Notes from OUR RABBI

May 18, 2022

Lifting Ourselves Up, through the Mitzvah of Self-Care

We in the Kavana community are coming off of a beautiful Annual Partner Meeting this past Sunday(!), but still, I have to admit, the world around us continues to feel challenging to me right now. By way of example:

May 4, 2022

In this tough week, let's embrace the greatest principles of Torah

I'll be honest: this has felt like a very hard and heavy week so far... and it's only Wednesday! Although I can't say that the news out of the Supreme Court feels like a surprise, I do feel gutted and raw about the pending decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, and all that it portends for our American society. And, if that weren't enough, on our Jewish calendar, today was Yom HaZikaron, a national Memorial Day in Israel, a reminder of the high price of Jewish statehood and the ways that the ongoing conflict over land undermines security for all who call the land of Israel/Palestine home.

April 28, 2022

Opening to a Creative Life

A week after Passover ends, we read in the Torah portion a strong reminder that we should truly leave Egypt behind. God tells the people, “You shall not copy the practices of the land of Egypt where you dwelt…” (Leviticus 18:3). Having taken the people out of Egypt, God wants to ensure that Egypt gets taken out of the people as well. Having lived there so long, they no doubt picked up habits, customs, rituals, beliefs, internalized oppression, false refuges, the strange comfort of known pain.

April 21, 2022

Embracing the Gentle Blessing of Dew

I hope this note finds you well, and enjoying Pesach and spring-time. I know, from speaking to many of you this week, that this holiday has represented quite the range of experiences for Kavana community members. For some, last weekend marked a glorious return to large, in-person family seders for the first time in several years, while for others, positive Covid tests led to last minute cancellations of plans and pivoting, as we've become so accustomed to doing. Whatever you have done so far to mark Passover, I hope it's been meaningful and sweet.

April 14, 2022

Inviting Our Inner Warriors and Lovers

During the Passover season, Jewish tradition pairs the majestic story of freedom found in the book of Exodus with the intimate love poetry found in the book of Song of Songs. What could possibly connect such disparate quotes as “Let My people go!” (Exodus 5:1) and “Your navel is like a moon-shaped basin, wherein no mixed wine is lacking; your stomach is like a heap of wheat, hedged about with roses” (Song of Songs 7:3)?

April 8, 2022

How Can We Repair?": Start by Discussing Reparations at Your Seder

Yesterday was a historic day in our country, with Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson's confirmation by the Senate. She will, of course, be the first black woman to serve on the Supreme Court of the United States. I am thrilled at the prospect of such a talented and qualified judge joining our nation's highest court and want to celebrate this moment; however, a piece of me is also experiencing a more complicated swirl of emotions, including relief that things fell out this way (because it wasn't always evident to me that they would), anger and bitterness about her treatment by some senators during her confirmation hearings, and a deep sadness that after so many years, decades and centuries of struggle, our society still has so very much work to do.

March 31, 2022

Coming Home to Wholeness

My first d’var torah here somewhat awkwardly coincides with parshat Tazria in the weekly Torah reading. What nourishment are we supposed to draw from the extensive minutiae dealing with the strange skin affliction called tzara’at? A person with this affliction, called a metzora (often incorrectly translated as “leper”), undergoes a series of examinations by the priest, spends time in quarantine in an impure state, and if the condition persists could be banished indefinitely to a living space outside the Israelite camp. “All the days that the affliction is on him he shall be impure. He should sit alone; his sitting-place shall be outside the camp” (Leviticus 13:46).

March 24, 2022

Red Heifer, Newness & Renewal, and Matzah Shopping... Passover is Coming!

Last Thursday, on my way home from a Purim event, I stopped off at a grocery store to begin my annual Passover shopping. My daughter Yona looked down at our cart -- filled with boxes of matzah, special kosher-for-Passover ketchup and chocolate chips (important staples for our household for the week of Passover!) -- and reminded me that this has become something of a Purim tradition for us, to begin our preparations for Pesach! To be clear, I haven't started actually cooking anything yet, or cleaning and kashering my kitchen. But, even the act of shopping for Passover groceries felt like a hopeful, forward-looking act.

March 10, 2022

Remembering Amalek, and Blotting Out his Memory with Love and Support

This Shabbat, Jewish communities around the world will read from two different sections of Torah. The weekly parasha is Vayikra, and in it, we begin reading the Book of Leviticus from its start. Then -- because this week is the Shabbat before Purim, Shabbat Zachor -- we also read a special maftir (concluding) section. I want to talk about both passages, as a way of framing this hard week of news in the world and also moving us towards Purim.

March 3, 2022

As Blue as the Sky

The image of the Ukrainian flag with its brilliant colors sprang to mind as I read this week's Torah portion, Parashat Pekudei. In the descriptions of the furnishings of the mishkan and the clothing of the High Priest, there are many colors mentioned, but amid the gold and purple and crimson, one stands out as the most dominant: a shade of blue known in Hebrew as t'chelet. For example, in Exodus 39:22, we read: "וַיַּ֛עַשׂ אֶת־מְעִ֥יל הָאֵפֹ֖ד מַעֲשֵׂ֣ה אֹרֵ֑ג כְּלִ֖יל תְּכֵֽלֶת׃," "The robe for the ephod was made of woven work, entirely blue."

