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“We are now faced with the fact that tomorrow is today. We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now. In this unfolding conundrum of life and history, there "is" such a thing as being too late. This is no time for apathy or complacency. This is a time for vigorous and positive action.”

These words...Read more...

It can be very easy to begin this new year without much hope. Watching the news is not very good for one’s health, as it can present a dystopian view of the near future. All the signs portend a year of despair, don’t they? Depending upon the lens through which you view the world, that is one possible outcome, but it does not have to be the sole version. Changing our lenses can change...Read more...

It is very easy over time to recite our prayers without thinking about the words. That is why Rabbi Shimon in Pirkei Avot 2:18 cautioned: “…do not make your prayer a prescribed routine…” If we think for a moment about the public chanting of the V’ahavta during morning or evening services, how many of us chant the words without thinking about what we are singing? The challenge for all of...Read more...

I do not think that it is a coincidence that during the darkest days of the year with the least sunlight, people across the globe created festivals celebrating light. In Pittsburgh, a typical day (assuming the sun comes out) has nine hours and 25 minutes of sunlight, while on the 4th of July there will be fifteen hours of sunlight. Chanukah, Christmas, Diwali and Kwanzaa all celebrate light. It would not be...Read more...

You may be familiar with the Hebrew word for thank you: Todah. It really means “thanks” as the direct object “you” is not present. If one wanted to be precise, you would say “Ani Modeh L’cha/Lach” – I thank you. Moments can occur throughout the course of our daily lives where Todah can be used. What about thanking God? Are there moments for that as well? 

Anticipating that we might not be of a mindset to regularly thank God, as we might not be attuned to the gifts that we receive from God, the authors of the prayer book created not one, but two different “thank you” texts and placed them into the daily service, helping to guide us towards a regular “attitude of gratitude” to God. We find these texts near the conclusion of the thrice-daily Amidah. I think that it is likely that they could not decide which one to use, as they liked both, so one is used out loud, and one is used privately. The out loud version reads as follows:Read more...