Notes from OUR RABBI

November 10, 2022

Nourished on the Knife's Edge

I write this as we are on the knife’s edge of an election... and, with ballots still being counted in some close races and at least one important runoff to come, we will likely remain here for some time. As I sit here keeping company with just about every emotion I can name, I’m drawn to knife imagery and metaphor. In my inner living room, they gather: fear packs a knife, anger unsheaths it, hope dances with a glint of silver light, patience whittles a toy or totem, joy carves out a bite to eat, and love and sadness together etch their initials deep into the heartwood.

November 3, 2022

Dust, Stars and Democracy

Election Day is quickly approaching (PSA: don't forget to fill out and return your ballot by Tuesday!!), and like many of you, I'm feeling anxious about our country's future. With lies and conspiracy theories swirling, a backdrop of violence and white/Christian/male supremacist ideologies, and many political races looking like all-out battles between democracy and fascism, it's clear just how much is at stake right now, locally and across the United States.

October 27, 2022

Noah's Missing Lion

One of my greatest fears (and one I am pretty sure will come true) is that people I care about in the future - maybe even the near future - will look back at how I moved through this era and wonder, Why didn’t he do more?

October 20, 2022

Bringing Fire & Water Back into Balance

Each fall, my sukkah serves as my personal "weather station." Some years, my family is able to eat all our meals outside, and other years, heavy rains make that impossible. In several recent past years, fall storms have brought winds strong enough to blow the schach (branches that form the roof) off the top of our sukkah and to mangle our decorations.

October 14, 2022

The Holiday Home-Stretch

We hope you are having a wonderful Sukkot holiday! Between Sukkot celebrations and preparations for the launch of Kavana's program year, our staff team has been busy reflecting on this spectacular High Holiday season.

October 7, 2022

Kavana Newsletter from Between the Holidays

What a glorious High Holiday season this has been at Kavana! It was lovely to gather with so many of you for Yom Kippur this week... some participants have described the experience as "most amazing" and "transportive." We will have more to say on this topic next week -- including a long list of volunteer and staff leaders to thank, and a follow-up survey to share with everyone who attended over Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. For now, here are a few glimpses below.

September 30, 2022

Touching Base from inside the Days of Awe

When our small but mighty staff and lay team began planning for this year’s High Holiday season, we articulated goals around striving towards a new “newness,” rediscovering and reinventing norms, and finding more and innovative ways to connect with one another this year.

September 21, 2022

The Importance of Showing Up

This past weekend was a busy and beautiful one for the Kavana community. Dozens of you turned out to sing with musicians Joey Weisenberg, Deborah Sacks Mintz and Chava Mirel and with other members of the broader Seattle Jewish community; the harmonies and energy were electric! Three Kavana education programs -- Havdalah Club, Prep & Practice, and our High School Program -- met for the first time in this new cycle, each bringing old and new participants together with a great buzz. People are turning up in large numbers to re-engage and reconnect... and it sure feels great!

September 15, 2022

Borders and Boundaries

I was struck upon first moving to Seattle how difficult it is to give directions based on geographical features. You can’t say, “Head towards the water” because water is all around. You can’t say, “Look for the mountains” because east or west we can (occasionally) see the Cascades or the Olympic mountains. Being surrounded by water and mountains is a wonderful and occasionally disorienting experience!

September 8, 2022

"Etching Compassion" in Preparation for the New Year

This week’s Torah portion, Ki Teitzei, contains the most mitzvot (commandments) of any parasha: 74 by most counts -- more than one tenth of all the commandments in the Torah!

September 1, 2022

Meeting the King in the Field

For centuries, Jews had called God “King” (or even more intensely, “King of Kings of Kings”). God, it was clear, could be compared to a king. Human kings, it was also clear, couldn’t hold a candle to the luminous eminence of the divine, despite what many of them claimed. God, like a king of old, was powerful. Like a king of old, God’s judgment and justice was meant to rule the land. God as king became part of every blessing and prayer we say (Baruch…melech ha’olam…, Blessed are You…King of the world…).

August 25, 2022

We are all Jews-by-Choice in Elul

I started my day yesterday at the Seattle Mikvah (ritual bath), where I was serving on a beit din, a panel of three rabbis, supervising a conversion for a baby who, through adoption, is now part of a Jewish family! Often, I am also privileged to witness such ritual moments for adults who have chosen Judaism, too. Within the Kavana community, together with many Jews-from-birth, we have many individuals who have chosen, along the way, to identify with the Jewish people and participate in Jewish life (whether or not that has entailed a formal conversion process). I always appreciate the opportunity to celebrate this powerful choice!

August 18, 2022

Refugee Torah

One year ago, the United States withdrew from Afghanistan, after several decades of attempting to fight terror and build a democratic nation. The withdrawal itself went poorly, and the decision to withdraw has its proponents and detractors. I’m not interested in getting into political reasoning or military strategy here, only in highlighting that as a result of American presence in Afghanistan and subsequent American absence, a number of Afghan people have needed to flee their homes and many of them have arrived here (with more still trying).