February 24, 2022

The Humble Leadership of the Nesi'im

This week, in Parashat Vayakhel, the Israelites continue building the mishkan (the portable sanctuary they use in the wilderness). Famously, Moses asks the people to donate supplies and materials -- gold, silver, fabrics, oil, spices, wood, precious stones and more -- and they show up with such generous contributions that he then has to announce that they can stop giving!

February 17, 2022

All That Glitters

As we continue to move through the Book of Shemot (Exodus) this week, we find ourselves smack in the middle of many Torah portions focused on the plans and construction details for the building of the Mishkan, the Israelites' portable Tabernacle. Parashat Ki Tissa contains some key details about the Mishkan: instructions for the copper laver, the anointing oil and incense, another mention of Betzalel and the other artisans, and the critical link between the Mishkan's construction and the creation of the world/Shabbat (see Exodus 30:17-31:17 to read up on any of this).

February 10, 2022

Navigating Risk in our Holy Pursuits External Inbox

In this week's Torah portion, Parashat Tetzaveh, we read the manufacturing instructions for Aaron's vestments. He is the first Kohen Gadol (High Priest), and his distinctive clothing contributes to the majesty and mystery of the role: there is to be a breastpiece, an ephod (like an apron), a robe, a fringed tunic, a headdress, and a sash. Everything is to be made of beautiful and colorful materials -- linen yarns and precious metals, gemstones and dyes -- from his head-piece down to the very bottom hem of his robe, where ornate golden bells and pomegranates will hang for adornment.

February 3, 2022

A Double Dose of Joy, Creativity, and Strengthening

Gosh, there's so much heaviness we could talk about this week. I've been distraught about the series of bomb threats at historically black colleges, and my brain is swirling with so many questions that have been stirred up around antisemitism this week (Maus, Whoopi Goldberg, graffiti, Tucker Carlson, etc.). If any of these topics don't ring a bell, I encourage you to search them online and read up -- there are many great articles and takes out there already!

January 27, 2022

Noticing and Loving "the Stranger, the Widow and the Orphan" Among Us

Parashat Mishpatim is filled with rules and laws of all kinds... so many that it can be easy to lose sight of the forest for the trees. But, right smack in the middle of the Torah portion, two verses that appear back-to-back carve out a category that is central to who we are as Jews.

January 13, 2022

We Have Just Enough: Gathering Manna in the Wilderness

As I sit down to draft this week's message, I pray that you and yours are okay, and weathering this current wave of the pandemic with as much ease and comfort as possible. We know that so many of you have been isolating with Covid or quarantining because of exposure, and others dealing with school closures, work disruptions, and mental health challenges. Please know that the Kavana community is here and intact (even if our activities are online for the next few weeks!); we're all moving through this turbulent time together. If you need support, please don't hesitate to reach out through the Kavana office or to me directly.

January 6, 2022

Cultivating Flexibility and Adaptability, Like a Reed

Like many of you, I'm feeling the stress of this particular moment. Only a few short weeks ago, the mood felt very different: my household was finally fully vaccinated(!), Kavana was busy planning for a January return to many more in-person events, and there was a generally positive energy in the air... an optimistic zeitgeist. And then (as I'm sure I don't have to explain), this latest Omicron wave hit, like a dark cloud, complicating everything.

December 30, 2021

A Year in Review + Thanks for Your Support

As we reflect back on 2021, there is no doubt that this year has been filled with ups and downs, challenges and triumphs. That said, our community has made the most of it, coming together through a wide array of in-person and online events. During 2021, Kavana deepened focus on meeting people’s core needs for communal, emotional, and spiritual support. And when we did find ways to gather -- whether in virtual space, in backyards and parks, through our powerful High Holiday experiences, etc. -- it was magical! See below for snapshots of some incredibly beautiful experiences that we shared during 2021.

December 22, 2021

Consensus Statement on Racial Equity... On the Road to Redemption

As our journey through the Torah continues, this week we find ourselves at the beginning of Sefer Shemot, down in Egypt, enslaved with our Israelite ancestors. The story of the Exodus has always been not only a foundational narrative in its own right, but also a lens through which we view the world. All oppressive conditions in which we might find ourselves -- from depression to pandemic, patriarchy to injustice -- can be labeled "Egypt" in this schema; the move out from underneath each of these can be thought of as an "Exodus."

December 16, 2021

Sneezes, Coffins, and Bracing for (Ongoing) Change

Last week, I wrote about Parashat Vayiggash and its affirmation of life. This week's parasha -- the final one in the Book of Genesis -- is titled Vayechi (meaning: "and he lived"), and yet its focus is more firmly on endings, goodbyes, deaths, and transitions. Commenting on Vayechi's final verse (50:26), which concludes with Joseph's body "in a coffin in Egypt," Robert Alter writes: "The book that began with an image of God's breath moving across the vast expanses of the primordial deep to bring the world and all life into being ends with this image of a body in a box, a mummy in a coffin."

