Prayer and Kabbalah
16 min read
Depending on where you live, a few times a year the Cohanim, or priests—oftentimes people with last names like Katz, Cohn, Kaplan, Azulai, Rappaport, Katzenellenbogen, Cohen and an eclectic assortment of others—walk to the front of the synagogue and give you a blessing. That blessing is called Birkat Cohanim, and it’s usually translated as “the […]
Current
9 min read
What started as Macklemore’s hijacking of Ed Sheeran’s concert tour via a Free Palestine message has spiraled into international news, reigniting the Israel/Palestine debate, and almost canceling Ed Sheeran’s tour altogether. Patriots owner Robert Kraft tried to silence Macklemore. Ed Sheeran tried to remain silent. And Jewish singer/songwriter Pink inserted herself into the debacle commenting […]
Each autumn, as harvest time arrives and the world prepares for winter, something remarkable happens in Jewish communities worldwide: families leave their secure homes and move into temporary shelters made of branches and leaves. It seems like the worst possible timing - trading solid roofs for open sky just as weather turns harsh. What wisdom […]
The Jewish holidays aren't isolated celebrations scattered across the calendar. Together, they form a carefully structured system of spiritual growth. Each holiday marks another stage in the development of our relationship with God. We begin with distance and brokenness, gradually rediscover our longing for closeness, recommit ourselves to serving God, remove the barriers separating us […]
