Tag: CCAR Press

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Books CCAR Press

Why Do We Get Married Under a Chuppah?

Rabbi Nancy Wiener, DMin, is the author of Beyond Breaking the Glass: A Spiritual Guide to Your Jewish Wedding from CCAR Press. In this excerpt, Rabbi Wiener explores the history and symbolism of the chuppah in Jewish wedding ceremonies.

At a Jewish ceremony, it is under the chuppah, the nuptial canopy, that the extraordinary transformation marked by kiddushin traditionally occurs. Originally, a bride’s arrival under the chuppah symbolized her entrance into her husband’s domain and becoming a member of her husband’s household. In the grand scheme of Jewish history, the central place of the portable chuppah at a Jewish wedding is fairly recent, dating only from sometime in the sixteenth century. Nonetheless, today in America, most Jews and many non-Jews recognize the chuppah as one of the most distinctive and enduring ritual objects and symbols of a Jewish wedding. As we explore some of the meanings that the chuppah has had and some of the forms that it has taken, perhaps you will be inspired to look at the chuppah in new and meaningful ways.

Chuppah literally means “covering.” This covering demarcates the holy space in which a Jewish couple affirms the sanctity of their relationship. In earlier times, when Jews often held weddings on market days, the chuppah was a physical means of distinguishing the special area in which the wedding ceremony occurred from the surrounding hubbub. In a very real sense, no matter where your wedding takes place, there will be inherent distractions for all who are present; the chuppah continues to focus attention upon you and the holy space in which your lives together will be transformed.

Chuppot (the plural) have taken a wide variety of forms, from the canopied couches for brides and grooms of medieval Central Europe, to an embroidered parochet, or ark cover, to simple but luxurious cloths, such as silks and velvets suspended on poles or draped over a couple’s shoulders. In some Jewish communities in Asia, a tallit was placed over the heads of the couple until after the Sheva B’rachot, when it was removed. In other communities, the bride’s family bought the groom a new tallit, which both sets of parents placed on their children’s heads at the start of the ceremony. Standing under a bower of flowers also has a long history. Unlike the case for many other Jewish ritual objects, there are no requirements for chuppot.

Today, from an egalitarian perspective, the chuppah is most commonly understood as a symbol of the new home that you are establishing together through your kiddushin. As such, your chuppah can convey some of the qualities you hope to enjoy in your future life together.

A large chuppah is reminiscent of the nomadic tents used long ago by our Jewish ancestors. Such a tent roof with no walls might seem to lack form and strength, much like the new family and the new home you are establishing. However, such a tent is also flexible; it can adapt to variable circumstances and withstand harsh, abrupt changes that a more rigid structure might not. Your new home can be filled with acts of love and kindness, a place in which guests are always welcome, as they were in the tents of our ancestors Abraham and Sarah.

Like the chuppah, your new home will be inhabited by you, surrounded by your family and friends, honored by representatives of the many communities to which you belong, and protected by the sheltering presence of God. Your chuppah may be of any size, so it is up to you to decide whether it will cover only you, you and the rabbi, you and your immediate families, or you and your entire wedding party. The options are numerous, as are the meanings you are choosing to convey. To help figure out the right size for you, ask yourselves: what is the relationship between you and your new home, you and your family, you and your community? Agreeing on answers to these questions can serve as a practical guide to your decision regarding the size of your chuppah.

In some communities it is customary for the chuppah to be freestanding; in others, it is hand-held by members of the wedding party. In either case, it is considered an honor to be a chuppah holder, whether the task is real or symbolic. Some communities own chuppot that members can rent or borrow. In areas with sizeable Jewish communities, florists have chuppot that they use or make.

Alternatively, many couples choose to make or buy their own, or they ask family or friends to join in creating one for (or with) them. As a ceremonial object, it is intended to heighten the beauty of your. marriage ceremony, to be a reflection of the enduring Jewish custom of hidur mitzvah, the embellishing of a holy act. Therefore, your chuppah can reflect your aesthetic sense; you can choose the design, the material, the decoration, and the poles. In ancient Jewish communities the poles were made from trees, a cedar for a boy and an acacia for a girl, which parents had planted when their children were born. There are many artists who design and make chuppot, either for or with the couple.

Rabbi Nancy Wiener, DMin, is the founding director of the Jacob and Hilda Blaustein Center for Pastoral Counseling at Hebrew Union College in New York. She is the author of Beyond Breaking the Glass: A Spiritual Guide to Your Jewish Wedding from CCAR Press.

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Inclusion LGBT

Jewish Blessings and Reflections for Pride Month

As we enter into Pride Month, the CCAR reaffirms our commitment to and celebration of our LGBTQ Reform rabbis, their families, and the members of our Jewish and secular queer communities in America, Canada, Israel, and globally. The CCAR continues our advocacy for the equal rights, full inclusion, and safety of the LGBTQ community. And we continue our commitment to inclusive liturgy so that everyone feels welcome in our houses of worship and sees themselves reflected in the image of God.

Here, we share a blessing by CCAR Board Member Rabbi Daniel Mikelberg, as well as a prayer by Rabbi Denise Eger, from her groundbreaking book, Mishkan Ga’avah Where Pride Dwells: A Celebration of LGBTQ Jewish Life and Ritual (CCAR Press 2020), and “We Have Always Been” by Rabbi Dave Yedid, a powerful reflection on queer Jewish identity, resilience, and the sacred act of claiming space within tradition and community.

