Maya Bernstein
When I was pregnant with my first daughter, I became prey to the endless array of children’s gear, clothing, and toys marketed to parents as if they would be negligent… Read more »
Fertile Chaos
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Digital Judaica
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While there aren’t many Jews living in the hilly, sagebrush and juniper desert of Southeastern Idaho, something happened a few years ago that changed the way I was Jewish forever,… Read more »
Giving to Haiti: Some Suggestions
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Click through the links below to donate to Haitian relief efforts: American Jewish Committee in partnership with IsrAID American Jewish World Service B’nai B’rith International American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee… Read more »
Interview with Senior Editor Susan Schnur
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Associate Editor Melanie Weiss had an opportunity to sit down with Senior Editor Susan Schnur to discuss the Winter 2009-10 issue and its compelling theme, Our Bodies: It’s Complicated. Listen… Read more »
Breast Cancer Advice Refusenik
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In the wake of the recent controversy and confusion over proposed new guidelines cutting down on how often one should have a mammogram to screen for breast cancer, “Be Vigilant!”… Read more »
Accidental Maverick
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A few people who read my last post, “Jews as Gentiles?”, referred to the content as “edgy.” And here I was, hoping I was being nice enough. So maybe I’m… Read more »
Etz Chayim: Stepping off the Party Line
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This week I have been thinking about what we choose to reveal and conceal about ourselves when we do political work. We’ve all heard the endless debates about “political correctness.”… Read more »
Jews as gentiles?
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Pocatello, Idaho is not my first experience being a distinct religious minority in a small town. The first time I became known as everyone’s only Jewish friend was in DeKalb,… Read more »
Up in the Air (With Children)
Maya Bernstein
I used to love to fly. I would request a window seat and forget that I was in a tiny claustrophobic cabin and lose myself to the clouds, to the… Read more »
Jewish Community Involvement…and Skiing
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My first job after college was at a therapeutic group home for adolescent girls. This group home, along with many other family and children services, was operated by the Jewish… Read more »
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Shabbat shalom. We just need a moment to rest our heads...
Photograph from Library of Congress titled "Jew[ish] New Year – praying on Brooklyn Bridge [i.e. Williamsburg Bridge]."
![Shabbat shalom. We just need a moment to rest our heads...
Photograph from Library of Congress titled "Jew[ish] New Year – praying on Brooklyn Bridge [i.e. Williamsburg Bridge]."](https://lilith.org/wp-content/plugins/instagram-feed-pro/img/placeholder.png)
Shabbat shalom. We just need a moment to rest our heads...
Photograph from Library of Congress titled "Jew[ish] New Year – praying on Brooklyn Bridge [i.e. Williamsburg Bridge]."
With the High Holidays now upon us and the first yahrzeit of October 7th just around the corner, many of us are preparing to enter difficult, and often uncomfortable, conversations — whether it be at home, school, or work. How do we even begin to transform these moments into meaningful opportunities for connection and learning, rather than letting them become yet another source of tension and pain?
Yetzirah: A Hearth for Jewish Poetry, held its second Jewish Poetry Conference this past July and their board wrestled with the same question. They shared: “At the conference we wanted to do what we hope to do in our writing, which is to name what is real and challenging before us, and to go toward it with nuance and curiosity, to the best of our ability.“
For Lilith, they shared the methodology and template used to facilitate the conversation in the hope that more of us will be willing and able to name the pain we are facing, even if we disagree about the causes and the ways to alleviate that pain, and engage in meaningful, heartfelt, open dialogue. Discover this approach now at lilith.org — link in bio.
With the High Holidays now upon us and the first yahrzeit of October 7th just around the corner, many of us are preparing to enter difficult, and often uncomfortable, conversations — whether it be at home, school, or work. How do we even begin to transform these moments into meaningful opportunities for connection and learning, rather than letting them become yet another source of tension and pain?
Yetzirah: A Hearth for Jewish Poetry, held its second Jewish Poetry Conference this past July and their board wrestled with the same question. They shared: “At the conference we wanted to do what we hope to do in our writing, which is to name what is real and challenging before us, and to go toward it with nuance and curiosity, to the best of our ability.“
For Lilith, they shared the methodology and template used to facilitate the conversation in the hope that more of us will be willing and able to name the pain we are facing, even if we disagree about the causes and the ways to alleviate that pain, and engage in meaningful, heartfelt, open dialogue. Discover this approach now at lilith.org — link in bio.
On the cusp of 5785 as it seems more horrible news arrives with every hour, we are reminded by Marcia Falk on the purpose of prayer — to express our genuine hopes and needs. What prayers are you turning to right now?
Originally published in her germinal “Book of Blessings” and in Lilith’s Fall 1995 issue.
On the cusp of 5785 as it seems more horrible news arrives with every hour, we are reminded by Marcia Falk on the purpose of prayer — to express our genuine hopes and needs. What prayers are you turning to right now?
Originally published in her germinal “Book of Blessings” and in Lilith’s Fall 1995 issue.
Rosh Hashanah begins tonight and continues through October 4. In services, at home, or in the streets, many of us will hear the cry of the shofar. Tekiah. Shevarim. T’ruah. Tekiah gedolah. Will the sound echo as a baby’s cry? A shriek of glee? A woman`s wail? A reminder to hope?
Right now, we might hear the shofar`s sound in very different ways from our family members, our colleagues and neighbors. Some might feel there’s an unbridgeable gap between how we and these others understand the world around us. But it’s through our narratives, poetry, rituals, and art that we close the spaces and inch back toward each other. And it’s in the pages of Lilith that we share what may be differing interpretations—being changed by what the High Holy Days offer, and perhaps changing others.
May the year ahead draw you closer to those you love.
And may you have many blessings in 5785.
Illustration by @katzcomics
Rosh Hashanah begins tonight and continues through October 4. In services, at home, or in the streets, many of us will hear the cry of the shofar. Tekiah. Shevarim. T’ruah. Tekiah gedolah. Will the sound echo as a baby’s cry? A shriek of glee? A woman`s wail? A reminder to hope?
Right now, we might hear the shofar`s sound in very different ways from our family members, our colleagues and neighbors. Some might feel there’s an unbridgeable gap between how we and these others understand the world around us. But it’s through our narratives, poetry, rituals, and art that we close the spaces and inch back toward each other. And it’s in the pages of Lilith that we share what may be differing interpretations—being changed by what the High Holy Days offer, and perhaps changing others.
May the year ahead draw you closer to those you love.
And may you have many blessings in 5785.
Illustration by @katzcomics
“What if this year, our teshuvah leads us to breathe? To be present to the moment so that we can acknowledge who and where we are with our swirling thoughts and emotions – our fear, our joy, our despair, our yearning, our hope, our flaws, our overwhelm?”
With the High Holidays just around the corner, let`s take a moment to slow down and sit with Rabbi Jaymee Alpert`s words on the power of mindfulness and valuing oneself during this time of renewal.
“What if this year, our teshuvah leads us to breathe? To be present to the moment so that we can acknowledge who and where we are with our swirling thoughts and emotions – our fear, our joy, our despair, our yearning, our hope, our flaws, our overwhelm?”
With the High Holidays just around the corner, let`s take a moment to slow down and sit with Rabbi Jaymee Alpert`s words on the power of mindfulness and valuing oneself during this time of renewal.
