As we light the candles, we acknowledge that the choices our great, great, great grandparents made have helped create this very moment, and the choices we make will help create the lives of people we will never know.
Read MoreOn this fifth night of Chanukah, we honor the lights we each offer to the world.
Read MoreAs we light the Chanukah candles, and then the Shabbat flames, we rededicate ourselves to gifts of Shabbat.
Read MoreOn this third night of Chanukah, we lift up our values and ideals and the ways in which we long for our world to be healed. We name and honor people who work for justice.
Read MoreWe affirm that this living, breathing planet nurtures and sustains us and that everything we do affects the well being of all. On this second night of Chanukah, as we light the candles, we give thanks for creation, and we name places that offer us beauty and refuge.
Read MoreAs Chanukah begins, we rededicate ourselves to looking at the world with eyes of wonder and awe. We rededicate ourselves to noticing the blessings and lifting up the good.
Read MoreIt can be so easy to despair, realizing how many things have happened despite the opposition of so many people. But Chanukah implores us to act, even as we do not know if our actions will succeed.
Read MoreWhat causes us to confine and constrict our love?
What keeps us from seeing another’s vulnerability, yearning, pain?
When do hatred and jealousy tear at our hearts and souls?
Read MoreIn times when it is difficult to find a way forward, Chanukah reminds us to join together and take action even when change feels impossible.
Read MoreAlone by the river, Jacob wrestled through the night.
As dawn approached, he knew it was time to stop struggling,
But he could not let go.
Read MoreI am present to . . . the sadness in my heart.
I notice . . . that this has been a difficult time.
I am aware of . . . the grief I am feeling.
I acknowledge . . . my struggles and the struggles of those around me.
The light of a small candle reveals worlds. Gateways to expanded consciousness are everywhere. It is very important to be mindful how we make our way through the dark.
Read MoreRebecca is in pain. She is frightened,
And she calls out to God:
“If this is so, if this pain is inside of me,
If life is such a struggle,
Why do I exist?”
In this week’s Torah portion we witness the power, strength and vision of women.
Read MoreWhat would it mean to open ourselves to being seen?
Being seen for who we are in our glory,
In our beauty, in our brokenness,
In our pain?
Read MoreGo forth, the Mystery calls,
Go by searching deep within yourself and stepping beyond what has been.
The festival of Simchat Torah (the “Joy of Torah”), which falls on this Thursday evening and Friday, urges us to celebrate the wisdom we have gathered, to notice all we have learned this past year and to raise it up with song and dance.
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On the fifteen of the month of Tishrei, gather an etrog, with branches of the myrtle, palm and willow trees and rejoice with the Source of All for seven days. — Leviticus 23:40
We call on the heavens and the earth.
We call on each other, sacred companions on the journey,
And we ask for help and we ask for guidance.
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