I read it on Twitter, that Debbie Friedman had died. The Jewish world lost one of the leading lights in Jewish music. I am heartbroken. Debbie Friedman opened up my heart and soul to holiness and the Holy One. And now she is gone. To understand the depth of the grief sweeping across the Jewish …
At Congregation Or Ami, we devoted our Shabbat services’ d’var refu’ah (words about healing) to asking for blessings of healing for Debbie Friedman. View the d’var refu’ah. Debbie Friedman – nationally known Jewish composer, singer, and inspiration of the Jewish healing movement – composed and sings so many of the songs that enlivened Jewish …
Moment Magazine offers an interfaith exploration of the 10 Commandments, which answers the questions: For millennia, these ancient laws have been central to our way of life. Are they still relevant? Or is it time for an upgrade? NEARLY 3,500 YEARS AGO, Exodus tells us, God inscribed the Ten Commandments onto two stone tablets for …
Four days spent with 212 reform rabbis at our annual regional rabbinic conference PARR in Palm Springs. Refreshing! Why? 1. Sharing joys of being a rabbi. 2. Supporting each other through the challenged. 3. Considering what a value-based progressive Jewish hermeneutic for Torah might look like. 4. Discover a new Shabbat service ritual for celebrating …
A Jew, living in America, with eyes on two calendars – one Jewish, one secular – marks nonetheless the turning of the secular New Year. With hope for continued freedom and the blessing of a better tomorrow, we might take a moment during our day to say: Eternal God, we give thanks For the gifts …
I stumbled upon the NU Campaign – music video and t-shirts – to help Israel’s Carmel region, which recently saw the worst forest fire in Israel’s history. I loved it so I bought a few shirts. Take a look, then buy yourself a t-shirt. Buy the shirt!
18 years ago, when I became rabbi at Congregation Or Ami, I was very thoughtful about what should be the first policies I asked the board to pass. The policy should reflect deeply held dreams of what a congregation should care about; it should illuminate important Jewish values. I was thrilled when the board voted …
Hut 1, hut 2, hike, hike… In Israel, there are two main sports: soccer and basketball. Over the past years, groups of American olim (immigrants) have made attempts – some more successful than others – to bring baseball to the Holy Land. Recently, Israelis are flirting with football – American tackle football. And, under the …
Every Facebook user should consider the following, especially if you are a parent with kids who have their own Facebook account. Thanks to Rabbi David Cohen for the Facebook link to the original Consumer Reports article. Using a weak passwordAvoid simple names or words you can find in a dictionary, even with numbers tacked on …
The Covenant Foundation about a move by @DarimOnline to promote the Social Sermon, an attempt to make sermon writing and constructing into an interact, whole congregation approach. Imagine marrying Facebook and twitter with the Shabbat sermon. I like it. We have been experimenting for the last few months with a communal blog on Jewish Spirituality. …
We spent a week away in Scottsdale, AZ with my folks and our family. 15 things we did on vacation: Celebrated my birthday with my family and my parents. Had breakfast of homemade cookies with Ben & Jerry’s Chocolate Fudge Brownie Ice Cream Drove to Sedona, Arizona and marveled at the gorgeous red earth and …
As this secular year rolls into the next, we will be besieged by Top Ten lists chronicling the year gone by. Top 10 movies. Top 10 Electronic Gadgets. Ten most newsworthy events. Will anyone compile a list of the Top Conflicts Most Likely to Become the Next Genocide? Though it won’t appear on the cover …
The Wooden Bowl I thank Or Ami congregant Don Weston (check out his blog) for sharing this Internet chain letter with me. A frail old man went to live with his son, daughter-in-law, and four-year-old grandson. The old man’s hands trembled, his eyesight was blurred, and his step faltered. The family ate together at the …
Guest Written By Karin Pofsky As a new member of Congregation or Ami, I was excited to begin participating in the many social action opportunities organized by the congregation. As it happened, two projects fell on the same day. Both were so exciting and worthwhile that my kids and I couldn’t pass them up … …
It warms my heart whenever a community reaches out as we hope it would. We received this from a congregant, following the burial of his 91 year old father: Dear Friends at Congregation Or Ami, My father of almost 91 years old passed away on Monday, November 29th. I cannot tell you how special it …