December 9, 2021

To Life - L'Chayim!

Over the past couple weeks, we have followed Joseph as his brothers left him for dead in a pit, as he was imprisoned in Egypt, and as he rose as an interpreter of dreams to become Pharaoh's right-hand man. This week, as we continue reading Joseph's story in Parashat Vayiggash, his brothers travel from Canaan to Egypt to procure food for their family in a time of severe famine. Joseph recognizes them, but they do not recognize him. He tests them, probing to see how they relate to one another, to their father, and especially to their youngest sibling Benjamin.

December 3, 2021

Joseph's Grain, Chanukah Oil, and Your Support

As Parashat Miketz opens, Pharaoh is troubled by two dreams he has dreamt back-to-back: one about 14 cows (seven handsome and sturdy ones, and seven ugly and gaunt ones) and another about 14 ears of grain (seven solid and healthy ones, and seven that are thin and scorched). Joseph is called up from prison to interpret these, and he quickly surmises that "Pharaoh's dreams are one and the same" (Gen. 41:25).

November 25, 2021

With Liberty and Justice for All

As we read Parashat Vayeshev on this Shabbat of Thanksgiving weekend, we enter into the Joseph narrative that will take us through the end of the Book of Genesis.After Joseph is cast into a pit by his brothers, transported and sold into slavery, we encounter Egyptian society. This isn’t the first time we’ve had a glimpse of ancient Egypt in Bereishit (after all, Abraham and Sarah traveled there once during a famine in Gen. 12:20-20, and Hagar was identified as an Egyptian/mitzrit in Gen. 21:9). However, this is by far the deepest look yet we’ve had into a society that will soon serve as a counterpoint and the nest from which the fledgling Israelite nation will emerge.

November 18, 2021

Anxiety: Is It (or Is It Not) Serving You?

As this week's Torah portion opens, Jacob is preparing to meet his brother Esau. He isn't certain what the tenor of their reunion will be; after all, the twins had parted on terrible terms many years ago, mostly because of Jacob's own actions. He sends messengers ahead to scout out the situation, and when they report that Esau is coming towards him with an entourage of 400 men, Jacob assumes the worst.

November 10, 2021

Stones and Monuments... and Kavana's New Annual Report!

Stones have so much symbolic weight! You know this already, if ever you've gone for a hike and picked up a smooth stone from an old riverbed and slipped it into your pocket, or if you've visited a cemetery and left behind a small rock on top of a headstone to show that you've been there. This week's Torah portion is titled (and begins with the Hebrew word) Vayetze -- meaning "he went out" -- and it chronicles the patriarch Jacob's travels, first from Beersheva to Haran, and continuing on from there. As I re-read the parasha week, I noticed all the many stones (Hebrew: s. even, pl. avanim) that feature in the story along the way, tangible markers that punctuate Jacob's journey.

November 3, 2021

Continuity and Innovation

This Shabbat, Jewish communities everywhere will read Parashat Toledot, so named because it begins with the phrase "v'eileh toledot yitzchak ben avraham," "These are the generations (or descendants or stories) of Isaac son of Abraham." The text moves on pretty quickly to the drama of the next generation: the famous sibling rivalry between Jacob and Esau. But, before we skip ahead to there, the opening words invite us to linger with Isaac and the "sandwich generation" that he and his wife Rebecca represent.

October 27, 2021

Seeking Comfort

A few days ago, a "bomb cyclone" sent me looking for comfort. As the wind howled outside my window and lights flickered, I changed into cozy sweatpants and brewed a cup of hot tea to soothe my nerves.We use the word "comfort" on two levels in the English language: to talk about a state of ease and freedom from pain or constraint, and about the alleviation of grief and distress. In this week's parasha, Isaac seeks comfort on this higher, second level. He has a serious personal history of trauma and loss with which to contend: his upbringing in the context of a troubled blended family, where his parents pitted him against his older step-brother; the dramatic episode when his father came close to sacrificing his life on a mountain top. Now, his mother Sarah has died, leaving him grief-stricken. Where will Isaac turn for comfort?

October 20, 2021

The Sprawling Jewish Family Tree

On Sunday evening, I had a chance to study Midrash and Talmud with the Intro to Judaism class that's being run this year by the Washington Coalition of Rabbis. The 88(!) students who are enrolled in the class hail from across Washington state, and a handful live further afield. Some are life-long Jews seeking to fill gaps in their knowledge of Judaism; some were not raised Jewish but have discovered Jewish ancestry and are exploring; others are not Jewish but are on a path towards conversion, or alternately want to learn in order to better support their Jewish loved ones. A handful are part of the Kavana community! I walked away from Sunday evening's session marveling at how vast and non-linear our extended Jewish family feels at this moment in history. How amazing is it that all of these disparate individuals now find themselves part of the Jewish story writ large, enough that they're interested in spending 21 Sunday nights studying various topics in Judaism?!

