Virtual Shabbat Box Archives: November 2024
November 29-30
Rabbi Sandra Lawson discusses Thanksgiving from a Reconstructionist and contemporary perspective.
The Reconstructionist prayerbook reprints this classic New Yorker story about an immigrant home and one girl’s desire for an authentic, American Thanksgiving.
Writer and editor Gabrielle Kaplan-Mayer offers prompts to share different experiences of gratitude at your Thanksgiving table.
This Thanksgiving Day prayer focuses on gratitude for “hope in uncertainty.”
November 22-23
Rabbi Jacob Staub explores Abraham’s journey to Mount Moriah. What can we learn from Abraham about how to face the uncertainty and anxiety of this moment?
In a conversation with Reconstructing Judaism, Justin Smolen Rosen shares his Jewish journey and how the Thriving Communities team is serving Reconstructionist communities.
Writer Bryan Schwartzman expresses gratitude for one immigrant in his life. The poet aims, in a small way, to counteract too much dehumanizing language about immigrants.
The founding director of the Jews of Color Sanctuary explains her fascination with Bilhah and Zilpah, two enslaved women who didn’t get speaking roles in the Torah.
November 15-16
In honor of the Transgender Day of Remembrance, Rabbi Sandra Lawson spotlights the Jewish teaching that we are all created in the image of God. Our actions, she writes, must reflect this principle.
This practical list can help you become a better ally to transgender folks.
Invoking the v’ahavta prayer and the work of Salvadoran poet Roque Dalton, Aura Levin Morales’ poem invites the reader to imagine a better world and to set out building it.
These 20–plus essays describe, from a Jewish perspective, practices that citizens employ to defend democracy and, if necessary, resist tyranny.
November 8-9
How do we move beyond bitter divisions or cultivate optimism? Rabbi Deborah Waxman talks with Justin Rosen Smolen about the concept of covenantal community and how it is expressed in the world.
Enjoy these songs of healing and hope today performed by Rabbi Annie Lewis and Rabbi Yosef Goldman — originally recorded during the pandemic but just as relevant today.
In honor of Veteran’s Day, this prayer asks for healing for our veterans and asks that we fulfill our collective responsibility to those who have sacrificed on behalf of the United States.
Rabbi Jonathan Kligler’s commentary on one of the most well-known portions of the Torah — God’s call to Abram to leave his home behind — reminds us that each day presents a chance to grow in awareness and love.
November 1-2
Rabbi Nancy Fuchs Kreimer’s essay frames defending democracy as a series of spiritual practices informed by Jewish teachings.
This Trisha Arlin poem treats voting as a sacred ritual.
Tareq Abu Hamed, Ph.D., and Rabbi Michael M. Cohen discuss how the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies continues to bring Arabs and Jews together during wartime.
Rabbi Deborah Waxman, Ph.D., and Rabbi William Plevan, Ph.D., dive deep into Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan’s thinking on democracy and pluralism and why it matters today.
