If you are interested in making a sacred promise this Yom Kippur, I’m submitting one for your consideration. The Shomer Shalom Jewish Institute for Jewish Nonviolence has developed the following vow (or “intention”) for be recited daily or annually on Yom Kippur. (Frankly, I can’t think of a better supplement to Kol Nidre…)
G’mar Tov - [...]
Archive for the ‘Prayer’ Category
A Vow for Yom Kippur
Posted in High Holidays, Judaism, Nonviolence, Peace, Prayer, Religion on October 8, 2008 | No Comments »
New iPhone Apps that are Good for the Jews
Posted in Food, Judaism, Kitsch, Prayer, Religion on August 21, 2008 | 3 Comments »
Not sure which blessing to say over what foods? No need to live with the shame any more. Just download the new iBlessing application onto your iPhone and with the touch of a finger you’ll know exactly which bracha to utter over fish, meat, bread, fruit, etc. While you’re at it you might as [...]
Prayer for a Vigil at a Detention Center
Posted in Human Rights, Immigration, Interfaith, Labor, Prayer, Religion on June 20, 2008 | 4 Comments »
Tonight I was back at the Broadview Detention Center - a facility west of Chicago where undocumented workers are processed before their final deportation. I was there to participate in the “Night of 1,000 Conversations” - a program sponsored by the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights. The all-night vigil offered an evening of [...]
On Passover, Parents and Children
Posted in Children's Rights, Health Care, Human Rights, Judaism, Pesach, Poverty, Prayer, Religion, Religion/Politics, Spirituality on April 1, 2007 | 4 Comments »
Yesterday at our Shabbat morning minyan, I noticed a particularly large number of parents and children. Over here was an adult woman helping her elderly mother by pointing along to the transliteration in the siddur. Over there was a man with his four year old in his lap, his tallit falling down across her shoulders. [...]
The Cultivation of Gratitude
Posted in Judaism, Prayer, Religion, Spirituality on March 30, 2007 | 7 Comments »
Among the many sacrifices described in Parshat Tzav this week is the Thanksgiving Offering (“zevach todah”) which is described as one of the sacrifices of well-being (“zivchey shelamim“). The Torah gives few details about the specific functions of the Thanksgiving Offering; the Talmud (Berachot 54b) surmises that they were offered as expressions of gratitude in [...]
Naming the Nameless
Posted in Iraq, Judaism, Politics/Middle East, Prayer, Religion, Religion/Politics on January 30, 2007 | 1 Comment »
However one feels about the policies that have made such a mess of the Iraq war, it is politically and morally unacceptable to be so distanced from those in harm’s way and their families.
–Tom Brokaw (Washington Post, 11/26/2006)
There’s been hardly any media interest in the unrelieved agony of tens of thousands of innocent civilians in [...]