October 13, 2021

Two Cups a Day

I don't know about you, but I've been feeling rather exhausted these days. I am a long-time coffee drinker, but had worked hard to cut back my intake to just one cup a day this summer. Now, however, as the mornings grow darker and the days are colder and shorter, I'm finding myself craving that second cup again and the caffeine jolt it might bring.

October 7, 2021

Corruption and Lawlessness, Then and Now

This Shabbat, Jewish communities around the world will read Parashat Noach. Although children's books and songs tend to focus on cute pairs of animals on the ark and the beautiful rainbow at the end, the tale this Torah portion tells is actually a very dark one. Parashat Noach is really the story of the complete failure of God's first creation attempt, which results in far-reaching destruction and devastation, followed by an only partially-successful attempt at a do-over.

September 30, 2021

Geshem: Praying for Water and Balance

The theme of the week is water. I'm sitting in front of my window, watching the rain fall, as I type. This week, the Jewish calendar is marking both endings and beginnings. On Shemini Atzeret (which was Tuesday), Jewish communities around the world recited the Geshem prayer, for rain, as this holiday marks not only the end of the fall chagim, but also the start of the rainy season in the land of Israel. It is from Shemini Atzeret until Pesach (still half a year away) that we insert into every Amidah we recite a special line: "mashiv ha-ruach u'morid ha-gashem," "You cause the winds to return and the rain to fall."

September 20, 2021

Kismet, Pixie Dust, or Divine Providence?

When we first launched this community in 2006, my co-founder Suzi LeVine often told me about her desire for Kavana to create Jewish experiences with the same kind of "pixie dust quality" that she associated with Jewish summer camp... in other words, warm and magical experiences. For me, the High Holidays we're just coming off of really hit the mark in this regard.

September 15, 2021

“Easy to Appease”: A Yom Kippur Intention

Rabbi Rachel Nussbaum's Yom Kippur sermon is available as an audio recording, video recording, and also in writing.

September 10, 2021

Elevated Possibility, Born of Constraint

This Shabbat we read Parashat Vayeilech. Although it has fewer psukim(verses) than any other parasha in the Torah (only 30!), it is packed with an intensity and richness befitting of Shabbat Shuva, this Shabbat of Return that comes between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. (Click here to access the whole parasha.)

September 6, 2021

How Will We Ever Make it through these Uncertain Times?

Rabbi Rachel Nussbaum's Rosh Hashanah sermon is available as an audio recording, video recording, and also in writing.

September 1, 2021

Radically Inclusive High Holidays Coming Your Way!

As we move into September(!) and towards the end of Deuteronomy, this week's Torah portion, Nitzavim, opens with a famous set of verses:"You stand this day, all of you, before the LORD your God—your tribal heads, your elders and your officials, all the men of Israel, your children, your wives, even the stranger within your camp, from woodchopper to water drawer— to enter into the covenant of the LORD your God, which the LORD your God is concluding with you this day, with its sanctions; to the end that God may establish you this day as God's people and be your God, as God promised you and as God swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I make this covenant, with its sanctions, not with you alone, but both with those who are standing here with us this day before the LORD our God and with those who are not with us here this day." (Click here to read the Hebrew text as well of Deut. 29:9-14.)

August 25, 2021

We're doing the best we can; Bring on the blessings!

We are quickly hurtling towards the Jewish New Year. In this season of self-reflection and introspection – and as we head towards days of “judgment” and “atonement” – we begin to focus on the many ways we’ve fallen short and missed the mark over the past year and ask for God’s forgiveness despite our human failings. This self-critical approach feels quintessentially Jewish; when done well, it can certainly fuel positive growth and change.

August 18, 2021

Building a Safer World for Women and Girls

This week, as I've watched news unfold in Afghanistan -- a crisis on so many levels -- my mind keeps returning to the country's women and girls. I can't even begin to fathom what life will be like for them now that they are once again living under Taliban rule. Yesterday, I read one news report proclaiming that "there are no women in the streets" of Kabul, and another explaining that burqa prices have surged tenfold in recent days.

August 18, 2021

Building a Safer World for Women and Girls

August 12, 2021

"Be Wholehearted”… breathe and just be

I was startled this week when someone called it "late summer"... even though I know in my brain that we've entered into the months of August and Elul already, even though I can already feel that sunset is coming earlier and earlier, even though I can feel the High Holidays and back-to-school season looming. This summer has felt like a respite tucked between pandemic peaks. For me, the warmer and drier days have translated into more outdoor time, often in community, sometimes even unmasked. It's no wonder I want to soak it all in, and no wonder I'm not feeling ready to let go of this summer... and yet, my mind is constantly racing onto what's next.

August 4, 2021

Locating Ourselves Again, After the Spiritual “Twisties”

Last week, gymnast Simone Biles withdrew ahead of the individual all-around final at the Tokyo Olympics. She described that she had a case of “the twisties,” a condition that sometimes makes it impossible for gymnasts to know where they are in space. When this happens, in her words, she “literally cannot tell up from down.” In the days since, many have lauded Biles’ decision to put both her own physical safety and mental health first (see, for example, Hannah Pressman’s great analysis on Kveller), and I concur. In addition, Biles’ description of this feeling of disorientation and her decision to take time to recover also function as a powerful metaphor for where we are as we begin the key spiritual work of the season.

