Rosh Hashanah
Choking on the Apple
I wasn’t at The People’s Climate March in New York on Sunday. I wanted to be, but I was, instead, ...
Ringing in the New Year as a Community
My niece just started Hebrew School. As someone who didn’t have a formal Jewish education as a kid, I’m pretty ...
Apologizing for Our Parents’ Sins
My mother was born in Germany in 1939. She grew up there, emigrating to the United States in 1968, after ...
Facing Loss at Rosh Hashanah
The images of the secular New Year—Times Square, Champagne in fancy glasses, funny hats and noisemakers—are all fun and happy. ...
Prayer for Diversity
Change is difficult. It can only happen when we reflect on the present and imagine different possibilities for going forward. ...
Look Both Ways Before Crossing!
As we cross from 5774 to 5775, the Akeida (the Binding of Isaac, which is traditionally read on Rosh Hashanah) ...
Who Will Live and Who Will Die?
We live with a practical tradition. We begin the New Year with ten days devoted to introspection. Between Rosh Hashanah and ...
Lessons from Camp and the High Holidays
The buses have rolled away, the bags are unpacked, the phone calls between your campers and their friends are sending ...
Kol Yisrael Aravim Zeh Bazeh: All Israel Is Responsible for One Another
One of my family’s favorite Sarah Silverman routines plays on the Jewish habit of always claiming one of our own: ...
The Power of Inclusion, and Lessons for Rosh Hashanah
After nine years as a camper and counselor at Massad Bet (of blessed memory), and one year as the Program ...
Honoring Dad, Forgiving Myself for Rosh Hashanah
The Jewish month of Elul is a month of contemplation and introspection leading up to Rosh Hashanah. For Victoria Washington ...
A New Sesame on the Block
Sesame seems to be enjoying a moment in the spotlight recently and I couldn’t be happier. Halva was always a staple ...