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.

Click here to listen to the audio version, which runs about 32 minutes.

Click here to read Rabbi Rachel Nussbaum's sermon.

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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.