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...

Eht/Aht (את)  By Rachel Kann  For Ketzirah Lesser’s Eht/Aht (את): a Netivot Wisdom Oracle Card Deck   - If the word is made fresh, then let every alleged blemish be blessed, each individually kissed  like the exquisite mezuzah it is.  - There is a doorway  that all of creation  thresholds its way through  on its way to  the eternal-unfolding-already-was.  - Oh, All-That-Is/Infinite,  who whispered this lintel  into beginning; into becoming, - who bears witness  to this living-thing-ness, - who is this lintel,...

Prayer for Rain in the Merit of the Matriarchs By Rabbi Jill Hammer Sukkot is a time of fullness and generosity, but also a time to pray for the coming season. Shemini Atzeret, the festival when we pray for rain, is an expression of our need for water, which in the Jewish tradition symbolizes life, renewal, and deliverance. The Geshem (Rain) Prayer speaks of five patriarchs. In that spirit, I have included five verses, for Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel, and Leah, and...

We Dance Around The Shul By Trisha Arlin Our Torah is old. The blue velvet cover And the silver plate that hangs over the velvet Are both covered in names Of donors long gone, And their honored loved ones, gone even longer. These names mean nothing to us: We ignore them On Shabbat When we dance around the shul. On Selichot we put aside the old velvet And dressed our Torah in fresh white covers,   only a year old, Donated by...

Oh Divine Rainmaker:  Remember our ancestors who flowed to You like water.  You blessed them like trees planted by streams of water. You rescued them from fire and water.  For the sake of our ancestors, do not keep back water. Remember Rebecca, who drew water from the well at Nahor. Who in hospitality for the stranger shared water. In kindness for people and animals, she filled her jars with water.  For Rebecca’s sake, do not keep back water.   Remember Moses, who...