This is a time of great extremes - there are people who cower in the corner instead of speaking up, while others shine a great light with their bravery in standing up for justice. When despair grips us, it’s helpful to remember people who spoke (and speak) the truth and took courageous action, regardless of the consequences. These often ordinary people acted Continue Reading
Increase the Light
Tonight we light the 3rd candle of Hanukkah. The story of Hanukkah is that even in the darkest of times, we make light. The tradition is that we light a new candle for each of the 8 nights of the holiday, thereby increasing the light each night. The rabbis understood that light was not just the physical light that we see with our eyes. There's an inner Continue Reading
Hold Both Truth & Joy
Rosh Hashanah 2019 This is the sermon I delivered on Rosh Hashanah at the Jewish Collaborative of Orange County. People asked to read it - so here it is: Rabbi Alan Lew, of blessed memory, writes that the High Holy Days season promises nothing less than total personal transformation - IF we do the work, and pay attention. Each of us should leave Continue Reading
What is Being Birthed From This Darkness?
There's so much darkness and chaos right now. The environment is cloaked with it. I can see it in my newsfeed. I feel it on the roadways. In moments like this, I have to reach deep, to what I know to be true. Here it is: I know that light comes out of the darkness if we wait long enough. In the very beginning of the Hebrew bible, we read that chaos Continue Reading
You Were Created For Just This Moment
Please - for just one moment - Breathe in: You are a precious sacred being unlike any other on this earth. Exhale: love & compassion for every other creature on this earth. You were created for just this moment - to be uniquely you in this world so desperately in need of love & compassion that only you can give. Rabbi Jill Continue Reading