It’s Our Story
Last week’s Torah reading was mostly the story of Noah and the Flood. One of the more curious elements of the tale is what happens when the earth dries out enough for the animals and their human tenders to exit the vessel.
Bee Juice
My recent posts...After havdala ended last week’s Galeem (“waves,” our Sunday school), the usual joyful mayhem erupted in the lobby: Kids running down halls for a water bottle, a work of art, a lollipop; parents calling after them “Remember your ________!”; brief...
Welcome to”chol”
A couple days of magnificent weather have been a welcome respite from the bounty of precipitation during Sukkot and the closing festival days. This morning, we stored away our sukkah — unscathed by the nor’easter — for next year.
Yom Kippur 5787 – Yizkor
My recent posts...
Kol Nidre – All Vows
Rabbi Jonathan Kremer
kol nidrei, all vows.
ALL vows? All my vows? How can I possibly remember them all?
- Those silent frustrations: I swear I could…
- I said what? Well, I didn’t mean it that way!
- The thick-as-mud silent tension in the hospital waiting rooms: please… and I will…
- Do you solemnly swear? I do.
- Just let me win, just make it happen, just this once… and I promise to…
- I vowed never to that again, and now what…?
- Of course, I will!
- What if I am not living up to my promise?
- All those intentions, all those “I should… do, call, visit…” that were born and died unspoken?
kol nidrei, unburdening, lifting the weight from my heart, from my soul. It shouldn’t be so easy: recite kol nidrei three times. Recite three times, and poof! — vows are suddenly non-vows, my promises non-promises — cancelled, voided, annulled.
Can I trust myself to make fewer pledges, to issue fewer promises, to assume fewer obligations, so that, maybe next year, twice — just two recitations of kol nidrei — will be enough?