August 11, 2022

Looking Past Disappointment, to the Future!

This week’s parasha, Va-etchanan, is most famous for its “greatest hits” – and truly, it’s hard to beat the one Torah portion that contains both the Ten Commandments and the central prayer of Shema + V’ahavta! But, before we arrive at either of those key texts in our reading, Moses begins a speech with a recap, telling the story of how he pleaded with God, askingto be able to enter into the promised land, and how God denied his request.

August 3, 2022

Rebuke, the Right Way

By the time this week ends, we will be entering into Tisha B’av, the saddest day on the Jewish calendar. It marks the destruction of two Holy Temples, and over the years almost every great tragedy that has befallen the people while they endured exile. Throughout the centuries Jews have mourned, wept, chanted poetry of lament, fasted, asked why, raged, surrendered to the brokenness (at least for a day), and occasionally even opened themselves up to an unsettling form of communication - the rebuke. Tochecha, as it is known in Hebrew, is a deeply important spiritual practice, but one that is extremely difficult to get right. It involves telling someone else what they are doing wrong, in such a way that they are grateful you told them and change their ways. Can you imagine??

July 28, 2022

The Five Sisters

This is a strange moment we find ourselves in. I’ve enjoyed catching up with lots of Kavana folks since my return from Israel. It seems that – after 2+ years of pandemic time – many of us are finding ways to take advantage of this summer’s weather and rhythms. Overall (and even despite the heat), the Kavana community is actively soaking in summertime in wonderful ways: hiking and camping, visiting family out of state, traveling to exotic destinations abroad, boating and swimming in lakes, reading great books, enjoying beautiful sunsets. And yet, this summer, there’s an edge for many of us… an underlying feeling that all is not right in the world. By now, given vaccinations and boosters, we would have expected life in this Covid era to be easier; however, the new variant that’s emerged is spreading so quickly that positive Covid tests, disrupted plans, and the weariness of pandemic have become a way of life again… ugh! Socially and politically, the phenomenon is even longer term and more profound. Over most of the decades of our lives, many of us have had the sense that our society is progressing towards justice and equality (based on gender, race, sexuality, religion, and more). Now, though, we’re witnessing significant setbacks coming so quickly, and these connect to broader concerns about the future of our American democracy. What incredible dissonance we’re holding… beauty and disappointment and anxiety all at once!

July 21, 2022

Rushing into Stillness

As I am experiencing my first summer in Seattle, I have to say - everyone was right, this is glorious! What a beautiful season. People seem to make up for the relative lack of water coming from the sky by swimming or kayaking or paddle boarding in the lakes and seas around us. And the abundant sun does seem to energize a remarkable amount of activity. Whether we are enjoying the outdoors or adventuring out of city, state, or country, summer sparkles with motion.

June 29, 2022

Fantasy & Reality: Fighting Back against Injustice and Insurrection

The decisions handed down by the Supreme Court over the past week have been gut-wrenching. I know that many of you are sharing in my experience of grief and anger, and contending with a sense of disequilibrium, as we are forced to grapple anew with what kind of a country we’re living in. There’s a human fantasy that we can make the world work the way it should. But the radical shifts we’re witnessing in our country’s direction are reminding us of the fact that real life doesn’t work this way.

June 23, 2022

Becoming Twilight People

We begin our Torah portion with a minor textual dilemma. By the time we end the portion, the Israelites will have faced a major spiritual dilemma - and failed. I think the two dilemmas are related.

June 16, 2022

Hope Springs Eternal

This week's Torah portion, Parashat Beha'alotecha, opens with instructions about how to set up a "menorah" -- literally, a lamp-stand or light source -- in the mishkan. Thus it happens that the haftarah (prophetic reading assigned to accompany a particular Torah portion) for Beha'alotecha is the same one we read on Shabbat Chanukah: Zechariah 2:14-4:7.

June 9, 2022

Walking with Nachshon

We are only a few weeks away from the longest day of the year, and as it so happens we also reach the longest Torah portion of the year with Naso, which has more verses than any other. Luckily, long doesn’t mean boring. There are strange, possibly misogynistic rituals for allaying the jealousy of husbands (the Sotah ritual). We find precise descriptions for how to be holier-than-thou (the Nazirite vow which mimics the restrictions placed on priests, but for regular people).

June 2, 2022

As Open as the Wilderness

This week we find ourselves in the final days of Omer count-up, as we ascend towards the mountain and the holiday of Shavuot. This celebration of revelation -- where we recall the giving and receiving of Torah at Mount Sinai -- begins this Saturday night. Between now and then, we will also move through the Shabbat of Parashat Bamidbar, the opening section of the Book of Numbers.

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...":