What Does the New Month Hold?, by Rabbi Daniel Mikelberg

On the eve of Rosh Chodesh, we often look to 1 Samuel 20:18-42 and the story of the friendship shared between David and Jonathan. With Pride month upon us, we feel anxious and unsettled, unsure of what days ahead will bring. We can seek inspiration from this beautiful bond, a chosen family, companions who pledge to serve one another in dangerous days. 

Jonathan said to him, “Tomorrow will be the new moon…” (1 Samuel 20:18)

We tell ourselves these words each day like a mantra, weighted down by trauma, we try our best to look forward not back.

But do we believe the call, might tomorrow be different, a respite from the pain?

For we feel helpless, unable to chart a renewed path.

David and Jonathan remind us, that is not the case, darkness need not overwhelm.

As for the promise we made to each other, may the Eternal be [witness] between you and me together. (1 Samuel 20:23)

Allied as one: trusting, creative, and strong, we are bound by a brit of love, the spirit of the Divine accompanies our travels.

We pledge to open our hearts, to explore a new Promised Land, built on the trust between neighbors and friends. The light that we all carry within shines bright and beams as one. 

Go in peace! For we have sworn to each other in the name of the Eternal…” (1 Samuel 20:41)

Yes, tomorrow will be the new moon, and we are ready to embrace this new day.

—Rabbi Mikelberg serves Temple Israel of Ottawa in Ottawa, Canada. He shared his journey to the Reform rabbinate and the privilege he feels championing inclusion in the synagogue and community at large.

A Prayer for LGBTQ People, by Rabbi Denise Eger

Holy One who made us all, tonight we celebrate the LGBTQ com-munity. Quench our thirst for acceptance of self. Help us to feel Your Divine Presence when others question the righteousness of our lives. Let us come to know that all things are possible in our lives: love and hope, caring and friendship and family. May those of us who are deep within the closet find courage and comfort through You. Bless our community and its leaders. Grant us, O God, health and prosperity. Keep us strong as we pursue justice and civil rights. Ease the pain of those who are ill, and inspire each of us to perform acts of loving-kindness and tzedakah each and every day. Fountain of life, we praise You and thank You for creating us in Your image.

וְנֹאמַר: אָמֵן.
V’nomar: amein.
And let us say: Amen.

—Rabbi Denise Eger is an activist, speaker, author of Mishkan Ga’avah Where Pride Dwells, and former CCAR President. She has made extraordinary contributions to the Reform rabbinate and the Jewish and secular LGBTQ community.

We Have Always Been

I look back into history,
pouring over our texts, sacred and profane,
searching
for some kind of opening
where I can see myself, where I can see us.

I search
and find
rejection from our communities and leaders,
our existence hidden, shamed, criminalized, excommunicated,
jailed, killed.

I keep searching
and catch a glimpse
of our vitality, our desire, our love, our bliss, our rebellion,
our chosen family.

In these glimpses I see a sliver of light
pouring out of the opening.
I sprint toward it—our past, our present, our future—
and, with all my might, break the door off its hinges.

I pant, breathless, on the other side.
I want to scream, but instead, I whisper: “We are here. We are here.”

We have always been.

—Rabbi Dave Yedid is a contributor to Mishkan Ga’avah Where Pride Dwells and serves Base Denver.

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Books CCAR Press

Jewishness as a Core Identity: Michael A. Meyer on Writing Rabbi Alexander Schindler’s Biography

Michael A. Meyer, PhD, is the author of Above All, We Are Jews: A Biography of Rabbi Alexander Schindler from CCAR Press. Rabbi Schindler (1925–2000) was an extraordinarily influential leader in the history of Reform Judaism. From 1973 to 1996, he served as president of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations (today’s Union for Reform Judaism), where his charisma and vision raised the Reform Movement to unprecedented influence. Never afraid to be controversial, he argued for recognizing patrilineal descent, institutionalized outreach to interfaith families and non-Jews, and championed LGBTQ rights and racial equality. He was a tireless advocate for Israel while maintaining diaspora Jews’ right to speak out independently on the Jewish state. In this interview, Professor Meyer discusses what inspired him to write a biography of this Jewish leader and what readers can learn from Rabbi Schindler today.

What inspired you to write a biography of Rabbi Alexander Schindler?
I was inspired to write this biography because Rabbi Schindler was such a significant figure in the Reform Movement and in the history of American Judaism as a whole. I was also motivated by the fact that there was no previous biography and that his papers were readily available in the American Jewish Archives.

The title of your book is a quotation from Rabbi Schindler, Above All, We Are Jews. What does this quote reveal about his vision of Jewish identity?
I chose Above All, We Are Jews as the title because it represents Rabbi Schindler’s belief that Jewishness is—or should be—more basic than other identities that Jews hold. He was an American Jew, not a Jewish American.

How did Rabbi Schindler shape the direction of Reform Judaism?
Rabbi Schindler made Reform Judaism more open to those who were looking in from the outside. He also turned it toward a greater appreciation of the emotional element within the Jewish religion.

