Virtual Shabbat Box Archives: December 2023
December 1-2
Martha Hurwitz’s stunning poem evokes the liturgy of the High Holidays in asking how and why some captives are freed while others remain, investigating, agony of weighing one life against another.”
Add a new dish to your Hanukkah festivities by learning to make Aruk, Iraqi fried veggie patties.
Rabbi Lauren Grabelle Herrmann writes about a very personal situation, yet her message also applies to the state of the world: finding hope when there’s little to no evidence that things will soon improve.
Laynie Solomon, passionate teacher of Torah, explains how they draw strength from the study of Jewish texts and how Halakhah can be liberating for Queer and Trans Jews.
December 8-9
In this message for the first night of Hanukkah, Rabbi Deborah Waxman illuminates the blessing of reciting blessings.
Marques Hollie, a Reconstructionist Rabbinical College student, shares that even in times of extended darkness, each day can bring light, if we just look for the miracles of right now.
Gabrielle Kaplan-Mayer shares how she is using her creative spark to generate new light each day.
Hanukkah isn’t a time of hiding – it’s a time to let our light shine, teaches Rabbi Isaac Saposnik.
December 15-16
How do we celebrate a miracles and light when so many Israeli hostages remain underground, without access to sunlight? Rabbi Amber Powers offers a way, on the eighth night of Hanukkah, to hold pain and joy.
Poet Ellen Blum Barish reminds us that oil from olives once helped us rededicate the temple, and so, too, do they bring light into our dark world.
In this poem, Rabbi Alex Lazarus-Klein shares both emotional anguish and his source of hope.
Rabbi Alan LaPayover demonstrates how a Reconstructionist take on this medieval poem reframes our understanding of the “Festival of Lights.”
December 22-23
Rabbinical student Talia Werber reads her poem that touches on how the lights of Hanukkah can inspire and sustain us through a winter of darkness.
Learn about the growing awareness of the liberatory potential of Torah — and how rabbinical students are taught that Judaism and Torah are powerful, meaningful and guiding resources for movements.
Members of one congregation undertook a Reconstructionist process to fashion a statement on the war, providing a model for how to engage in the toughest of issues across vast political differences.
Christmas is next week. This piece from the Ritualwell archives examines the December dilemma and how interfaith families might approach the holiday season.
December 29-30
Rabbi Amy Eilberg addresses feelings of pain, anger and hopelessness that many of us have experienced during wartime. This podcast episode is about how individuals might seek healing and, maybe, how Jewish communities can address trauma to become healthier.
Focusing intention on courage of all kinds, Rabbi Shelly Barnathan chants Mi Shebeirach, asking for all of us to experience the renewal of body and spirit.
Sheila Peltz Weinberg describes a spiritual path that leads to happiness and has the potential to reconnect us to our pure souls.
Poet and painter Cathleen Cohen covers her figurative canvas with an ode to nuance, love and kindness.
