The Power of Collective Prayer

Jan 19, 2008 By Edward Feld | Commentary | Beshallah

There are powerful moments when a community comes together, moments in which each individual feels his or her energy directed to common purpose.

Remembrance, Childbirth, and Renewal

Sep 27, 2003 By Melissa Crespy | Commentary | Rosh Hashanah

Remembrance. Childbirth. Renewed hopes and dreams.

Teshuvah: Seeking the Hidden Face of God

Sep 26, 2014 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Ha'azinu | Shabbat Shuvah

This coming Shabbat, the Sabbath between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, is known as Shabbat Shuvah, the “Sabbath of Return.”

Avodah: In the Service of God

Aug 4, 2012 By Samuel Barth | Commentary

The Hebrew word avodah has a powerful history, embracing domestic service (Jacob for Laban) and enslavement (Israelites in Egypt), as well as ritual, sacrifice, and prayer. Avodah is often translated with the complex and highly ambiguous English word service, which has implications in the United States of military service, servitude, and religious gatherings.

Our Prayers for Israel—For Whom Is the Message?

Jul 24, 2014 By Samuel Barth | Commentary

A serious challenge confronting the all-too-human venture of praying to God is in working out what we can say to the “One Who knows all.” A prayer for a congregation to recite in the face of destructive storms might open with the words, “God, we stand before you in time of peril”—but if God truly knows all, might we not assume that God is well aware of the peril facing the community?