October 2014

Beyond Breaking the Glass (Nancy Wiener) – notes on the book

These are my own shorthand notes of a wonderful book by Rabbi Nancy Wiener, Beyond Breaking the Glass: A Spiritual Guide to Your Jewish Wedding, (2012, Central Conference of American Rabbis). I hope they encourage you to buy the book. By the way, the notes in square brackets are my own thoughts, rather than ideas gleaned […]

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Sukkot matters (2): Finding meaning in the Four Species

We are told in the Torah: “On the first day you shall take the product of the beautiful tree, branches of palm trees, thick branches of leafy trees, and willows of the brook and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days” (Lev. 23:40) This has developed into the tradition of arba’a minim,

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Sukkot matters (1): Finding meaning in the sukkah

Sukkot is a wonderful opportunity to reach back into our Jewish tradition, drawing upon ancient wisdom, at the same time as making new meanings for ourselves and contributing to the evolution of a living Judaism. I’m not going to give an exhaustive account of every detail, or of every ‘official’ version of the meanings of

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