I stumbled upon this poem in the midst of the oppressive wildfire smoke that seemed to embody the endless, heavy grey period when our world felt paused. Even now, when skies have cleared, it speaks to me of the futile feeling of this in-between time, and of pondering whether action truly matters.
Toward Dancing at Simchat Torah--A Journey with Writing & Reflection co-presented Fredda Jaffe and Merna Ann Hecht via Zoom Meeting ID: 823 9998 3724 Passcode: AWE CLICK HERE to join Zoom
Thank you for an amazing High Holy Day arc and for contributing to our synagouge community in honor of HHD.
Puget Sound Jews, let's make a joyful noise and sound the shofar together as we prepare for these most extraordinary High Holy Days! Jews across the globe and across movement sound the shofar during the days leading up to Rosh Hashanah as we prepare to enter the Days of Awe. 5780 has demanded we wrestle [...]
I have thought of language as a flock of birds, since like birds our stories transcend borders.
To be a Jew, and to participate in this annual ritual, is—I believe--to be able to see our own, as well as others’ humanity, more broadly. We come together on this day not only for ourselves, not only for the community whose destiny we share, but also for the larger collective enterprise that we call humanity.
It’s a lovely thing to come together under one big tent, but I also value being part of a community that gets to define itself, a community that represents my way of being Jewish.
Shana Tova! Today I’d like to share with you some of my reflections on “The Diversity of Cultures Within Israel’s Borders.” Our tour began in Jerusalem, a beautiful city, of buildings on top of buildings, up each hill, reaching far into the distance. I didn’t even bother taking photographs. Got it, I thought. This is [...]
There, in the midst of an area that is so sullied by such a hateful and violent past, I saw that arc. It is long, very long, as Dr. King said. It is likely even longer than the arc of our own lifetimes. And yet--despite our deepest fears, despite our great uncertainty for the future of this country, I saw that it does indeed bend toward justice. Let me tell you why.
Whenever I discuss Israel with anyone, the first thing I say is, “Politics aside, it’s the most dynamic country on Earth.” Israel invented WAZE, and drip irrigation, and molten salt solar power plants, and Soda Stream, and your telephone voice mail, and the world’s first electric passenger airplane (it debuted in June at the Paris [...]