Blessing My Bended Knees-A Poem
This past week, I participated in a Ritualwell class with Alden Solovy on “Writing From One Word of Torah.” I distilled 3 stream-of-consciousness prompts on the word “Baruch/Berekh,” the root of which can mean “blessing’ and “knee, into this poem.
The Eshet Hayil In Our Lives
An email from My Jewish Learning about “A Woman of Valor” prompted me to pivot the next evening’s planned adult learning session to looking at these 22 verses from Mishlei, the Book of Proverbs. These verses comprise a song called Eshet Chayil…
Live Long and Prosper?
Rabbi Yehoshua ben Korha has a point; at what point does life become wearying? When does the joy go out of our lives, and when does a long life become a too-long life? Or from the perspective of a younger person, like Rabbi Yehuda haNasi, has the elder become irrelevant?
Ending Hanukkah, A Ritual
when a lit candle is used to light other candles, that first candle’s flame doesn’t diminish; rather each flame becomes whole unto itself.
Sukkah and the Olympics, How Does The Wind Blow?
How can reading something in the Talmud, from 2,000 years ago, give us insight into how we look at things today.
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Yom Kippur: Hope, Despair And A Shining Sun
Yom Kippur 5783 Like many of the quotes and poems that make their way into use, a poem attributed to an anonymous person in a concentration camp, or in hiding, became somewhat of an urban legend, and has often been taken out of context, as well as not accurately...
Kindness
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Shema: Listening, Hearing and the Shofar
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Kedoshim: Coming of Age in Holiness
Photo and art by Rabbi Susan Elkodsi Kedoshim: Coming of Age in Holiness Rabbi Dr. Jill Hackell As I move through my 70s I find myself increasingly aware of my “senior” status in our society. Suddenly, by virtue of my age I am in a category that labels me vulnerable–I...
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Latest Personal Blogs
Blessing My Bended Knees-A Poem
This past week, I participated in a Ritualwell class with Alden Solovy on "Writing From One Word of Torah." I distilled 3 stream-of-consciousness prompts on the word "Baruch/Berekh," the root of which can mean "blessing' and "knee, into this poem. Blessing my bended...
The Eshet Hayil In Our Lives
Photo: publicdomainpictures.net The Eshet Hayil In Our Lives An email from My Jewish Learning about “A Woman of Valor” prompted me to pivot the next evening’s planned adult learning session to looking at these 22 verses from Mishlei, the Book of Proverbs. These verses...
Live Long and Prosper?
By Oklahoma Heritage Association, Gaylord-Pickens Museum - Author, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=25656727 Live Long and Prosper? January 5, 2022 began the third year of the seven and a half-year cycle of Daf Yomi, the practice of...