On Yom Kippur, three Congregation Or Ami members shared sermonettes throughout the service on Lessons They Learned Living Through Hardship. These Jewish TED Talk/Yom Kippur Social Sermons were each moving individually and very inspiring as a whole. Read about How a Whole Congregation Wrote its Rabbi’s Yom Kippur Sermon. *** Lessons Learned from Living Through …
On Yom Kippur, three Congregation Or Ami members shared sermonettes throughout the service on Lessons They Learned Living Through Hardship. These Jewish TED Talk/Yom Kippur Social Sermons were each moving individually and very inspiring as a whole. Read about How a Whole Congregation Wrote its Rabbi’s Yom Kippur Sermon. *** Lessons Learned from Living Through …
On Yom Kippur, three Congregation Or Ami members shared sermonettes throughout the service on Lessons They Learned Living Through Hardship. These Jewish TED Talk/Yom Kippur Social Sermons were each moving individually and very inspiring as a whole. Read about How a Whole Congregation Wrote its Rabbi’s Yom Kippur Sermon. *** Lessons Learned from Living Through Hardship …
by Rabbi Yael Buechler Reposted from Ritualwell I took care of myself, God. I made sure to eat right, and tried to do a few less dishes. I told the doctors about all of my aches and pains, just to be sure. Just to be sure that the baby was okay. Everything was fine if …
In the midst of inspiring and emotionally charged Yamim Noraim (Days of Awe from Rosh Hashana through Yom Kippur), an utterly unexpected yet totally welcome reality set in as our Congregation Or Ami teens all but took over our High Holy Day services. For years synagogues and Jewish denominations have been seeking models of successful teen …
So you went to Rosh Hashana services (or not), and you plan to go to Yom Kippur services (or not). Maybe you say a few prayers, listen intently to the rabbi’s sermon, allow the cantor’s music to suffuse your soul. Have you fulfilled your High Holy Day responsibilities? Can you check off this week’s To …
Have you ever been to the Grand Tetons, our National Park in Wyoming? I did a few years back on a family road trip. It was magnificent. The jagged peaks of the Grand Tetons mountain range, rise up more than 7,000 feet above the valley floor, in a way that is just stunning. The lush …
Each Rosh Hashanah, we read the horrid tale of the Akedah (Genesis 22), the almost sacrifice of Isaac by Abraham. Commentators throughout the ages characterize this story as an example of the heights of faith. Abraham loved God so much he was willing to give up the child he waited so long to bear. But …
You can’t go for a run without stretching first. You can’t just suit up for baseball, step up to the plate, and hit a home run. (You gotta take some practice swings.) You can’t teach a lesson, deliver a presentation, make a pitch, without preparing and practicing. So why do we think we can just …
From Washington Post: Picture provided by Bassam Khabieh/Reuters Rabbi Fred Guttman posted these quotes about the Syrian chemical attack on its own people. The quotes provide a glimpse into the unanimous voice of Israeli leadership on all sides of the political spectrum on the horror of the Syrian use of chemical weapons. I am neither …
Adapted from Mom’s 1st Day of School Prayer by 6happyhearts.com La-a-soak b’deev-ray Torah… To be involved in the study of wisdom. Here we are again, O Source of Wisdom. Their backpacks are loaded and their lunch cards are full. And I know you will walk with them, Eternal Nurturer. You always do. But a parent still …
Rabbi Paul Kipnes and Paul Kleinfinger That’s me. With Congregation Or Ami’s two Sifrei Torah on the Las Virgenes bridge over the 101 Freeway. I had just carried the two scrolls from our synagogue building, away from the smoky fire. With me is my new friend Paul Kleinfinger, a nice Jewish boy who offered to …
To My Son, So now you are going off to college, spreading your wings, moving forward into your future. I am excited and saddened for the experiences yet to come. There is so much I want to tell you and to remind you about, including things I have said before. About what it means to …
How do we talk about God when so many of us have such conflicted, confused and challenging concepts or relationships of/with God? As a community about to jump into major community-wide conversations about God, Congregation Or Ami necessarily will face this conundrum. When at Yom Kippur Kol Nidre services Rabbi Julia Weisz, Cantor Doug Cotler …
Bryce Canyon National Park One summer, we drove over 6,000 miles, visiting 20 States in 31 days in our own Odyssey minivan. Most memorable of all were the 14 amazing National Parks. There, we were overwhelmed by America’s natural beauty. Its spacious skies and amber waves of grain. Its purple mountains, majestic; those low-lying, fruited …