentance, renewal, and return to God – change the past? In Parshat Haazinu (Deut. 32:1-32:52) Moses speaks to his spiritual community. You have lived a full life. You have seen God at work. Seen God challenge you, answer you, comfort you, sustain you. And you know a miracle when you see one. But…
A Rosh Hashanah Ritual Riddle: How are dessert and liturgy alike?
Your Rosh Hashanah ritual riddle: how are sweet fruit crumble and the liturgy of Unetaneh Tokef alike? I’m asking for a friend. For two academic friends, really. Lawrence Hoffman and Catherine Bell, who write about ritual. Lawrence Hoffman says that rituals structure time. Without rituals, life would be a series of moments. Mostly flat, but…
Elijah came to Vancouver to test us. Did we pass?
You know the stories. Elijah crouches on the street corner, begging. She bangs on your door at midnight, fleeing an attacker. He sits in a wheelchair waiting by a broken electric door. She meows by the empty trash can. Elijah offers you a choice. Extend a hand. Give a coin. Turn a doorknob. Push a…
Eicha? How do you approach the Book of Lamentations?
Each year on Tisha B’Av, practicing Jews reflect on Eicha, the book of Lamentations. What is the book of Lamentations? Lamentations is a set of five heartbreaking poems, written after the brutal destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonian army in 586 BCE. After the Babylonians forced the surrender of Jerusalem, they deported the city’s wealthy and influential Jews…