What lessons can Rabbi Schindler teach us as we think about the future of Judaism?
From Rabbi Schindler we can learn that love of the Jewish people is as much a part of Jewish identity as is love of God. We can also learn that love of Israel does not exclude critique of its moral shortcomings.

Michael A. Meyer holds a doctorate in Jewish history from Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati, where he served as professor of Jewish history for fifty years. He is the author of Above All, We Are Jews: A Biography of Rabbi Alexander Schindler from CCAR Press.

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CCAR Press Social Justice

Remembering Rabbi Andrea L. Weiss, z”l: ‘What Matters Most Is Justice’

The Central Conference of American Rabbis mourns the death of our teacher, our colleague, and our friend, Rabbi Andrea L. Weiss, PhD, z”l. A beloved professor of Bible and leader at Hebrew Union College, Rabbi Weiss was the associate editor of The Torah: A Women’s Commentary and contributed to many other CCAR Press volumes, including writing the forewords to The Social Justice Torah Commentary and New Each Day: A Spiritual Practice for Reading Psalms. We share her foreword from The Social Justice Torah Commentary (2021) in her memory.

Some twenty-seven hundred years ago, the prophet Amos encapsulated an inspiring vision of justice in just six Hebrew words. With the terseness that defines poetry and the evocative power that marks metaphor, this ancient Israelite expressed the expectation that individuals and the societies they inhabit will establish and execute justice. Putting this well-known verse in context, the passage quotes God scolding the Israelites:

I loathe, I spurn your festivals,
I am not appeased by your solemn assemblies.
If you offer Me burnt offerings—or your meal offerings—
I will not accept them;
I will pay no heed
To your gifts of fatlings.
Spare Me the sound of your hymns,
And let Me not hear the music of your lutes.
But let justice well up like water,
Righteousness like an unfailing stream. (Amos 5:21–24)

In the most emphatic language, God rejects religious rituals—all means humans employ to connect to or communicate with the Divine—if those who perform those rituals do not act in an ethical, upstanding manner.

Other biblical prophets reiterate this message, insisting that justice and morality take precedence over the performance of religious rites. In Isaiah I, God spurns sacrifices, prayer, and festival gatherings since “your hands are full of blood” (1:15). Instead, God demands:

Cease to do evil;
Learn to do good.
Devote yourselves to justice;
Aid the wronged.
Uphold the rights of the orphan;
Defend the cause of the widow. (Isaiah I:16–17)1

The prophetic message is simple: What matters most is justice. What God desires is a world in which humans care for one another. According to Isaiah 58:6–7, this means a world in which we help the oppressed to go free, we share our bread with the hungry, we clothe the naked, we do not ignore our kin. The prophets warn us that if there is no justice, there can be no peace:

The way of peace they do not know,
And there is no justice where they go . . .
We hope for light, but, look, darkness . . .
We hope for justice but there is none,
for rescue—it is far from us. (Isaiah 59:8–11)2

The divine demand for justice repeats throughout the Bible. In Psalm 82, God demotes the members of the divine assembly who fail to administer justice on earth. Disappointed and exasperated by these lesser deities, God declares:

How long will you judge dishonestly
and show favor to the wicked? selah
Do justice to the poor and the orphan.
Vindicate the lowly and the wretched.
Free the poor and the needy,
And from the hand of the wicked save them. (Psalm 82:2–4)

Psalm 82, like Isaiah 1 and other biblical texts, associates the administration of justice with the protection of the most vulnerable individuals, which in an ancient Israelite context meant the fatherless, the widow, the stranger, and the poor.3 According to Robert Alter, this psalm presents a mythological account meant to explain “the infuriating preponderance of injustice in the world.”4

The Book of Job probes the “preponderance of injustice” that besets “a blameless and upright man who fears God and shuns evil” (Job 1:8). Job shouts and struggles, striving to make sense of a world in which bad things happen to a good person and it appears that “there is no justice” (Job 19:7). In contrast, the Book of Proverbs depicts the opposite scenario, promising that rewards will come to those who cultivate the knowledge and discipline needed to live a virtuous, just life. Like other examples of ancient wisdom literature, Proverbs distills the divine demand for justice into a series of pithy sayings. For instance, Proverbs 2:8–9 encourages the listener “to keep the paths of justice” and to “understand righteousness, justice, and uprightness,” each one a “pathway of good.” Proverbs 16:8 advises, “Better a pittance in righteousness, than abundant yield without justice.” Proverbs 29:4 observes, “A king makes a land stand firm through justice, but a deceitful man destroys it.” In this biblical book, injustice does not go unpunished, and only good things happen to good people.

