And We Return By Kohenet Keshira HaLev Fife    And We Return... And we return, and we move on Let go the past, and greet the dawn We cycle and we circle and we spiral and return To love ourselves and be the ones for which Becoming yearns And we return, and we move on Let go the past, and greet the dawn We cycle and we circle and we spiral and release To align ourselves with our hearts so that we...

Kol Nidre Chant By Kohenet Keshira HaLev Fife    Kol nidre is not for beating our chests Kol nidre is for returning to our best Kol nidre is for releasing every vow Kol nidre come to presence here and now At-one-ment, at-one-ment, reflect and take it slow  At-one-ment, at-one-ment, release and let it go At-one-ment, at-one-ment, return to where we start  At-one-ment, at-one-ment, aligning with our hearts  

These poems are from a series on  slicha  (forgiveness) and  geulah  (redemption) by poet Julia Knobloch.  Click here for the companion pieces on  slicha .   Geulah/Redemption I They say that when we move in silence from the blessing for redemption into the standing prayer without pause, precise, at sunrise we do as the pious would (although we’re not required to) I was driven out into these copper sands by restlessness and shame, not my intention to juxtapose the blessing for redemption...

These poems are from a series on slicha (forgiveness) and geulah (redemption) by poet Julia Knobloch.  Click here for the companion pieces on geulah .   Slicha/Forgiveness I I stand before you in brokenness and tenderness You say I don’t have dignity I don’t agree but have done wrong With you I keep repeating the same mistakes let bitterness prevail over my sense of justice intuition senses I have seen my lines dry out for years I wanted to be held all...

A new meditation — written as the year 5774 came to an end by poet Alden Solovy. May the New Year bring hope, blessing and peace. Instructions for using this meditation are found in [brackets]. May you have a year of health and happiness, joy and laughter, livelihood, sustenance, prayer and love. Meditation on the Eve of a New Year G-d, Dear G-d, We stand at the cusp of a New Year, Looking forward, looking backward, So much accomplished, So much...

This Rosh Hashanah prayer was written by Alden Solovy in 2020 as a response to COVID-19. Since the reality of pandemic and plague struck our worlds, wildly unimaginable shifts have occurred in the way we live and, perhaps, the way we see life. One lesson of these unimaginable losses and changes is the possibility that there might also be wildly unimaginable blessings. The idea for this prayer came as I signed an email to musician Josh Nelson. I concluded: “For a...

Majestic and Moist Honey Cake Adapted from Smitten Kitchen by Deborah Missel 3 ½ cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon of baking powder 1 teaspoon of baking soda ½ teaspoon of kosher salt 4 teaspoons ground cinnamon ½ teaspoon ground ginger ½  teaspoon ground cardamom ½ teaspoon ground allspice 1 cup vegetable oil 1 cup honey 1 ½ cups granulated sugar ½ cup brown sugar 3 large eggs, room temperature 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 cup warm strong coffee or tea, prefer...

Holy On My Own by Caroline Rothstein    Self-love is sobbing fetal position on the brown wooden paneled floor of my bedroom in Bushwick the night before I move out; my torso prostrating back in on myself; my body, the only G-d in sight. Self-love is waking up at 5:00 a.m. at my mother's cousins' in New Jersey on the coldest day of winter and carrying three duffle bags, 10 boxes, my hula-hoop, three garment bags, and half a dozen crates up...