Once again, we enter Shabbat this week holding our breaths. We are living through an especially scary and uncertain time—nationally, globally, as Jews, and as ...

Recently, we have been saying Hallel—the short additional prayer service for special days, full of psalms of praise and gratitude—a lot. As we always do ...

“Ahhh, the monster is coming!” my two-and-a-half-year-old shrieks. “Quick, hide under the blanket. It’s a scary one!” I know this game well. As I’ve written ...

This week, I had the profound privilege of participating in the opening retreat for the Pedagogies of T’fillah Research Fellowship, launched by M²: The Institute ...

A little over three months ago, my heart shattered as I listened to Rachel Goldberg Polin eulogize her beloved son, Hersh, after he had been ...

We join people of all faiths and political persuasions in condemning the assassination attempt on former President Trump. We are grateful that the former president ...

As you read this, I am already on my way to Providence to celebrate the wedding weekend of my best friend from rabbinical school. On ...

Toward the end of his life, Rabbi Shimshon Raphael Hirsch, a prominent German rabbi and Jewish thinker in the 19th century, insisted on traveling by ...

Rabbi Rebecca Weintraub traveled to Israel with several New York area rabbis and Jewish professionals, supported by the UJA Federation of New York and The ...

I got choked up the moment I saw the land of Israel from the tiny airplane window. The sun shining over the splotches of green ...

When we bless our children on Friday nights with the priestly blessings, my husband and I combine the traditional openings referencing both male and female ...

I had seen the profound images of the empty Shabbat tables in Tel Aviv and around the world, set for the 200+ Israeli hostages who ...

Each year, as we approach Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, I feel a sense of excitement and anticipation about the ways in which the High ...

“Double your pleasure, double your fun…” While many of us may know this expression as the catchy jingle from the old Doublemint Gum commercials, it ...

“Watch out, Mommy!” my two and a half year old will say. “There’s a monster behind you!” Then she yells “run away!” and signals for ...

We are thrilled to announce that three new full-time staff members are joining our Family Life and Learning Department. Calle Schueler, as the new Assistant ...

I spent last weekend in Washington, DC, with 18 BJ Haverim (7th-grade) students. After a beautiful Shabbat, we welcomed the new week with Havdalah. On ...

One of the most powerful Jewish rituals for me, is the ritual of immersing in a mikveh—a Jewish ritual bath made of “mayyim hayyim” (living ...

On a good night, in the midst of our despair trying to rock a crying baby back to sleep at 3:00 AM, either my husband, ...

For us, today is a sad and infuriating day in America. With the overturning of Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 ruling on reproductive rights, ...

I celebrated becoming a Bat Mitzvah with a Minha service surrounded by family, friends, and a community of people, many of whom had known me ...

על אלה אני בוכיה For these things I do weep Lamentations 1:16 We can’t find the words that can express the enormity of horror and ...

In some ways, last Shabbat was like every other Shabbat I have celebrated with You. It was framed by the light of the Shabbat candles ...

We were shocked, dismayed, and disappointed to hear about the Supreme Court’s draft opinion to overturn Roe v. Wade. The impact will be wide and ...

From Pesah to Shavuot, we invite our beloved families of BJ, to join the larger BJ community as we journey toward Sinai and create our ...

I have a vivid memory of being in my childhood house the morning of Erev Pesah (the night before Passover). The windows were slightly open ...

As Pesah begins, we feel all our senses come to life. Our seder plate—filled with the shank bone (zeroa), egg (beitzah), bitter herbs (maror), vegetable ...

Last Shabbat started like every other Shabbat for me, with the lighting of candles. However, unlike most Shabbatot, I was not standing with my family. ...

The physicality of welcoming Shabbat each week during “Lekha Dodi” is a magical moment and one in which many of us can relate to. There ...

Tonight, we usher in the New Year on Shabbat, which means that my ritual countdown in front of the tv will be replaced by another ...

Pirkei Avot teaches us: "Who is wealthy? Those who are happy with their portion." We live in a consumerist society that constantly reminds us that we ...

As the children pray, they look intently at us as they try to follow the motions while they sing. “Shema”—we place our hands next to ...

Beginning in the mid 1800s and to this day, June 19th...is a day when African Americans celebrate their independence and freedom and we all celebrate ...

My parents did not start blessing me on Friday nights until I was in high school. What inspired the change? The “aha” moment for them ...

I sat surrounded by a cloud of hundreds of other kids and adults, each wearing all white, singing and praying the words of poet Haim ...

I often think of Shabbat as a homecoming at the end of my week. Just as after a long day of work or school or ...

When my husband Jeremy first mentioned the idea of using cloth diapers for our daughter, I laughed. After quite a few back and forths, a ...

One of my favorite Hasidic tales is about the wandering brothers, Rabbi Elimelech of Lizensk and Rabbi Zushe of Anipoli. The two brothers were often ...

My husband, Jeremy, and I both agree that, whenever we move into a new apartment, it doesn’t quite feel like home until we have hosted ...

Over the past few weeks, a controversy has erupted on the Upper West Side regarding the temporary use of local hotels to shelter men experiencing ...

In high school, I decided that I was going to become shomeret Shabbat, to keep Shabbat in a more traditional way. When I made this ...