July 28, 2021

The most urgent work of our time

This summer, news headlines have continued to bring a huge “big picture” into clearer focus...

July 22, 2021

Ice Cream Politics and the Experiment of Jewish Sovereignty

In recent days, Jewish news outlets have been buzzing!

July 14, 2021

Judaism for the People: Summer Camp, Deuteronomy, & Kavana

I've just returned from a few weeks away from Kavana -- a welcome change of pace for me after a very intense year.

June 10, 2021

Healthy Debate: Machloket L'Shem Shamayim

This week's Torah portion, Parashat Korach, features a dramatic rebellion. Korach, Datan, Aviram, and 250 additional Israelites band together to challenge Moses and Aaron's leadership.

June 2, 2021

Acknowledging our Fears, and Moving Forward Anyway!

This week's Torah portion, Shelach L'cha, opens with the story of twelve spies who are sent across the Jordan River, into the land, to bring back a scouting report about the land. Two come back with positive and optimistic reports; the other ten with pessimistic ones. It's not only the negative report of the ten scouts, though, but rather the response of the Israelite people that comes into focus in the text, eliciting God's ire and critique.

May 26, 2021

Is it Antisemitism?

Right smack in the middle of this week's Torah portion, Beha'alotcha, a pair of verses are set off from the rest of the text inside two inverted Hebrew nuns. It's a highly unusual set-up, as though the Torah needs us to notice these verses

May 19, 2021

Grappling with Embarrassment and Shame

I'm writing this letter coming off of a Shavuot chag that barely felt like a chag to me. I tried to focus on Torah and Sinai and revelation, but in truth, my mind was stuck half a world away. I know I'm not the only one in this community whose heart feels raw and broken and whose mind feels on overdrive, because the Israeli/Palestinian conflict is the topic that has continued to bubble up all week...

May 12, 2021

Wandering in the Wilderness of the Earthly Jerusalem

This week, in our Torah reading cycle, we embark upon a new book: Bamidbar. It's known as the Book of Numbers in English, but the Hebrew word "Bamidbar" -- meaning, "in the wilderness" -- is the more apt title, as the book describes a people wandering not only through a geographic wilderness, but seeking to find themselves and their direction in a spiritual wilderness as well. The Israelites are depicted in Bamidbar as petulant and rebellious, and constantly try the patience of both Moses and God... in other words, they are far from perfect. Sadly, this week, it is all too apparent that the city of Jerusalem, too, resides (paradoxically) "in the wilderness."

May 5, 2021

Keeping Steady Focus on Addressing the Looming Climate Crisis

When I was studying to be a rabbi, my school required rabbinical students to read Steven Covey's 1989 business and self-help book entitled "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People." One lesson that has stuck with me for all the years since ordination is Covey's insistence that one should prioritize the important goals, rather than constantly reacting to urgencies -- in other words, focusing on Q2 in the decision matrix shown below.

April 28, 2021

"Terrible, thanks for asking"

On Sunday, a group of Kavana parents and kids gathered for our monthly "Prep & Practice" event to learn about Lag Ba'Omer. We talked about the seven-week Omer period as a time of "pervasive sadness," and about Lag Ba'Omer -- the 33rd day of counting -- as a day of joy that serves as a release and counterpoint in its midst.

April 21, 2021

Three Teenagers

Tonight, I'm thinking about three teenage girls.

April 14, 2021

It's Time to Dismantle the House

It's time to dismantle the house.

April 8, 2021

Tipping Past the Halfway Point

During these Covid times, in my household, we've embraced every possible excuse for a celebration... including attempting to mark not only birthdays but also half-birthdays! Elisha's half-birthday is up next; right now he's closer to his 8th birthday, but in a few weeks, he'll pass the halfway point and tip closer to his 9th. Segmented in this way, the two halves of each year take on different characters, much like the two halves of a football game, with the halfway mark acting as a fulcrum, tipping us from "beginning" to "ending."

March 24, 2021

Co-mingling of bitterness and sweetness this Passover

When I was 10 years old, my great-grandfather died early on Erev Pesach. He was buried just hours later (a hurried funeral, to get it in before chag began), and then my family sat down to our first night seder a few hours after that. That year and ever since, the co-mingling of bitterness and sweetness, sadness and joy has been an important feature of every Passover seder for me.

March 3, 2021

Making People Count by Not Counting People

This week's parasha, Ki Tissa, opens with a curious set of verses. God commands Moses to count the Israelites through a census, but almost simultaneously (literally within the same verse) reveals the act of counting human beings is actually incredibly problematic... enough to bring about a plague!

February 24, 2021

With gems and words "upon our hearts"

On the surface, this week's Torah portion seems to be all about the bling, but there is a deeper message encoded about what we take to heart!

February 17, 2021

Carving out Sacred Spaces

I've been thinking a lot about space recently...

