Muse
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How is Yom Kippur like Purim?
A midrash compares the two days, by noting that the most solemn Fast Day on the Jewish calendar, Yom Kippur, is similar to Purim: the day of feasti... -
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Teshuvah means Returning
Teshuvah/Returning
c. Yael Fischman, 2024
But I don't want
to return
to repeat the pattern
the circular staircase
ruin and recrimination.
I want- oh how I want-
to start again, (See more at https://www.renaissancewomankippot.org)
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And I sent before you Moses, Aaron and Miriam...
Legends concerning Miriam often involve a magical well which sprang up and followed her wherever she went. Some stories even say that she was a water witch, gifted with locating actual water where there was none: a very useful skill in the desert, yes?
She was also the one who had the vision to have the women pack their timbrels in order to celebrate their redemption at the shores of the Red/Reed Sea.
If Miriam impresses you also, please take a look at this headdress style kippah created in her honor!
www.renaissancewomankippot.org
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Happy Birthday, World! A Rosh Hashanah Message
My Mother and I have a custom around my birthday: she, of course, wishes me the standard "Happy Birthday" greeting. I respond, "Happy BIRTHING Day, emphasizing her continuing role in my life. On Rosh Hashanah, we celebrate the world's birthday... -
May God Make You Like...
Who can forget the iconic Sabbath Blessing duet from the movie "Fiddler on the Roof"? The parents in each household in the shtetl, the Jewish village, make, in essence, (although in English) the same blessing over their children as their ancestors made, and as we say today,
" May God make you like Ephraim and Menashe", for boys, and
"May God make you like Sarah, Rivka, Rachel and Leah" (Some put Leah first, as she became Jacob's wife before her younger sister, who was promised to him, did, but that's another story), for girls.
Like many of you, I never thought to question or examine this more deeply,
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June or Elul Bride: which is better?
June is a popular time for weddings, for many reasons.Marrying in the Jewish month of Elul (coming soon) is also considered lucky... -
Put on your Thinking Cap...
Did you know that a kosher kippah only needs to be big enough to cover one's fist? Rabbi Susan Grossman of Columbia, MD shared that teaching with m... -
Lessons from a fallen leaf
On a recent camping trip ( first vacation since...you know),I found a fallen leaf. Not an unusual occurrence in a woodland setting. Yet, this leaf was different from any leaf I'd ever seen before... -