I spent all of Yom Kippur last year in a hospice in Denver, Colorado. In an institution filled with people who were dying, one of whom was my mother. It was the most profound Yom Kippur experience I’ve ever had in my life; more than that, it was certainly the deepest spiritual experience I’ve...
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On Yom Kippur we read the story of Jonah, the reluctant prophet who fled from his God-assigned mission on a ship, was tossed overboard, and spent three days inside a big fish before God decided to give him another chance. So naturally, the story of Jonah makes a very appropriate subject for a sermon...
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Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, the most awesome and powerful day on the Jewish calendar, is said to be a rehearsal for death. We wear a plain white kittle, a gown reminiscent of the tachrichin, the shrouds in which a traditional Jew is buried. We do not eat or drink, just as the...
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Last year 220,000 people watched Rabbi Naomi Levy lead her congregation Nashuva's Kol Nidre service. No, they did not expand the size of the Hollywood Bowl. The service was broadcast live online by the Jewish Television Network. JTN will be broadcasting the service again this year, and think they may get even more viewers. You...
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Yom Kippur 5765 Rabbi Dr. Barry Leff “Your mission, Jim, should you choose to accept it…” When I was a kid, I would hear those words coming from the TV, and then sit on the edge of my seat waiting to hear what kind of difficult, no, impossible, mission was going to unfold over...
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