February 10, 2021

Spreading Fires: Applying Mishpatim to Impeachment

Future generations will look back on this week as the first time an American president ever faced a second impeachment trial. Whatever the outcome, we are witnesses to history in the making.

February 3, 2021

Punctuating the Monotony with Memorable Moments

Yesterday, Feb 2nd, was Groundhog Day. Sometime relatively early in Covid lockdown last spring, my family (re)watched the 1993 comedy by that name. Bill Murray plays the lead role in the film: a cynical TV weatherman assigned to cover the annual Groundhog Day event in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, who gets stuck in a time loop and is forced to relive the same day over and over.

January 26, 2021

Finding the Oasis -- and the Tree of Life -- in the Wilderness!

This week's Torah portion, Parashat Beshallach, is a stand-out. The Israelites cross the sea out of Egypt (arguably the most dramatic miracle of the Bible!) and rejoice with the Song of the Sea as they arrive on the other shore. But, with Tu Bishvat tomorrow/Wednesday night and Thursday, trees and nature have been on my mind, and as I re-read the Torah portion, I was drawn to a verse that I had never paid much attention to before.

January 20, 2021

Two blessings for this big day!

Today is such a big day and an important transition for our country.

January 6, 2021

Defeating Pharaoh, and Bending the Arc towards Justice

This week, we begin reading a new book: Exodus / Shemot. The first chapter of Exodus is a veritable character study of Pharaoh. We meet Pharaoh in verse 8 and learn that he "knew not Joseph"... in other words, he is different than the pharaohs who have come before him. In verses 9 and 10, we hear Pharaoh's ego and fear come through from behind the text, and we witness how he manipulates through words as he tries to convince his people that the Israelites are a threat. We see how his Egyptian "base" takes up his cause in verses 13 and 14, transforming into oppressors themselves, and ruthlessly imposing upon the Israelites various labors and embittering their lives. And finally, we see Pharaoh's violent tendencies escalate -- from a place of fear yet again -- as he commands first that all baby boys be killed in private as soon as they are born (verse 15), and then, when that plan fails, that his people murder Israelite babies by drowning them publicly in the Nile River (verse 22).

December 30, 2020

What will we carry forward from this year?!

As 2020 draws to a close, I’m sure many of us have been reflecting on some variant of the question: what will we carry forward with us from this year?

December 23, 2020

Facial Recognition

Last month, for my birthday, my husband bought me a new cell phone. It's a big step up for the one I've been using for many years, which didn't hold a charge well and had cracks in the screen patched with scotch tape. This new phone is fast and bright, but the most amazing feature to me is its facial recognition ability -- that is, it unlocks automatically when I'm looking directly into it and it can "see" my face.

December 16, 2020

The Wisdom of Solomon: Protecting our Democracy from the Sword

The Jewish calendar is intricate, and sometimes quirky. By one of those quirks -- relating to which day of the week Rosh Hashanah fell on and how many days there were in the Hebrew month of Cheshvan this year -- we find ourselves in an unusual calendar situation. In a typical year, this week's Torah portion, Parashat Miketz, would have been read during Chanukah, but this year, for the first time in two decades, Miketz is read on the Shabbat after Chanukah.

December 9, 2020

Kavana Fashion Trends 2020: Garments of Light!

Just out of curiosity, what have you been wearing lately?? 2020 has certainly changed the fashion industry! This week, I read a New York Times article entitled "Goodbye, Blazers; Hello, 'Coatigans,'" and learned a new phrase: "Mullet Pajamas" (which Urban Dictionary defines as "pajama pants worn with your regular shirt or top. Business on top, party on the bottom."). Besides being funny, these pandemic fashion trends illustrate that garments possess dual abilities: to reveal truths about our reality, and also to conceal and mislead.

December 2, 2020

Pausing to Catch our Breath under the “Oak of Weeping”

This week’s Torah portion, Vayishlach, is action-packed.

November 11, 2020

Inviting Small Acts of Generosity and Kindness (in the spirit of Rebecca and in memory of Rabbi Jonathan Sacks)

The Torah is usually terse and concise, but this week's parasha, Chayei Sarah, centers around a long story that is anything but! All 67 verses of Genesis chapter 24 are devoted to a single narrative: the tale of Abraham sending his servant on a journey to find a wife for his son Isaac, and returning with Rebecca, a woman of great agency, strength and generosity.

November 4, 2020

Today we wait... and follow Abraham (not Sodom!)

We Jews know how to wait. That is, we deeply understand humanity's imperfections, and that the presence of injustice or cruelty in our world cannot undermine our steadfast focus on trying to achieve our vision of a more perfect, more just future. We have lots of historical experience to draw on, and much language for this kind of spiritual resilience. One line that's been swimming through my head this week is from the prayer "Ani Maamin": "v'af al pi she-yitmameah, im kol zeh achakeh lo." Translating loosely here (and transposing what we're waiting for from a messianic figure to a time characterized by messianic ideals), this means: despite the fact that it's taking a long time for the world to change in the ways we believe it should, still, we are undeterred; we will wait - and work - until we arrive at an era of peace and justice.

