WORDS THAT BREATHE

A blessing for pets to say over your dog, cat, or any beloved animal, giving thanks for their companionship, comfort, and love. Add your pet’s name.

Rabbis Paul Kipnes and Elana Rabishaw bless pets at Congregation Or Ami, from Nana the golden retriever to a French bulldog who looks like a matzah ball.

Rabbi Paul Kipnes and Father Ross Porter opened an interfaith series at Congregation Or Ami asking where God is when life hurts. Here's what happened.

Is Zionism a yes, a no, or complicated? Rabbi Paul Kipnes makes the case against “no,” explains why “yes” alone isn't enough, and asks us to stay in covenantal relationship with Israel.

On Yom Kippur morning, Matt, Alli, and Charlie Seigel took the bimah at Congregation Or Ami to tell their family's story — a childhood taunt on a ballfield, a mother's grief that led her home, and a Jewish star a daughter once took off and chose to put back on.

A Yom Kippur sermon on what a rabbi's toddler granddaughter taught him about presence, honest words, boundaries, and holiness in ordinary moments.

Two rabbis spent a rainy day at Disneyland with Congregation Or Ami's youth before Rosh Hashanah — and discovered where real community-building happens.

Congregation Or Ami united to support Scott Sorrentino’s search for a kidney donor, inspiring hope, compassion, and the power to save a life.

We didn’t just play games. We practiced being Jewish. At Or Ami’s retreat, teens mentored younger campers through “Deal or No Deal,” Human Scrabble, and a Jewish Olympic torch ceremony, learning to balance nitzachon with chesed. In a moment of rising antisemitism, that kind of joyful Jewish leadership matters.

The mother died four days after her daughter became Bat Mitzvah. And then I had it out with God.

Lessons learned while taking their last breaths. Reflections on bikkur cholim (visiting the sick) with David and Jerry. A Yom Kippur sermon.