Looking Inward

We all have thoughts and feelings from the past year that we’d like to get rid of or forget. During tashlich, we take some breadcrumbs and sprinkle them into a body of water, symbolically ridding ourselves of the sins and bad feelings that have been weighing us down. Now we can go into the new year with a clean slate.

Abraham Joshua Heschel. a rabbi who marched for civil rights alongside Martin Luther King, Jr
Wrote that morally speaking, there is no limit to the concern one must feel for the suffering of human beings,
That indifference to evil is worse than evil itself
That in a free society, some are guilty but all are responsible
May we continue to practice tikkun olam, repairing the world

The Yamim Noraim (Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur) are here. We’re tasked with reflecting on our lives and practicing teshuvah (returning). Through teshuvah we examine our actions over the past year, seek forgiveness from ourselves, others, and the Divine and dedicate ourselves to do better next year. These sacred days provide an opportunity to ask ourselves the hardest questions and explore all the...

Mah Yafeh HaYom

מַה יָפֶה הָיוֹם .שַׁבָּת שָׁלוֹם

Ma yafeh ha-yom, shabbat shalom. (2x)
Shabbat, shabbat shalom. (3x) Shabbat shalom

How beautiful is this day, a day of Shabbat peace!

Hinei Ma Tov

הִנֵה מַה-טּוֹב וּמַה-נָעִים .שֶׁבֶת אַחִים גַם יָחַד...

Expanding on the second question, Jewish tradition holds every living thing (and even inanimate objects) as containing a certain amount of wonder, as if there is a secret hiding inside of everything, yearning to be recognized, revealed and even protected. In our tradition, trees are to be respected. Just as there are human rights and animal rights, there are tree rights. For instance, you can't just wantonly chop down a...

Fasting on Yom Kippur is not as obvious as one might think. Nowhere does the Torah explicitly command it. Instead, the verses teach us to “afflict ourselves” without defining the nature of this “affliction.”

We do know that Yom Kippur is about atonement and forgiveness. So how does “afflicting” ourselves through fasting relate to teshuva ? Many assume that fasting is a form of...

The shehechiyanu blessing thanks the creator for giving us life, sustaining us, and allowing us to reach this day. This blessing is said at momentous occasions, and tonight counts because it is the night when we can finally look back on the whole previous year. We made it! Whether bitter or sweet, difficult or fun, tonight we celebrate and feel grateful for making it to today, and to this table to reflect with people we...