Reflections on the Passover Service

April 2011 Just last night, Jews from all over the world sat down to the Pesach Seder, the festive meal that opens the Passover holiday. It is a culmination of weeks of preparation and anticipation. Everyone—young and old, religiously observant and secular—sits down...

Reflections on the Kaddish

January 2011 My neighbor and friend, Ofer, died suddenly and unexpectedly last week from flu complications. He was a good man and had touched many lives. The funeral Friday morning started outside our community synagogue, an institution which plays a very important...

Reflections on Grace After Meals

You walk in the door from a long day at work, university, or even a bike ride around the  neighborhood. And you’re hungry. Your stomach is actually rumbling. The table is spread with a basket of fresh pita bread, some steamed vegetables, a huge platter of burgers and...

Reflections on the Amidah

All prayer is an opportunity to converse with G-d, to reach out to Him and make contact. The Jewish prayer service in synagogue involves a loud and lively give and take between the Cantor and the Congregation, and it is not unusual for everyone to break into song....

Reflections on Being a Grandmother

Maybe if I put it down on paper and can see it in black and white, it will become more real to me. On Tuesday, November 4th, at 4:35 P.M., my daughter Avigayil gave birth to a baby boy…my grandson. I am a grandmother!   It was a very emotional day. My mother had...