You know the joke about two Jews having three opinions? Sukkot is like that. It’s a little bit about remembering the huts we lived in while wandering in the desert after escaping slavery. It’s a little bit about recognizing and getting comfortable with the discomfort of imperma-nence. It’s a little bit about celebrating a bountiful harvest and the start of autumn.  Annnndddd it’s a little bit the reason why we celebrate Hanukkah for eight days.  As this month of holidays comes...

if you come close and pay attention if you go quietly to where you have never been you will hear voices from all directions shma to listen shma to hushed mouths shma to the north east west and south evil is in the silences then again so is g-d but in the cry of the silenced we find what each of us speaking death for Life must go out now and do! *the shma is a prayer that exhorts the Jewish...

Baruch ata Adonai, Eloheinu melech haolam,borei p’ri hagafen. We bless You, Eternal God, Sovereign of the universe, Creator of the fruit of the vine.

בָּרוּךְ‭ ‬אַתָּה‭ ‬יְיָ‭ ‬אֱלֹהֵֽינוּ‭ ‬מֶֽלֶךְ‭ ‬הָעוֹלָם ‬הַמּֽוֹצִיא‭ ‬לֶֽחֶם‭ ‬מִן‭ ‬הָאָֽרֶץ Barukh ata Adonai Eloheinu melekh ha’olam, hamotzi lekhem min ha-aretz. Blessed are You, Adonai our God, Ruler of the universe, Who brings forth bread from the earth.

Each year, the first time we eat a fruit that only grows at a certain time of year, or when we do something for the first time in a while, we say a special blessing, the shehecheyanu, on this new experience.  בָּרוּך אַתָּה יי אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶך הָעוֹלָם שֶׁהֶחֱיָנוּ וקְִיְמָּנוּ והְִגִיּעָנוּ לַזְמַן הַזֶה Barukh ata adonai elohenu melekh ha-olam, she-hechiyanu, v’kiy'manu, v’higi'anu la-z’man ha-zeh Blessed are You, the One who has kept us alive and sustained us so that we could reach...

And G!d says: “After you are all wrung out from that amends making and accountability-having, go out into your backyard and build yourself a fort. And be sure to invite all your friends to join you in your backyard fort for food and merriment because that is how you make the community continue after all that hard work."   And G!d says: “And make your fort enclosed enough to feel cozy, but keep one side open, so that all who pass by...

Ushpizin Blessing Adonai, may You spread your sukkah of peace over our heads Like an eagle protecting its nest May our exalted guests [names of ushpizin] sit with us this night And comfort us with their ancestral wisdom  May we be blessed with their presence

Apologia By Rachel Kann Forgive me, I have done it all wrong. In every way that I hoped not to act, I have failed. Forgive me, I love you beyond logic Where the loudest blossoms shout yellow, pink. Listen to the fragrance of bloom. Inhale the whisper of nature. My lips part for your kiss only. You know my mouth’s deep intimacy. This is my long-form farewell tour. I am but a bank of buttons and knobs Laid plain for you...

High Holidays in Five Senses  As the light and the weather shift in this sacred time of transition, we're invited to enter a new season and a new year. Take a deep breath as you consider how each of your senses connects to the High Holidays. What do the High Holidays smell like?  They smell of freshly-baked sweet challah, the vanilla-y pages of an old book, your grandfather’s aftershave, the tang of the etrog and the perfume of lulav branches. What...

For centuries, Sephardi Jewish families have gathered to celebrate a special Rosh Hashanah ceremony with a plate or meal of symbolic foods. Each food is eaten after requesting a specific kind of Divine blessing that sounds like the name of that food in Hebrew.  Before eating dates ( tamar ): May it be your will, God, that hatred will end. ( Tamar resembles the word for end, yitamu. ) Before eating pomegranate: May we be as full of mitzvot as the...