Turning to the Torah, the Five Books of Moses teach us not just why, but also how, to fulfill God’s demand for justice and morality. The collections of rules and case law found in the Torah turn the abstract concept of justice into concrete actions carried out in the home, in the field, and at the city gate. Take Exodus 23:2–3: “You shall neither side with the mighty to do wrong . . . nor shall you show deference to a poor person in a dispute.” Or Leviticus 19:10: “You shall not pick your vineyard bare, or gather the fallen fruit of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and the stranger: I the Eternal am your God.” Or Deuteronomy 22:1: “If you see your fellow Israelite’s ox or sheep gone astray, do not ignore it; you must
take it back to your peer.”5 Adele Berlin summarizes the common thread that binds together the Torah’s wide-ranging laws: “The goal is to create a balanced society in which the poor and weak are legally protected from the rich and strong, in which property and human lives are respected, and—most importantly—in which individuals are subject to the community and its laws.”6

Outside of these legal collections, various narrative passages in the Torah explore the complexities involved in carrying out the command to pursue justice.7 Abraham challenges God’s decision to destroy the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah: “Will You indeed sweep away the innocent along with the wicked? . . . Must not the Judge of all the earth do justly?” (Genesis 18:23, 25). The daughters of Zelophehad question the fairness of laws of inheritance: “Let not our father’s name be lost to his clan just because he had no son! Give us a holding among our father’s kinsmen!” (Numbers 27:4). After God declares, “The plea of Zelophehad’s daughters is just,” Moses enacts a new law to ensure that the legal system remains responsive and equitable (Numbers 27:7–11). These and other passages preserve the ways our biblical ancestors strove to “keep justice and do righteousness” (Isaiah 56:1).

In laws and stories, poems and prayers, the imperative to practice justice permeates the Torah. The Social Justice Torah Commentary traces this theme from B’reishit to V ’zot Hab’rachah. By bringing a social justice lens to each parashah, the commentators in this valuable volume shed new light on the Torah and show how these ancient texts still motivate us to seek justice today. This commentary urges us to do our part to create a world in which “justice will well up like water and righteousness like an unfailing stream.”

Notes
1. Also see Isaiah 58:1–10; Jeremiah 6:19–20; Hosea 6:6, 8:13; Joel 2:12–13; Malachi 1:10, 2:13.

2. This and the translations of Psalm 82 and Proverbs from Robert Alter, The Hebrew Bible, vol. 3 (New York: W. W. Norton, 2019).

3. Also see Exodus 22:20, 23:5; Deuteronomy 10:18, 14:29, 24:14, and elsewhere.

4. Alter, The Hebrew Bible, 200.

5. The legal collections in the Torah appear in Exodus 21–23; Leviticus 19; Deuteronomy 12–26.

6. Adele Berlin, commentary on Parashat Ki Teitzei in The Torah: A Women’s Commentary, ed. Tamara Cohn Eskenazi and Andrea L. Weiss (New York: Reform Judaism Publishing, an imprint of CCAR Press, 2008), 1165.

7. Deuteronomy 16:20 famously declares, “Justice, justice you shall pursue.”

Rabbi Andrea L. Weiss, PhD, z”l, (1965–2026) was Provost, Head of Seminary Programs, Rabbinical School Director, and Associate Professor of Bible at Hebrew Union College.

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Books CCAR Press

How Can We Help Children Imagine God?

Michelle Shapiro Abraham, RJE, is the editor of Mishkan T’filah for Children: A Siddur for Families and Schools for Grades K–2 from CCAR Press. In this interview, she shares how the siddur was thoughtfully created to make prayer accessible and meaningful for young children.

How did you translate the depth and style of Mishkan T’filah into a version accessible to children?

The most important priority for me in translating this book for children was creating images of God that are expansive and capable of holding meaning for both children and the adults praying alongside them. I sought to preserve the spiritual depth and tone of Mishkan T’filah while shaping language that would truly resonate with this younger community. To do so, I leaned into relational and imaginative images—God tucking us in at night, God understood not simply as the “Creator of Peace” but as Peace itself, and God as an artist joyfully playing with colors to bring the world into being.

What was the writing and editing process like?

We began by deciding which prayers would have more creative, poetic readings and which would use simple, straightforward translations. I then began writing the prayers themselves—some came easily, while others required much more time and revision. Throughout the process, I worked closely with Rabbi Hara Person as editor in an ongoing, collaborative exchange that helped sharpen the language and clarify the theology. Drafts were reviewed multiple times with careful attention to tone, accessibility , and the audience. We also incorporated feedback from educators and clergy to ensure the prayers would work naturally in real settings with children and the adults praying alongside them.

How does Mishkan T’filah for Children differ from other siddurim for this age range?

Mishkan T’filah for Children was designed to be a sophisticated siddur that invites multiple entry points. The language is accessible enough for children to read aloud independently, while still offering theological depth that encourages parents to reflect and wonder, much like the original Mishkan T’filah. It presents a wide range of God images and spiritual metaphors, allowing children and adults to encounter prayer in different ways. We also took varied approaches to different prayers—sometimes leaning into simplicity, and other times inviting imagination and poetry—so the siddur can grow with the reader over time.

What does Katie Lipsitt’s art contribute to the experience of praying with this siddur? 

Her art brings the siddur to life by adding color and visual energy to each page. Her illustrations make the book inviting and engaging, especially for young children and pre-readers, who enjoy exploring the images alongside the text. They offer visual interpretations of the prayers, helping children connect with the words in a tangible, imaginative way. Overall, her art enhances the experience of praying with the siddur, making it both accessible and captivating.

How do you suggest that families and religious schools use the book?

