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Jewish Practices

Category: Jewish Practices

Jewish Practices, Prayer

Pray for Peace?

January 19, 2021
Pray for Peace?

Shalom. Peace. Integration. Wholeness. Hello and goodbye—an entire cycle of welcome. A face of the divine, according to the priestly blessing. And part of the name of a holy city. An aspirational name. Jerusalem, Yerushalayim: yerushat shalom, an inheritance of peace. Jewish liturgy is full of prayers for peace. One famous version closes every Jewish…

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Jewish Practices, Kabbalah, Spirituality, Torah

Hanukah's Hidden Light

December 11, 2020
Hanukah's Hidden Light

Hanukah has a clear spiritual meaning. On one level, it’s simple. And, on another, it’s mystical. Winter is a dark time. Daylight is short. Night is long. With just a few hours of sun, we humans don’t get enough vitamin D. So we get a little depressed.  We need a lift. Something to substitute for…

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Feminism, Jewish Practices, Wisdom

Wisdom of Green Hair

November 15, 2020
Wisdom of Green Hair

Words of wisdom, from my late friend Gwen. “You have green hair.” Of course, I’ll explain. Gwen was part of our life in North Carolina. Back then, we lived “in the buckle of the Bible Belt,” as my spouse Charles likes to say. Our neighborhood was built on the old Billy Graham farm. There was…

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Jewish Practices, Philosophy, Torah, Wisdom

Kohelet: Life, Politics, Spirit

October 4, 2020
Kohelet: Life, Politics, Spirit

What is Kohelet (Ecclesiastes)? It’s a work of existential philosophy, about the meaning of life. A political critique, looking realistically at life under monarchy, and how one can safely resist abuses. And a work of spiritual wisdom, teaching about equanimity under stress. Traditionally, Jews read this Biblical book each fall, during the holiday of Sukkot.…

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Jewish Practices, Prayer

Whom Can I Accuse?

October 1, 2020
Whom Can I Accuse?

“Whom can I accuse, of whom revenge demand, when I have borne deep suffering at my own hand?” This whole service video is beautiful—and I especially want to share these first six minutes of teaching and music with you. (Yes, it is me and Charles together!) Thanks to Rabbi Hannah Dresner for coordinating & leading…

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Jewish Practices, Wisdom

Teshuva Builds Community

September 17, 2020
Teshuva Builds Community

Social scientists say: People who belong to spiritual communities are happier. Why? More opportunities for connecting. Giving. And learning, through ritual, how to be with others. Including the Ten Days of Teshuvah, a Jewish New Year ritual for healing ruptures between friends and family.

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Jewish Practices, Political, Psychology

Synagogue Life in COVID-19: Care, Conflict, and Teshuvah

September 15, 2020
Synagogue Life in COVID-19: Care, Conflict, and Teshuvah

A family friend of ours died this summer, from COVID-19 complications. I was the officiating rabbi at his burial. No tahara, ritual washing of his body, had been permitted. We, a small group of twelve, gathered at the graveside. Each of us wore a mask and disposable gloves. We stood six feet apart. After the…

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Family, Jewish Practices, Torah

Shema: Something old, something new

July 31, 2020
Shema: Something old, something new

Shema. Deuteronomy 6:4-9. It’s featured in this week’s Torah reading, and in the daily liturgy. It was inside a gift I gave my father before he died. And in one I gave my daughter as she left home last week. More about that, below. Moses says, Shema! Listen! God is infinite being. Love God with…

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Jewish Practices, Political

To see with sad clarity

July 28, 2020
To see with sad clarity

Towards the end of the Book of Job, Job finally learns to see. He says to God: “Until now, I only heard about you. Now I have seen you” (Job 42:5) What does Job mean? “I heard stories about you, God. But all about things that happened in the distant past, not in the living…

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Jewish Practices, Spirituality

Niggun: Mantra of Calm

July 1, 2020
Niggun: Mantra of Calm

What is a niggun? Simply put: a niggun is a wordless melody. But, in spiritual work, it is more than that. A niggun is a melody of the soul. An expression from the heart of the composer. Or a soothing vibration gifted by another. Even, sometimes, a guide on an inner journey. If you’re lucky,…

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Recent Posts

  • Pray for Peace? January 19, 2021
  • Simon, the Worst Brother December 18, 2020
  • Hanukah’s Hidden Light December 11, 2020
  • Tenth Anniversary Party November 21, 2020
  • A Dream of Dad November 20, 2020

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Sacred Texts and Oral Traditions

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Writing the Animal Book

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Jung, Kabbalah, and the Spirit of Our Times

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Laura outdoors: Charles Kaplan; Torah scroll: Anita Fonseca-Quezada
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