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: Spiritually Balanced Living
A Prayerful Invocation for Calabasas: Celebrating Leadership and Community
Rabbi Paul Kipnes of Congregation Or Ami offers a heartfelt invocation at the Calabasas City Council Reorganization Meeting, celebrating the installation of Mayor Peter Kraut. Reflecting on leadership, unity, and the city’s vision, the prayer calls for compassion, courage, and a commitment to community care.
Climbing the Ladder to Self-Acceptance: Fulfilling a Childhood Dream on My 61st Birthday
Sitting on a Fire Truck: A story of overcoming shyness and self-doubt, embracing self-acceptance, and fulfilling a childhood dream of sitting on a firetruck at 61 years old
Parenting Adult Children: The Sacred Work of Growth and Transformation
Parenting adult children requires new skills and a fresh perspective. Drawing from Torah wisdom, expert insights, and personal experiences, Rabbi Paul Kipnes explores the joys and challenges of this transformative phase. Discover how to foster deeper, more authentic connections with your adult children to support this sacred work.
What a Double Funeral and Double Bat Mitzvah Taught Me about Connection
Reflecting on love, healing, and connection through the intertwined lives of a couple laid to rest together at their funeral and twin sisters celebrating their B’not Mitzvah. Discover the profound lessons of relationships and the tree of life.
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.
My Chiropracter Prepared Me for Rosh Hashana
How my chiropractor prepared me for Rosh Hashana.
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.
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
When the Rabbi Feels Trauma
A mass shooting in a Pittsburgh synagogue.A mass shooting in the local dance bar.A raging fire, forcing the evacuation of the synagogue and 75 percent of our congregation. This is the story of when the rabbi experienced trauma after these events.
God Damn You, God! Taking God to Task in a Messed Up World
What’s with the raging wildfires and destructive flooding, the mass shootings and mindless meanness all around? How many more need to die to motivate Your mercy, to finally get You to act on our behalf? What the heck is going on with You, God?
Rabbi, Do You Have a Faith That Gets You Through?
How I found faith that got me through these tumultuous years.
Guided Meditation: I Know I’m Not Alone
A guided meditation on the notion that we are not alone, created to respond to the pervasive isolation people have been feeling in the Covid-19 pandemic.
Kindergarten Wisdom for an Adult World
May we be written for a good year in the Book of Life! And perhaps that will happen if we go back to basics. If we go back to kindergarten and be our best selves.