Shanah tovah. Welcome to 5778 and to renewing our holy journey together as we "return to the land of our souls." For 3,000 years, our people have craved shalom – peace within, peace between, peace for all. Judaism is about shalom – seeking shalom and making shalom. Rosh Hashanah renews this call, to repair what's… Continue reading Renewing our holy wholeness
Author: velveteenrabbi
R. Rachel Barenblat has been blogging as the Velveteen Rabbi since 2002.
The great rebalance of heaven and earth
Here they come again – those great, holy wondrous Days of Awe. Something about the 10 days from Rosh Hashanah through Yom Kippur calls us back to ourselves – back to community, back to our souls, back to parts of ourselves that maybe we forgot (or we'd rather forget). Maybe it's changing light of the… Continue reading The great rebalance of heaven and earth
The Way We Were – Anniversaries, September 11, and Standing Together Again
Today is the 16th anniversary of the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington. For awhile, 9/11 changed much about how we see ourselves, each other and the world. For many, these changes are permanent – in lives lost, innocence shattered, industries changed, and political ripples around the globe. For awhile, we stood together as a… Continue reading The Way We Were – Anniversaries, September 11, and Standing Together Again
The Appetite for Hate
These weeks leading to Rosh Hashanah – especially amidst the tumult of the world – call us to seek and find the good in each other, and make good on our own call to be our best selves. Easier said than done. The tumult of the world dredges up sediment of fear, anxiety, anger, powerlessness… Continue reading The Appetite for Hate
Judaism’s Three Rs for the 21st Century
Decades of educators used the Three Rs as a teaching slogan. Think what we may of “reading, writing and arithmetic,” the Three Rs are a catchy enough line that most of us recognize it. The environmental movement has its own Three Rs (“reduce, reuse, recycle”), as does the cognitive psychology of forming good habits (“reminder, routine, reward”).… Continue reading Judaism’s Three Rs for the 21st Century
The Foundation of Our Lives
Even in these hazy lazy days of summer, our days are full of doings – of many kinds and for many reasons. Why do we do what we do? Answers vary with circumstance: hopes of getting ahead, fears of falling behind, family commitments, laws, goals, traditions, love, pain and more. This week's Torah portion (Eikev)… Continue reading The Foundation of Our Lives
How to take a real vacation
It's summer, and 58% of Americans are likely to take vacations – some by plane, most by car. Vacations have countless motivations: visit friends or family, change scenery, change pace, have fun, relax, seek adventure, (re)kindle romance, find ourselves or get away from it all. Sometimes vacations work their magic: we return refreshed – at… Continue reading How to take a real vacation
Our Sacred Cows
We all have "sacred cows" – ideas, habits and commitments seemingly so core to who we are that we might hold them nearly inviolate. Often they seem like the bedrock of our lives – how we know ourselves, how we want others to know us, how we shape our identity, and how we arrange our… Continue reading Our Sacred Cows
In Cloud’s Shadow: Spirituality and Darkness
Is it just me, or lately do there seem to be more clouds of confusion and despair obscuring hearts, minds, communities and public discourse? As I write these words, even my East Coast home is shrouded in a bizarre meteorological June gloom more reminiscent of coastal California. Amidst literal and metaphorical cloudy skies, what should… Continue reading In Cloud’s Shadow: Spirituality and Darkness
The reason for patience
If patience is a virtue, then I tend not to feel especially virtuous. Often I want (now) to fix (now) what's wrong in the world (now) – and rush hour traffic can seem like ironically named torture. From feeding our hunger to speaking our minds, it's a very human impulse to indulge each arising desire,… Continue reading The reason for patience
What Judge Abdus-Salaam’s Death Teaches Us About Assumptions
On April 12, 2017, the New York Police Department found Sheila Abdus-Salaam, Associate Judge of the New York Court of Appeals, floating dead in the Hudson River. She was eulogized on May 26, 2017, as an exemplary jurist of intelligence and compassion, and a trailblazer – the first African American woman to serve on New… Continue reading What Judge Abdus-Salaam’s Death Teaches Us About Assumptions
Passing the Flame Forward: A Letter from Rachel and David
In early 2015 it was announced that we would serve as the next co-chairs of ALEPH: Alliance for Jewish Renewal. Today we announce that we are stepping down. Our term will end in July. When we began, we saw four key goals. First, to help steward ALEPH through the complex aftermath of the death of… Continue reading Passing the Flame Forward: A Letter from Rachel and David
A Missing Friend is a Holy Clue
We all know how it feels to be sick. What I didn’t realize until recently is that what scientists call “sickness behaviors” – lethargy, self-care and social withdrawal – can have vital social and spiritual purposes, if we pay careful attention. “Sickness behaviors” are among the ways that bodies are hard-wired to protect themselves. For… Continue reading A Missing Friend is a Holy Clue
Shabbat, renewal, and you
A d'var Torah offered at Congregation Bet Ha'Am in Portland, Maine. Offered aloud by Rabbi Rachel; jointly written by R' Rachel and R' David. Welcome home. Why am I welcoming you home when you live here and I'm the visitor? I don't mean welcome home to Bet Ha'Am; I mean welcome home to Shabbat – or more… Continue reading Shabbat, renewal, and you
Lessons learned from saying yes to a differently-abled bar mitzvah boy
“They” said “Jon” couldn’t possibly manage a bar mitzvah. Jon is a teen with physical, cognitive and emotional special needs, whose parents heard “can’t” countless times from countless people in so-called authority. “They” are some well-intentioned members of a spiritual community, similar to many communities with needs exceeding the capacity of valiant but over-extended volunteers. When… Continue reading Lessons learned from saying yes to a differently-abled bar mitzvah boy
What’s Pure?
It's been awhile since I heard the word "pure" except to describe olive oil and Ivory soap – maybe also mountain spring water and 24 carat gold, but not much else. What sense we have of "pure" concerns just a few things, and mainly to mean a lack of impurity. A circular definition – "pure… Continue reading What’s Pure?
The Healing Sound of Silence
He was hurting. He had shared with me bad news about his personal life, and now it seemed my turn to speak. The seconds of silence while he waited were pregnant, deafening, heavy like lead. Thickness hung in the air and seemed to freight his breath. His pain in waiting seemed almost desperate. “Say something,”… Continue reading The Healing Sound of Silence
Your Holy Uplift
Some values are timeless, but how we express them can change over time. This week's Torah portion (Tzav) uplifts this idea through the example of how we handle shame and guilt. What Torah calls us to do – uplift shame and guilt – often isn't our first impulse. Torah expresses this truth with "sacrifices," the… Continue reading Your Holy Uplift
A Seder for Israel?
The idea of a seder (“order”), using a haggadah (a “make-telling” text) to tell a spiritual story, is wired into Jewish life. Jews call ourselves a “People of the Book,” but first we’re a “People of the Story.” For countless generations, Jews self-defined partly by a universally human Master Story – creation, bondage, liberation, revelation, journey, redemption, continuity, change – told through the… Continue reading A Seder for Israel?
Smashing Success: Democracy and Discontent
"Democracy," quipped Winston Churchill, "is the worst form of government except for all the others." This week's Torah portion (Ki Tisa) couldn't agree more. While awaiting Moses' return from atop Sinai, the people felt afraid and abandoned. Seized with fear, they rebelled against the Ten Commandments they just received: they wanted Aaron to make them… Continue reading Smashing Success: Democracy and Discontent
David Evan Markus 