Tag Archives: High Holy Days

Getting into a High Holy Day State of Mind

By | | Jewish muse
3 Comments

Fb-Button

September 28, 2011

Rush, rush, rush. Husband has a new job. I have a new job. Our toddler goes to day-care three instead of two days a week. To top it all off, the High Holy Days are upon us.

I’m trying, really, really trying to get into a High Holy Day state of mind.

Rosh Hashanah was not an automatic day off at either mine or my husband’s workplaces. He began his new job less than two weeks ago. I started mine, a part-time teaching gig, three weeks ago. … Continue reading →

Sermon, Song Erase Politics from Israel for a Moment

By | | Jewish muse
Leave a comment

Fb-Button

It was a moment of awe, a moment I will never forget. It was a moment about Israel, not about the political tumult that often divides Jews, but about love for a country – and community.

On Erev Rosh Roshanah, the associate rabbi at our temple gave a sermon about the need for us – no matter where we stand politically – to find a way to connect to Israel. Maybe, she suggested, we could connect to its food, its culture, music, or dance. As the sermon ended, the cantor walked … Continue reading →

Rabbi’s Yom Kippur Lesson: It’s Ok to Stumble in Prayer

By | | Jewish muse, Writings
2 Comments

Fb-Button

Yizkor at Yom Kippur can be one of the most powerful moments of the High Holy Days and one of the most terrifying. High Holy Days often draw the largest crowds, and mourners in different stages of grief may be nervous about displaying their personal sorrow among hundreds.

Today, I thank Rabbi David Stern, the senior rabbi of Temple Emanu-El in Dallas, for teaching me about the beauty, power, and even the angst of yizkor. I left Dallas for Boston in 2004, but Rabbi Stern’s lesson of a decade ago remains … Continue reading →