Families and religious schools can use the book in multiple ways. It works well for family services on Shabbat or during religious school, helping children follow along and participate. At home, families can use it to begin learning the service and exploring prayers together. In religious school, it can serve as a tool to delve into the meaning of the prayers and introduce different images and ideas of God. Overall, it’s designed to support both learning and meaningful shared prayer.

Michelle Shapiro Abraham, RJE, is the executive director at JBI Library. She is the editor of Mishkan T’filah for Children: A Siddur for Families and Schools for Grades K–2 and coeditor of Mishkan T’filah: Journal Edition, both published by CCAR Press.

Categories
Books CCAR Press

The Power of Life Cycle Rituals in Midlife and Beyond

Rabbi Laura Geller and Rabbi Beth Lieberman, coauthors of Moments That Matter: Marking Transitions in Midlife and Beyond, published by CCAR Press, explore how ritual helps us pay attention to life’s transitions, transforming everyday moments into sacred ones.

The famous text in Pirkei Avot about the map of our lives is familiar to many of us: “At five, the study of Bible; at ten, Mishnah; at thirteen, subject to the commandments; at fifteen, Talmud; at eighteen, marriage; at twenty, for career, connected with a community and hopeful about the future; at thirty, the peak of strength; at forty, wisdom; at fifty, able to give counsel; at sixty, old age; at seventy, the fullness of age; at eighty, courage; at ninety, a bent body; at one hundred, as good as dead and gone completely out of the world.” Who said those Rabbis didn’t have a sense of humor?

While this map is clearly not ours, the Rabbis’ four stages of life do still apply. The first is about dedication to learning; the second is about building career and family; the third focuses on wisdom and giving back; the fourth is learning to let go. However, with our lifespans lengthening as an increasing number of people live thirty years longer than earlier generations, the map is changing once again.

These additional thirty-plus years are not tacked on to the end of our lives, but rather occur between midlife and frail old age, and are years of energy and activity. We now face an unprecedented challenge: As we are blessed with more years added to our life, how do we add more life to our years? Psalm 90:12 offers guidance: “Show us how precious each day is; teach us to be fully here.”[i] In other words, pay attention.

Pay attention. This is where ritual comes in. Ritual is a tool—a technology—that helps us to pay attention. Through ritual, we can connect more deeply to what matters in our life and appreciate that we are part of something greater than ourselves.

The truth is that our lives are already filled with ritual, whether those rituals are professional or personal, religious or secular. Morning coffee, prayer, regular conversations with loved ones, weekly family visits, self-care habits, study practices, cultural outings, watch parties, and yoga classes are just a few of the rituals that may fill our lives. By noticing these rituals, we notice what is important to us; through them, we can see what really matters in our life.

Our new book, Moments That Matter: Marking Transitions in Midlife and Beyond, focuses on a specific kind of ritual—those having to do with the life cycle. What are the important moments in this new stage of life—midlife and beyond—that help us notice and pay attention to what really matters in our lives as we grow older? What are those transitions from one social role to another? How might we mark the moments that matter?

For example: A fifty-five-year-old man and his sister called their rabbi on the way to clean out their parents’ apartment just after their mother moved into an assisted living facility. They asked, “What is the prayer you say when you begin to close up the home you grew up in?” This is not a traditional life cycle moment, but a powerful one nonetheless. The answer to their question was not in any standard clergy handbook, yet creating the right prayer and reciting it before the adult children began their work transformed the experience from a chore to a sacred act.

The book offers a template for each ritual while encouraging readers to imagine creating their own. Because of the book, this is exactly what a congregant did when she was leaving her home of more than fifty years. Her granddaughter wrote about what that new ritual meant to her: “When my grandmother decided a few months ago that it was time for her to move on to her next chapter—to sell the home where she and my grandfather lived for over fifty years … it felt right that we bid farewell to this precious house with an evening of sacred celebration and prayer. … With two cousins via Zoom, everyone was able to partake in a special “Ceremony of Goodbye” at the house in April with our two rabbis. We began in the sunroom by saying the Shehechiyanu . It was during the singing of “The Circle Game” by Joni Mitchell that I started to cry.

“In a guided meditation, we were asked to picture significant memories that took place in this space, and then we said, ‘Baruch otanu b’vo-scheinu, Baruch otanu b’tzei-teinu’ (We are blessed as we come here, we are blessed as we leave here).

“We recited this prayer each time we left a room, to bid each individual space farewell and thank it for all that it gave us. We walked from the sunroom through the dining room and paused for reflection in the upstairs bedrooms, where my dad and uncle shared anecdotes about the games they used to play together and the baseball cards they collected. We traveled downstairs to the primary bedroom to hear from my grandmother about the wonderful and difficult times she spent there with my grandfather, especially towards the end of his life. We said goodbye to the kitchen, which in my memories will always smell like my grandma’s chocolate coconut macaroons.

“After we said our final blessings inside the home, we gathered hand in hand on the front stoop and shared blessings for my grandmother as she begins a new chapter and leaves this precious place behind.”[ii]

This is a new ritual—one of many. Each one is uniquely shaped by the people who want to pay attention to their personal transitions in their own way.

As we learn in the Babylonian Talmud, B’rachot 45a, when there is a question as to what the law is, one must “pok chazi mai ama davar, go out and see what the people are doing.” Moments That Matter is filled with stories of innovation and creative ritual from people around North America.