October 28, 2020

A Multi-faith, Moral Message: Every Vote Must Count

Yesterday was the second anniversary of the violent attack on the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh. Its memory casts a long shadow for me, and this year, the anniversary feels like a powerful reminder of the very high stakes of next week’s election.

October 22, 2020

Preparing for a Postdiluvian World

This year, more than ever, I really feel for Noah after the flood.

October 14, 2020

Called to Moral Living by Parashat Bereishit

This week belongs to Parashat Bereishit, as we return to the beginning of the Torah and begin our cycle anew. New beginnings feel inherently exciting and hopeful... only this one is heavy too, which feels somehow appropriate in a heavy week like this one, when anxiety and fears about the upcoming election are looming large for many of us.

September 29, 2020

Riding the Wave (Roller Coaster?) into 5781

As we emerge on the other side of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, I want to pause for a moment to reflect on how truly remarkable this community is that we have built together!

September 27, 2020

The Delta of Change... and Possibility (Gam Zeh Yaavor)

Rabbi Rachel Nussbaum's Yom Kippur Sermon, entitled "The Delta of Change... and Possibility (Gam Zeh Yaavor)" is available to listen to or read.

September 18, 2020

Let Oneness Reign: A Sermon on Interconnectedness

Rabbi Rachel Nussbaum's Rosh Hashanah Sermon, entitled "Let Oneness Reign: A Sermon on Interconnectedness" is available to listen to or read.

September 8, 2020

Preparing to cross the river into 5781...

This week, I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that Labor Day weekend is now in the rearview mirror! Time has moved very strangely for me during this pandemic period, but still, it has continued ticking forward, and we now find ourselves less than two weeks out from Rosh Hashanah. We prepare ourselves to conclude one cycle and to begin a new one, uncertain about what the new year will bring, but also with a sense of hope.

September 2, 2020

Falling Back on Set Liturgy: Finding Keva at Kavana

This week, Parashat Ki Tavo opens with a famous sequence. The Israelites are told that when they will enter into the land, possess it and settle in it, they shall gather the first fruits of the soil, put them in a basket, bring them to a priest, and make two declarations. The first declaration is an acknowledgement that this is the land that God promised to their ancestors. The second, longer declaration is an abridged telling of all of Israelite history in a few verses, beginning with the words "Arami oved avi...":

August 27, 2020

Returning... lost objects, and ultimately ourselves

This week, let's keep our eyes open for opportunities to effect return -- whether this is in finding and returning a lost item to its owner, or in restoring core beliefs in our own hearts, or in participating in our own process of return... to our truest, purest selves, and to the spark of divinity that resides within each of us. As the Torah reminds us, we cannot remain indifferent; we must return.

August 20, 2020

Can you hear the wake up call?: Elul at Kavana

This week, we are called by multiple voices to wake up, and to move ourselves into a morally upright posture. When, in the words of Michelle Obama, we "truly open our hearts," we will be able to become who we want to be. Let's get up, and let's get to work.

August 11, 2020

An Invitation: Show Up & Bring your Gifts

We each get to decide for ourselves what work we need to do this year: what we need to reflect on, who we yearn to be, how we might bring our actions into better alignment with our aspirations.

August 5, 2020

Be Grateful * Be Humble * Pay it Forward

In this second week of consolation following Tisha B’Av, Parashat Eikev calls us toward a posture of gratitude and humility... and behavior of "paying it forward."

July 29, 2020

Pivoting from Loss to Love

This week is a pivot point on the Jewish calendar. Over the last three weeks, we've been descending more and more into the modes of mourning and loss, which will culminate tonight with our observance of the holiday of Tisha B'Av. As I've noted in recent weeks, I believe there's something very healthy about the idea that Jewish tradition provides us with a framework and an outlet for managing difficult emotions like sadness, anger and grief. This year, I know I am thinking simultaneously about the immeasurable losses associated with the destruction of the Temple in ancient times, and also the losses we are experiencing in this year due to the layered crises of the Covid pandemic, the economic fallout from it, threats to our American democracy, and the continued scourge of systemic racism in our society.

July 23, 2020

The Art of Lament

We are all living through a very intense period in history, and watching society around us change rapidly; our day-to-day lives bear little resemblance to what they did "before." While our emotional responses vary from one another (and also likely, from day to day, even within ourselves), there is much that we have lost, and much that's worth lamenting right now.

July 15, 2020

Matot-Masei and Meeting our Mutual Needs

Matot-Masei reminds us that the tensions between the part and the whole may be real, but even so, they need not result in a zero-sum game. Our Jewish tradition pushes us towards balance and mutuality, valuing both our own needs (land for our cattle!) and ALSO the needs of the collective society. As this Torah story illustrates, perhaps everyone can get what they need if we think expansively, and care about both specific and collective needs. This is Torah that our nation needs to be reminded of, in this fraught moment.

July 15, 2020

A statement from the African American Pastors of the Building Beloved Community between Rabbis & Reverends

The African American Pastors of the Building Beloved Community between Rabbis & Reverends Initiative in the Greater Seattle Area, do hereby detest and denounce the anti-Semitic July 7, 2020 Instagram post of DeSean Jackson.

