God

Prayer may be an essential part of Jewish practice, but it is precisely because of its regularity that its inner essence is often passed over.

I struggle to find my place, hiding thoughts inside my head that cannot be revealed, impatient with a mind-numbing experience, reciting prayers that seem detached.

Whoever you are, whatever your year has been, the community proclaims: Anu matirin lehitpallel im ha-avaryanim. Tonight, we permit ourselves to pray together.

Most mitzvot summon us to perform tangible actions. Teshuva cannot be reduced to ritual or gesture. It demands intent, sincerity, and inner upheaval.

On Rosh Hashanah, we pray that God will enter our world and make His presence unmistakable – for those who strive to push Him away, and for those who have yet to open their eyes to Him.

No tyrant, no politician, no ayatollah, nor president can dictate our future. Fear no man, Isaiah is telling us, and trust only in God.

The haftarah of Shabbat Nahamu reminds us that no tragedy is final, no exile eternal. God does not abandon His people, the people of Israel. But comfort is not a passive process.

Moses does not stand alone on Nevo – we stand with him. Together, we gaze toward a future we build but may never fully enter. Together with him, many Jews look toward a land they may never cross.

In philosophy, a leap of faith is the act of believing in or accepting something not on the basis of reason.

I don’t want to be running to my bomb shelter multiple times a day, but friends, if we aren’t ready to pay a tough price for freedom, we have to be ready for barbarism.