Tag: Yom Kippur
One of These Jews Is Not Like the Others: A Progressive Jew at an Orthodox Yom Kippur
It was raining at dusk. I decided not to ride my bike to the progressive Yom Kippur service on the Boston University campus. If I rode my bike, I would get too thirsty coming home and I wouldn’t ke... Read More
An Improvised Family: Yom Kippur with Rome’s Progressive Jews
Normally people do not go to Rome to refrain from eating. But it was Yom Kippur, and I was on my way to afternoon services at Beth Hillel, Rome’s new progressive Jewish community. My long walk to th... Read More
From Ramadan to Yom Kippur: Temptation and Redemption
Perhaps the most profound religious experience of my life took place in the produce aisle of a Carrefour supermarket. It was my second Ramadan in Morocco. The first time around I had no intention of f... Read More
Yom Kippur Kavanah
I am writing this on the eve of Yom Kippur, the holiest day on the Jewish calendar. Yom Kippur is a day on which we communally and individually ask for forgiveness for the sins we have committed again... Read More
Three Holidays and a Bar Mitzvah
As I write this, the first of the Jewish High Holy Days, Rosh Hashana, is less than two days away—and (to paraphrase Rabbi Alan Lew), I am completely unprepared. The month of Elul, now rapidly comin... Read More
Wandering Through the Desert: Sifting Through Our Past on our Way to Revelation
During Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur we cast our sins in to the desert, freeing ourselves from their oppressive burden, unshackling our hearts and minds so that we can begin the year anew. Six months l... Read More
Yom Kippur Drash
This drash was given at Minyan Segulah in Washington, D.C. Shanah tovah. Yom Kippur is often characterized as being a day of great solemnity but also great joy. The Seder Avodah, which we will be reci... Read More
Reflections on Elul and Rosh Hashanah
We are nearly halfway through the month of Elul, the final month of the Jewish year. With Elul’s arrival, we usher in a period of personal introspection, repentance and spiritual renewal, which take... Read More