These new rituals create and deepen connections. Some of them are intimate and are held at home with just some close family or intimate friends; some take place within a synagogue, church, sangha, or other place of worship. Others take place outdoors or in a place that has resonance for the ones creating it—the place they were married, the neighborhood where they grew up. Some are virtual, while others celebrate the joy or comfort from being together face to face. Each ritual gives space for individuals to do it themselves and offers thoughts and examples of how clergy can adapt it for a community.

“Go and see what the people are doing.” They are marking the moments that matter.

Rabbi Laura Geller, rabbi emerita of Temple Emanuel of Beverly Hills, was the third woman in the Reform Movement to become a rabbi. Her book, Getting Good at Getting Older, coauthored with her husband Richard Siegel, z”l, was named a National Jewish Book Award finalist in the category of Contemporary Jewish Life and Practice. Please visit her website at www.rabbilaurageller.com.

Rabbi Beth Lieberman serves as adjunct faculty at the Hebrew Union College, School of Rabbinical Studies, in Los Angeles, mentoring the next generation of communal leaders. She is the coeditor of Honoring Tradition, Embracing Modernity: A Reader for the Union for Reform Judaism’s Introduction to Judaism Course and the literary editor of the JPS TANAKH: Revised Edition (Jewish Publication Society and Sefaria.org, 2023). Please visit her website at www.rabbibethlieberman.com.

[i] Stephen Mitchell, A Book of Psalms (Harper Perennial, 1993), 3

[ii] Excerpted and adapted from Dorrit Corwin’s “L’dor Vador, Under One Roof,” Jewish Women’s Archive, https://jwa.org/blog/ldor-vador-under-one-roof. Used with permission from the author.

Categories
CCAR Press Women in the Rabbinate

Embracing Hope: Rabbi Liz P.G. Hirsch on ‘Covenant of Justice’

CCAR Press and Women of Reform Judaism have recently copublished Covenant of Justice: Prayers, Poems, and Meditations from Women of Reform Judaism. In this interview, Rabbi Liz P.G. Hirsch, CEO of WRJ and author of the book’s section introductions, explains how the collection serves as both a spiritual resource and a call to action.

What inspired you to select social justice as the theme for this latest book in WRJ’s Covenant book series? 

Social justice is one of WRJ’s core pillars. We were thrilled to debut this publication at the inaugural Rabbi Marla J. Feldman Social Justice Conference earlier this year–an event that highlighted dedication to action and activism. It is only fitting to continue our Covenant book series with a theme so integral to both our legacy and future.  

What was the process for finding authors? 

We put out a call for submissions to all who identified with our mission. We specified that those who submitted a piece for consideration identify as women, nonbinary, or gender fluid, in line with our most recent updates to our membership policy to be inclusive within our spaces.  

How does Judaism approach social justice in a unique way? 

Social justice is integral to our Jewish tradition. I turn to Pirkei Avot as a helpful example; you are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are you free to abandon it. We will not solve every challenge facing the world today, yet we also can’t ignore the important work that is before us, throw our hands up in the air, and not even try to start somewhere. From reproductive freedom, to defending democracy and protections against violence against women, we can turn to Judaism to help guide us in this important fight to create a more just and compassionate world for all.  

Can you highlight a piece from the book that exemplifies its approach? 

I had the honor of writing the introductions of each section of the publication, connecting the meaningful texts to WRJ’s resolutions and liturgical traditions. One of the sections, Embracing Hope, reminds us to always seek peace and pursue it, even when the work seems impossible. Here is a piece from that section, “Tears to Action” by Cantor Lisa Levine:

Tears to Action
From our tears comes action
from our fears comes compassion
in the world so torn from hate
we hear the cry to change our fate
and join our hands for the way
to free ourselves from this tyranny.

Bring us home to a time
where our leaders are not blind
everyone is equal
every spirit joined
sing for justice and for peace
sing for everyone’s release.

From our tears comes understanding
from our fear comes love
knowing who we are
gives us strength to soar
all of our beautiful differences
make us who we are!

Bring us home to the day
marching and chanting all the way
where everyone is equal
every spirit joined
sing for justice, sing for peace
sing to save our souls.

What do you hope readers will take away from the collection? 

Just as the other collections within this series, it is always the right time to lift up the voices of women and others pushed to the sidelines of our community. Each prayer, poem, meditation, and reflection exemplifies the themes of justice and equality, while making our feminist lens front and center.   

Rabbi Liz P.G. Hirsch is the CEO of Women of Reform Judaism (WRJ). She is a contributor to Covenant of Justice: Prayers, Poems, and Meditations from Women of Reform Judaism.

Categories
Books CCAR Press High Holy Days Poetry

The Confession of a Broken Heart: A Poem for Rosh HaShanah

Rabbi Karyn D. Kedar is the author of Unfolding: A High Holy Day Companion from CCAR Press. As Rosh HaShanah approaches, we share one of her poems from the book for the Jewish new year.

Hin’ni: Here I Am
The Confession of a Broken Heart

I am HERE.
I am here.
I stand before the open ark and
the eternal scrolls of our people
dressed in white light.
I stand ready to enter the Holy Days,
to offer prayers that urge me
to live better, kinder,
ever present to the pain of others,
to become a vessel of compassion, trustworthy,
holding hope in the midst of despair.

