Wow! God was in this place, and I did not know it.” Like Jacob, we often miss the Divine Presence all around us. This article explores how sand dollars, mezuzot, and nature help us rediscover the sacred in daily life.
Category: Jewish Values
Thanksgiving: Don’t Let Political Disruptions Ruin Your Dinner
Wisdom to ensure you don’t let political disruptions ruin your Thanksgiving dinner
When the World Seems Hopeless
How to find hope when the world feels hopeless.
A Mantra for When Life is Full of Stress
How to respond when life out there is so full of stress that we often want to pull back, circle the wagons, and just take care of ourselves.
Condemning Kanye/Ye’s Antisemitism (and all the other Hatred too)
A strong statement condemning Kanye West's (Ye) antisemitism and the hatred that it engenders.
Sermon: That Time My Wife Was Spit on… In Jerusalem… By a Jew
Sermon: That Time My wife was spit on... in Jerusalem... by a Jew. AKA: Rejecting Tribalism, Embracing Discomfort
Parenting: The Challenging of Letting Go (spoken word poetry)
In this spoken word poem, explore how Abraham's parents might have felt as he went off from Haran to the Promised Land, in search of his future.
Rabbi, Do You Have a Faith That Gets You Through?
How I found faith that got me through these tumultuous years.
A Psalm for Cities on Fire
A Psalm for our cities on fire, after the killing of George Floyd
COVID-Kavod CONNECTION: Healing the Social Isolation of a Viral Death
COVID-19 could kill us, but it shouldn’t also bring shame upon us or our infected loved ones. And it won’t. Unless we play into the growing stigma that is at once immoral and dangerous to our mental health. If we play into that stigma, then COVID-19 will do both: shame us unfairly while increasing the chances it might kill us.
Pay It Forward, Covid-19-style
During this pandemic, we can Pay It Forward, taking care of a whole web of workers, businesses, and organizations that have long cared for, served, or sustained us.
It’s Been Weeks Since I Wrote ‘bout My Dad
A poem providing insight into mourning during the in-between times.
Seth Front on L’dor Vador: HUC-JIR Interns Positively Influence My Daughter
In a speech at Hebrew Union-College-Jewish Institute of Religion, Or Ami congregant Seth Front kvells about the positive impact that Congregation Or Ami interns and rabbis have had on their daughter Amanda.
Secrets of Sukkot
The secrets of the festival of sukkot illuminate life lessons, connect us to nature, provide full body experiences, and are like Dr. Who's Tardis and Superman's Fortress of Solitude.
Fires, Shootings, Unfenced Roofs, and Uncovered Pits: Lessons from Torah in the Face of Increasing Danger
A year after the Borderline shooting and the SoCal fires, we reflect on the first person experiences, and explore Torah's insistence that we take action in the face of danger, including mass shootings and changes in climate.