“Leopards break into the temple and drink all the sacrificial vessels dry; it keeps happening; in the end, it can be calculated in advance and is incorporated into the ritual.” ― Franz Kafka, The Zürau Aphorisms Kafka’s aphorism feels strikingly similar to the Jewish approach to sin and teshuvah. No matter how hard we try,… Read more »

There’s a poem by Yehuda Amichai that I love. It’s untitled, simply numbered “69,” and it appeared in a 1977 volume called Time. The poem is a Bar-Mitzvah poem, a blessing. In it, the speaker begs to kiss his young son once more, “while you still love it,” while the boy is still a soft-skinned… Read more »

The month of Elul carries us inextricably toward the three days of the year when we will spend quite a few hours in the synagogue.  What will we make of that time? Our high holiday prayer book, the machzor, is a hefty volume full of so many words – confessions, supplications, hopes expressed and failings… Read more »

One of Rosh HaShana’s major themes is birth: We call this holiday yom harat olam, “the birthday of the world.” In the Torah and Haftara we read of the long-awaited births of Isaac and Samuel. This year, as a new parent myself, this theme is a powerful expression of hope. Pushing my four-month-old’s stroller down… Read more »

It’s likely we humans can agree that this year’s unforeseen events have been a jolt, and for Jews and many others, since October 7, the shock waves continue to ripple. It’s as if the world as we knew it went out the window. Again. Which made me think about Elul, and the worthy practice of… Read more »