I am not a rabbi — but am I proud of my colleagues who are. Along with cantors, soloists, educators, executive directors, board donors and laypeople in hundreds of congregations and spiritual communities, they pulled off one of the most extraordinary historic pivots in synagogue life. “This is epic,” Rabbi Steven Leder of Wilshire Boulevard…
My late father, Rabbi Wolfe Kelman, would often tell the story of a Hasidic rabbi, the Kotzker Rebbe, who wanted to give the Almighty a blessing. Instead of constantly asking for blessings, this rebbe felt it was time to give God some comfort, too. But what blessing could a human possibly offer the divine? Certainly…
Mishkan, a congregation in Chicago, registered 2,500 guests for Rosh Hashanah services, compared to 1,900 last year. At B’nai Jeshurun in New York, a slate of virtual Rosh Hashanah offerings drew about 10,000 users, three times the number of members and guests the synagogue hosts in a typical year. Although it’s too soon to say…
Can the law unite us, inspire us, and keep us safe? As American institutions become politicized – from the NFL to the CDC – so too the law: the politics around policing, cash bail, and both recent and impending Supreme Court nomination hearings (to name but a few instances) have diminished the law’s ability to…
Where is the House of the Lord? It depends on where you sit. Am I a bad Jew? Last year on Yom Kippur, I sat smoking a cigar, on my Mac with a Starbucks Venti within reach. Looks like three strikes to me. A friend asked me back then if I would be going to…
The High Holidays always arrive either early or late. Never once are they on time. But this year, when Yom Kippur arrived in mid-July, and Rosh Hashanah was on the 13th of the Hebrew month of Elul instead of the first of Tishrei, “early” took on a new meaning for me. Congregation Shomrei Emunah, my…
Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are the most highly choreographed religious experiences across all Jewish denominations, from intimate shteibels to vaulted sanctuaries. The setting, songs, and community surrounding us combine to impart a sense of occasion and are key to the experience of awe and holiness of the High Holidays. The physical setting is a…
In less than two weeks, the High Holidays will arrive in the midst of this unprecedented pandemic. While it may be a challenge to engage worshippers, it’s not impossible. This past month, clergy across Judaism’s denominations shared their thoughts on recreating a High Holiday experience without people in the pews. All were confident about conveying…
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