Rabbi Steven’s sermon given on Rosh Hashanah 5782 Back in June, I was about to head home from work when my husband texts me: “Could you take your kippah off when you’re on the train?” A Jewish man had just been the target of an antisemitic attack in Brooklyn. This was the latest in a […]
Rabbi Deena’s sermon from Erev Rosh Hashanah 5782 In her book “The Art of Dying Well”, journalist and motivational speaker Katy Butler writes that Western medicine has become focused on one, single metric: “not dying”. The medical system, propelled by mostly well meaning doctors, will throw every possible intervention at our problems for the sake […]
“Now is the time for people of conscience to come together to transform our justice system into one that is actually just. That means reimagining community safety, working to demilitarize and divest from police departments, and to dedicating significant resources to social services, restorative justice initiatives and alternatives to incarceration. This time of upheaval demands […]
In the winter of 2018, I was sitting with my weekly “spirituality and recovery group” at the Exodus Transitional Community, a center for people recently released from prison. As their chaplain, I was tasked with caring for the spiritual needs of these people who were trying to rebuild their lives after years or even decades […]
I’m finding that many of my email exchanges are ending with sign-off’s like, “I hope you’re still breathing.” “Sending you breath.” Sending you breath. These words are well intentioned, of course– I’ve written them myself. And there’s something that twists in me when I see these words. ”Keep breathing.” Something we’re all too conscious of right […]
A few weeks ago, seventeen of our Mishkan community members, including members of our staff and our rabbis, took part in the Jewish Council on Urban Affairs’ racial justice training for Chicago-area congregations on a rainy Sunday, over Zoom (like all things nowadays). As a spiritual community, we had already gathered a small group back […]
By: Rabbi Jessica Lott This week we begin to read the book of Bamidbar, the 4th book of the Torah, which, in English, is called Numbers. This is because the first instruction God gives is for Moses and Aaron to conduct a census. The Israelites have come to the point in their wanderings in the […]
As conversations begin to turn to what ‘opening things up’ will look like in the weeks and months to come, I find myself with a new anxiety around the question: “Have we learned our lesson yet, being in this little ‘time-out’ indoors? And not even in a punitive way, I’m thinking of the term yeshiva, […]
Michael and Doug’s wedding in March. The first of many joyful occasions through Zoom that enabled hundreds of people to celebrate together virtually. To watch Friday Night’s Shabbat Service, click here. One of the really hard parts of being a rabbi right now is witnessing the disappointment of the kids who had big plans, many […]
Earlier this week, in our morning minyan, Ilana Rossoff shared a very short poem by June Jordan that has been on my mind this whole week. It goes like this: There is no chance that we will fall apart. There is no chance. There are no parts. At this moment, it feels like everything is […]