Type: Article

Latest Rituals

Tipat Torah: From Wilderness to Bitterness to Light

How do we make it through the bitterness, the darkness, the uncertainty of this time? We call on what we know from that wild, rudderless, nomadic experience of being both lost and guided bamidbar.

college, Heshvan, light, torah

Tipat Torah: Am I Aging Like a Date Palm?

On Sukkot, we read the words of Kohelet (Ecclesiastes), a person bitterly reflecting on his older years. Does aging have to be negative, calling everything that brings pleasure pointless?

Inscribing Ourselves With Ink Itself

Before beginning a writing project or before repairing a scroll, I speak out my verbal intention. But then I often stay still for an extra moment.

audio, change, Elul, growth, shofar, writing

a scroll with Hebrew letters, part of Megillat Esther, with a quill and bottle of ink.

Looking to the Future So We Can Look to the Past

I wish for you an Elul that is full of future-tense language.

audio, change, Elul, growth, hope, joy

the sun shines behind some clouds in a golden sky

Called to Respond: the Magic of the Shofar

An Elul 5783 teaching by Rabbi Janet Madden

audio, breath, Elul, reflection, shofar, wholeness, writing

person with long hair facing away with black and rainbow kippah blowing shofar

God Will Gather Us In

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

audio, grief, loss, mourning, psalm 27, reflection, sukkah, writing

a baby penguin stands at the feet of its parent

Teshuvah/change is a real possibility!?

We can become a beriah hadasha — a new version of ourselves in this New Year.

audio, beriah hadasha, bikkurim, change, Elul, hasidic, teshuvah, tikkun

a sprout emerges from dirt

The Return of Modeh Ani: How Daily Gratitude Helped Me Heal

cancer, gratitude

bed and nightstand in bright room

Passover and Disordered Eating: Resources for a Conversation

eating disorders, seder

Seder plate with symbolic Passover foods: bone, egg, herbs, charoset, bitter herbs, and horseradish on ornate platter.

Vegan Seder Adjustments

A stack of matzah next to a glass of red wine on a lace doily.