Yom Kippur Afternoon Learning 2020
Each year we provide learning in the afternoon on Yom Kippur. As we are fasting and the day can be long, we want to offer this period of time as a chance to stay spiritually focused. Zoom link is the same as services. You can find a link to the source sheet here. You should […]
Why Do We Say "May Her Memory Be for a Blessing"? Originally Published September 25-26, 2020.
The world has lost Ruth Bader Ginsburg (z”l). So just why do we say “May her memory be for a blessing”? (That “(z”l)” after her name above stands for zikhronah livrakha, blessed memory, in the shorthand form.) Proverbs 10:7 says “the memory of the righteous is invoked in blessing” but “the fame of the wicked […]
Why Do You Want Their Mothers' Hebrew Names? Originally Published September 11-12, 2020.
Our friends were injured in an accident. They will be okay, but there is a long road to healing. So we ask that their names be put on a “Mi Sheberakh list” for the time being. The term “Mi Sheberakh” means “May the One who blessed,” the first words of the prayer which goes on […]
What Is Hoshana Rabbah? Originally Published September 4-5, 2020.
Hoshana Rabbah, observed on the seventh day of the festival Sukkot (Aramaic הוֹשַׁעְנָא רַבָּא from the Hebrew - which we recognize from the Hallel - הוֹשִֽׁיעָה נָּא), is sometimes referred to as the “Great Supplication,” also sometimes called a “mini-Yom Kippur.” It is described in Psalms 118:25. The name means, in Aramaic, “Great Hoshana,” or “Save […]