Hin’ni.
I am here, I am here.
I stand on the edge between earth and heaven,
between what I know and what I can never understand,
between life and life everlasting.
Mortality hovers, a rippling presence,
always there—lingering, waiting, holding.
I am here.

Hin’ni.
I am here.
I stand resilient, determined,
though I have been taken down,
forced to live a different way.
The rhythm of life has been altered.
Time unfolds and morphs, expands and stands still.
I have been called to be present, to pay attention.
What I have I learned?
What have I done with the time I have been given, glorious time of never-ending possibility?
Have I squandered the beauty, the radiance of life,
an offering to my inner being?

Who am I?
Where have I gone astray?
Am I worthy to pray with my people?
May I be worthy to pray with my people.

Hear my plea,
grant me the faith, courage, and wisdom
to enter into cheshbon hanefesh:
the fragility and humility of self-examination.

Hin’ni,
I am here, I am here.
May this fractured heart soften
and hold love and compassion
in a way it never has before.

Hin’ni, I am here.

Rabbi Karyn D. Kedar is an author, poet, spiritual counselor, inspirational speaker, and rabbi emerita at Congregation B’nai Jehoshua Beth Elohim in Deerfield, IL. She is the author of Omer: A Counting, Amen: Seeking Presence with Prayer, Poetry, and Mindfulness Practice, and Unfolding: A High Holy Day Companion, all from CCAR Press.

Categories
Books CCAR Press

‘The Sacred Struggle’: Holding onto Judaism During Challenging Times

The Sacred Struggle: Jewish Responses to Trauma, coedited by Rabbi Lindsey Danziger and Rabbi Benjamin David, is the newest anthology from CCAR Press. In this excerpt from the introduction, Rabbi David discusses the Jewish history of trauma and how his experience with cancer inspired the book.  

We twenty-first-century Jews are, of course, well versed in trauma. With the lessons of the Holocaust still ringing in our ears, we have encountered no shortage of stinging antisemitism and hatefulness in our own day.

Whether in Charlottesville, Pittsburgh, Poway, Jersey City, or Monsey, the relentless attack on Jews and Judaism has shaken all of us. We have grieved together and in time adjusted to a “new normal” in which antisemitism is less an abnormality and more a reality to be wary of every day. We do so amid a post-9/11 world that feels at times desperately unstable: a world where school shootings happen with regularity; where racism, homophobia, transphobia, and xenophobia are rampant; where bullying and cyberbullying plague our children; and where the natural world is under attack by forces that range from small to existential.

We feel in our heart for Israel—all the more so since October 7, 2023—too often maligned or outright denigrated by the international community, even as we mark the highly imperfect record of our beloved Israel. Terror within and outside of Israel has wounded our Israeli family for generations and, by extension, all of us.

How do we not turn to anger? Or, better yet, how do we cling to a Judaism of relevance and hope even in our anger and frustration? How do we maintain a relationship with a benevolent God in illness, in mourning, in dire sadness and frustration? Is it acceptable for a long-standing relationship with Judaism and the Divine to change following a period of distress? What does it mean to reevaluate one’s sense of Jewish heritage from a hospital room or a place of quiet grief? This book will explore these important questions, and more.

To be clear, by choosing to title this book The Sacred Struggle, we are not saying we believe nor will we argue that everything happens for a reason, nor offer up a type of theology that is clichéd or unhelpful. Rather, this title affirms that the act of struggle itself can become part of our sacred life journeys. By bringing together writers who have experienced profound hardship and been changed by that hardship, this book aims to shed light on what it means to hold onto Judaism during life challenges and give permission to earnestly evolve in our relationship to faith.

Rabbi Danziger and I both experienced cancer early in our rabbinic career. We were both young parents at the time, with young kids. We each learned a lot about trauma—trauma of the body and the spirit, and how trauma affects a family and community. Cancer is what brought us together, and our journey since has led to the creation of this book. We have both thought at significant length about the ways in which trauma can be life altering, both in ways that are negative and in ways that are surprisingly positive. We have both thought extensively about the pains we each carry and that our people carry. We have wondered together about themes of healing and change, both as human beings and as rabbis. This book comes therefore from both a deeply personal and professional viewpoint.

The Sacred Struggle begins with a useful definition of trauma from Dr. Betsy Stone before exploring the theme of trauma from a textual angle: What do our earliest sources teach us about Jewish responses to trauma? The chapters explore Biblical, Rabbinic, and contemporary approaches to trauma. We then examine different areas of potential trauma: the trauma of acute and chronic illness and how physical challenges impact our emotional and spiritual well-being; the trauma that can result from being marginalized because of race, gender, ability, or illness; the impact of personal and communal violence, from the streets of Memphis to the school halls of Parkland, from terror events to sexual assault; the trauma of natural disasters and the all-too-familiar trauma of pandemics; the trauma that can occur when one is part of a larger community that may be toxic, unhealthy, or simply not present; and finally, the trauma of family loss, which manifests as divorce, infertility, stillbirth, and death of loved ones.

