Our ancestors had practices that they engaged in in times of peril and plague. what might a practice of fasting in the face of peril or in response to tragedy do for us? Not instead of acting in the world, but in support of acting in the world? Standing in protest, in witness, in solidarity. And giving a sense of empowerment and agency to all of us who grieve at the news and then don’t know what to do.
Read moreSky of Iron (Profit, Guns & Leviticus)
If there is some balance between human and nature, and between human and Divine, that’s represented in the Book of Leviticus, then these terrible consequences are not a doling out of punishment, but the natural outcome of letting the delicate balance fail. We understand this now, in a new way, in this time we live in where every year we wonder if the sky will be like iron and the earth like copper.
Read moreNot Torah, Not Time, Not Community
A little about what Torah, time, and community might mean.
Read morePrayer for Reading the News
The goal of this protective ritual frame is to come away from reading the news not incapacitated by dread and despair, but instead feeling moved, strong, loving, and resolute.
Read moreThe Moons of Renewal (for Shabbat HaChodesh)
Full moon, Sonoma Mountain
It is the moon, not the sun, that governs our dreams. And we needed to dream a different life, to dream a renewed self, before we could even think of putting on our sandals, packing our matzah, and taking our first step toward freedom. So now is the time we are commanded to follow the unfolding of the moons.
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