Called to Respond: the Magic of the Shofar

An Elul 5783 teaching by Rabbi Janet Madden
The Shofar

“The silent air before it is blown
into sound inside the horn of a beast…”
Welcoming Shabbat

“the door will open, / the Shekhinah and her entourage of angels /
will enter our temple in time.”
This Burden of Rest–Meditation After a Broken Bone

“After the pain settles, and swear words stop, /I am left with healing of my body. / But healing of body takes time…”
Once More to the Altar

On the third day Abraham looked up and saw… bits of brown, stony ground; a path that wound up. What we haven’t been through, we two. Our hands, bound together, […]
God Will Gather Us In

Imagine that the whole world is God’s sukkah, and that we are all sheltered there.
A Psalm for Mourning

“I cannot tear it all down, / rip out the broken heart of it, / and be done with it.”
A Prayer for Coming Out as Asexual

“I stand confident in the knowledge of my identity, / and am proud of my courage to claim it.”
Psalm 27: Counting the 51 Days of the Season of Repentance

A meditation before and new translation of Psalm 27.
At Sea (for Elul)

“How do you steer this thing? / Which end is helm and which is the stern?”