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Behind The Scenes of The Shofar Blast

08/03/2020 08:37:59 AM

Aug3

by Ariela Freedman

Dear Friends,
 
Tekiyah! Greetings from behind the scenes at CBH High Holy Days Central! As we pivot High Holy Days to an online 10 day festival, I want to share what's going on from my point of view as the Project Manager. 
 
I grew up doing community theater. I spent most of my time on stage, but I also painted sets, ran lights, and worked in...Read more...

The Torah of Brokenness

06/01/2020 08:30:56 AM

Jun1

by Rabbi Joshua Lesser

As much as I love the spirit of learning and celebrating the receiving of Torah that Shavuot brings, today my heart weighs a bit on the heavier side.

Rather than imagine the tablets gleaming made of sapphire, gathered with the whole Jewish community ready to receive revelation, I can't refrain from thinking about the fate of these first set of commandments. Moses shatters them. 
I wish I were...Read more...

Emerging from the Wilderness

05/26/2020 08:29:12 AM

May26

by Rabbi Joshua Lesser

Take a census of the whole Israelite community by the clans of its ancestral houses, listing the names, every male, head by head. (Numbers 2:1)

As we begin the book of Numbers with a census, it's intriguing to note that while it states that the aim is to account for the entirety of the Israelites community, in actuality it is the men. Presumably,...Read more...

If Not Now, When   

05/20/2020 09:32:43 AM

May20


  by Joshua Lesser - written as a lead article for the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association's newsletter on Responses to Covid-19 

 

...How does one plan when the wave washed away the concrete of our intentions?

How does one reschedule with a calendar that doesn't have dates?

...All the whens have fled.

...If not when, then now.  (excerpt...Read more...

The Dust of the Earth by Rabbi Josh

04/27/2020 08:59:12 AM

Apr27

Rabbi Josh

The Dust of the Earth by Rabbi Josh

"I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth” was the Divine promise.
And as humans do, we assumed it was all about numbers.
Seduced by the idea of abundance
And distracted by what we misunderstood as a competition of sorts,
We missed the real blessing.

The dust of the earth has always been precious in the eyes of the Divine.
Each particle, each plot,...Read more...

Built for Crisis

03/24/2020 08:05:47 AM

Mar24

Haverim,

More than ever, I am grateful for this community and for you. 

As Reconstructionists, we know that Judaism is an evolving religious civilization, but who knew that we would be faced with such rapid evolution?!

But if we go back a moment and look at our fastest and most significant evolution, the destruction of the temple, we can come to understand that Judaism is a tradition that was designed to...Read more...

Fri, April 26 2024 18 Nisan 5784