July 9, 2020

Important Kavana Staffing and Covid Updates

It is certainly disappointing not to be able to be together in physical ways right now. However, we appreciate the many creative ways that people in our community have been showing up for one another, engaging in Jewish life together, and deepening relationships during this strange and isolating time. Clearly, ours is a community that values Jewish engagement, spirituality, and human relationships as essential functions… and when we apply our innovative frame, we are finding all sorts of ways to draw close (both emotionally and spiritually) despite the (physical) distancing.

June 23, 2020

An Everlasting Covenant of Salt: Keeping Things Fresh with Kavana!

As members of the Jewish community, all of us are so very fortunate to be the beneficiaries of an "everlasting covenant of salt." It's incumbent on each of us to do our part in the chain of tradition, transmitting values and ideas, and also empowering and encouraging each new generation of leaders to keep this a living, breathing, relevant covenant. This week, you can celebrate the "brit melach" by sprinkling some salt on your challah, strengthening a relationship with someone a generation older or younger than yourself, and following the example of the young leaders who are taking initiative to keep our preserved tradition feeling fresh!

June 17, 2020

Finding both Clarity and Nuance in our Calls for Racial Justice (from the Spies to Hillel & Shammai)

This week's Torah portion, Shelach L'cha, opens with the story of twelve spies sent across the Jordan River by Moses to scout out the land of Canaan. They return to the Israelites with their scouting reports, and two sharply divergent views quickly emerge about the land and the prospect of conquering it: ten of the spies are naysayers, and only two (Caleb and Joshua) see the full potential of both the land and their own abilities. In the Torah's narrative, it's clear that while the spies return with two opinions, only one is the "correct" opinion; as readers of the text, we are meant to follow the example set by Caleb and Joshua, of faith and optimism.

June 11, 2020

Becoming Lamp-Lighters

This week, one important lesson of Beha'alotecha is that there are times when we have to do even more than shine our own lights: we have to become lamp-lighters, the kinds of people who can ignite flames in others, causing light to spread far and wide.

June 2, 2020

Responding to George Floyd's Killing from a Jewish Place

This past weekend, our Jewish community celebrated Shavuot and the giving of Torah. At the exact same time, across our country, anger was building and protests were growing in response to the killing of George Floyd. In the days since, we've witnessed the situation in our country devolve dangerously... violence and looting (much of which has been fomented by outside agitators) is being used as a pretext for government actions that resemble facism more than democracy.

May 27, 2020

Malchut: Manifesting Torah and Celebrating Shavuot with Kavana!

Tonight, we will count the Omer for the 49th and final time; tomorrow night we begin the festival of Shavuot! This seventh week of sefirat ha-Omer is associated with the Devine emanation called Malchut, the sefiraat the very base of the sefirotic map. Literally, the word "malchut" means "rulership" or "kingdom." In a kabbalistic sense, it's the sefira most closely tied with physicality, and it speaks to how divine sovereignty is made manifest in the world.

May 20, 2020

Building on a Solid Foundation (Yesod)

This week of Yesod invites us to consider our own foundations and think about what grounds us. It's a reminder that, individually and collectively, we must build our lives solidly upon what's truly important to us. Although we don't always talk about Kavana's work in such theological terms, I deeply believe that if we manage to achieve this foundational grounding as a community, we have the power to manifest a higher (divine) reality in our world.

May 14, 2020

Hod: Finding Splendor through Humility and Acceptance

In the mode of Hod, this week, we strive for splendor through humility and acceptance.

May 6, 2020

Netzach: Persevering and Prevailing (+ Participating and Making a Difference!)

This week, the dominant national news stories have centered around the growing tensions about "reopening" the country.

April 30, 2020

Experiencing Pain and Finding Beauty, Together with Kavana

Together, we will keep moving forward, one step at a time. Together, we can still find beauty, splendor, and magnificence. Together, we've got this.

April 22, 2020

Gevurah... strength, fierceness, and resistance!

Gevurah means strength, but is alternately explained as fierceness, judgment, limitation, or bravery. On the map of the Kabbalistic tree of life, it sits opposite Chesed (lovingkindess, compassion).

April 14, 2020

Crossing through on Dry Land... and Creating the World Anew!

This year, especially, it's easy to get lost in the first part of the Passover story, with its emphasis on the suffering of slavery, the crying out, the plagues, and the sheltering at home waiting for the angel of death to pass. But the second half of the Passover narrative -- the part about exiting into a new future, and the birth of a whole new world -- is just as poignant and relevant, and equally important to focus on.

April 2, 2020

Entering Nissan, and Planning for Passover at Home

This year, most of us find ourselves home-bound as we approach Passover, following Governor Inslee's "Stay Home, Stay Healthy" order... a very different reality than we've encountered before in any of our lifetimes.

April 2, 2020

Approaching Passover in the Year of COVID

This year, I hope we will all mark the holiday in a meaningful way, even if that looks very different from Passovers past.