From Rabbi Rachel Kort
Taking It Day By Day
There has been a lot of conversation lately about burnout. Many of us are feeling the effects of being overstressed from more than two years of living with a pandemic. There is a “great resignation” of workers, especially in health care and education. Melanie Field and I were both drawn to the same story we […]
Support, Prayers, and Action
Dear Temple Beth Or Community: We often turn to our Shema prayer for comfort and grounding. As we process the school shooting this week in Uvalde, Texas, I want to share a kavanah (intention) written by our Reform Movement’s teenagers after the mass school shooting in Parkland, Florida: When we watch the news after each […]
Lag BaOmer: Emerging from Isolation to Community
Lag BaOmer is a minor holiday celebrated with major fun. Bonfires and barbeques are the tradition in Israel and at TBO this year too. While I know our communitywill enjoy s’mores together at the beach, we can glean deep wisdom from the holiday too. Lag BaOmer is said to be the yahrzeit of the second […]
Struggling with Our Sacred Language
The name Israel, Yisrael, means ‘the one who wrestles with God.’ In addition to being a people that wrestles with God, for thousands of years, we have wrestled with our sacred language, Hebrew, too. The first account we have of a public Torah reading is in the Book of Nehemiah. After fifty years of exile […]
B’nei Mitzvah: Not Just At Thirteen
Note about language: ‘bar mitzvah’ means “son of the commandment”; ‘bat mitzvah’ means “daughter of the commandment.” B’nei mitzvah is the plural form and is also used as gender inclusive and nonbinary. B-mitzvah can also be used as gender inclusive and nonbinary. This winter, I’m excited to officiate b’nei mitzvah ceremonies for Jonathan Hill […]
Keep Being Curious
As we begin to emerge from these hard COVID times I know I am not alone in reflecting on the positive practices I have taken on this past year. I have been thinking about those things that I would like to integrate into my life as I move forward. I am typically a goal-oriented person […]
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