Of course, just because we chose to group certain experiences of trauma does not mean that we are equating the experiences; every trauma is different, as is each of these beautiful, harrowing chapters. Indeed, each chapter goes to a highly vulnerable place; there is great honesty in this book. We believe that within these pages there is something for everyone. We have all lost. We have all been hurt. We can likely all find value in exploring the tools that these brave authors present us.

Rabbi Benjamin P. David serves Reform Congregation Keneseth Israel in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania. He is the coeditor of The Sacred Struggle: Jewish Responses to Trauma and editor of Seven Days, Many Voices: Insights into the Biblical Story of Creation.

Categories
Books CCAR Press High Holy Days

Facing the High Holy Days in a Time of Brokenness

Alden Solovy is the author of Enter These Gates: Meditations for the Days of Awe from CCAR Press. In this post, he shares how he’s turning to two books to find meaning this year.

The High Holy Day season calls us to go from the experience of brokenness to the presence of God, from the pain of loss to the promise of renewal, from the worst of what we experience to the best of what we can imagine. We need—I need—the High Holy Day season this year more than ever.

This season of introspection and improvement arrives for me in the nick of time. I’m surprised by how much harder it has been to begin this year’s journey of self-examination. How could it possibly be any more difficult than last year, in the days leading up to the first anniversary of October 7, 2023? Consumed with writing in the aftermath of the attack that year, I completed my High Holy Day book Enter These Gates: Meditations for the Days of Awe to give voice to the pain of our times and to elevate—against all odds—the call for hope, renewal, justice, peace, and life revived. Turns out, I wrote the book for myself.

Yes, I’m turning to my own book to find meaning this year. I typically find ongoing meaning by continuing to write, not by returning to my work, with the exception of public readings. I simply recommend my books to others, hoping they will find meaning and comfort in my words, and I keep writing. Yet I haven’t fully moved on emotionally and spiritually since October 7, and today my own book is speaking to me as if it is someone else’s voice.

My book, in fact, is singing a duet with another book of poetry, prayer, and inspiration. My heart is drawn to what Rabbi Karyn Kedar writes about the beginning of the High Holy Day journey, which is to experience and examine brokenness. It peaks on Tishah B’Av when we commemorate the destruction of the two temples in Jerusalem. As she writes in her new book Unfolding: A High Holy Day Companion, “The month of Av grounds us with a simple warning: Humanity has an unlimited desire and capacity to create love, but at the same time, humanity has the will and the means to destroy itself. Av asks us to dwell in our desire to live an elevated life…”

I want to dwell in the desire for an elevated life. I want to live in a nation that elevates life. With hostages still in captivity, a two-year set of wars within wars, frequent sirens and trips to bomb shelters, starvation in Gaza, and with global antisemitism spiking, I am putting my hope and faith in this season of introspection to help me find not answers, but ways of being. How to be an Israeli-American progressive Zionist who has no faith in the Israeli government. How to be a Zionist who has given my life to this land, but demands a better government and a better future for Israelis and Palestinians alike.

“The High Holy Days can lift us on words of Torah and prayer to the heights of our best selves,” I write in the introduction to Enter These Gates. “The days also call forth the deepest moments of our vulnerability and pain.” We use that vulnerability and pain as medicine, as a path to healing ourselves as a pivotal step in healing the world.

This year, I am taking Rabbi Kedar’s Unfolding, and my own Enter These Gates, into my first High Holy Day pulpit as an HUC rabbinical student. It is a selfish act of love for myself and the community in which I will serve. It is a selfish act for the people of Israel to demand a better nation for ourselves and the world. It is a selfish act for all of Klal Yisrael for each of us to do everything we can to find the best of who we are and of what God expects from us.

So many prayers need to be prayed. I begin with this one, the opening piece of Enter These Gates. It is called “Pervasive Peace.” Cantorial soloist Rebecca Schwartz composed compelling music for this prayer, which can be heard on YouTube.

Pervasive Peace

May it be Your will, God of our fathers and mothers

That the year ahead brings a pervasive and complete peace

On all the inhabitants of the earth,

Beyond all the dreams of humanity.

,יְהִי רָצוֹן מִלְּפָנֶֽיךָ, אֱלֹהֵי אֲבוֹתֵֽינוּ וְאִמּוֹתֵֽינוּ

שֶׁהַשָּׁנָה הַבָּאָה תָּבִיא שָׁלוֹם מֻחְלָט וְשָׁלֵם

,עַל כָּל־יוֹשְׁבֵי תֵבֵל

.מֵעֵֽבֶר לְכָל־חֲלוֹמוֹת־הָאֱנוֹשׁוּת

Y’hi ratzon mil’fanecha, Elohei avoteinu v’imoteinu,

Shehashanah habaah tavi shalom muchlat v’shaleim

Al kol yosh’vei teiveil,

Mei-eiver l’chol chalomot ha-enoshut.

Alden Solovy is a rabbinical student at Hebrew Union College who lives in Jerusalem. His books include Enter These Gates: Meditations for the Days of Awe, These Words: Poetic Midrash on the Language of Torah, This Grateful Heart: Psalms and Prayers for a New Day, This Joyous Soul: A New Voice for Ancient Yearnings, and This Precious Life: Encountering the Divine with Poetry and Prayer, all published by CCAR Press.