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Category: Living

My Good Mensches, We Are Modern Maccabees

My Good Mensches, We Are Modern Maccabees

We are the Maccabees of our modern time and we have the responsibility to keep the Ner Tamid lit for another generation.
November 28, 2023 #beamaccabee Hanukkah
Jewish Pride Guides My Actions

Jewish Pride Guides My Actions

From a love of Judaism and Jewish history, my Jewish pride guides my actions, both public and private, and defines my sense of self.
November 28, 2023 #beamaccabee Hanukkah
Psalms for this Time of Crisis in Israel

Psalms for this Time of Crisis in Israel

Seven psalms as a liturgical response to our individual and collective emotions, including grief, fear, rage, desperation, and others.
October 19, 2023 Hebrew Bible Israel

Hearts Broken But We Will Keep Living

Amidst the heartbreak over the war in Gaza, appreciating our lives and feeling joy is an act of resistance and affirmation of life.
October 18, 2023 Israel Israel-Hamas War 2023

Prayer for Israel

Rabbis Nicole Guzik and Erez Sherman offer a prayer for Israel. This was first offered at a vigil on October 8th, 2023.
, October 13, 2023 Israel Israel-Hamas War 2023
Prayer for kidnapped israelis

Prayer for Kidnapped Israelis

A prayer for kidnapped Israelis by Hamas and are being held in Gaza.
October 13, 2023 Israel Israel-Hamas War 2023
Prayer for Simchat Torah War

Prayer for Simchat Torah War

Prayer for Simchat Torah War by The Rabbinical Assembly of Israel and Masorti Israel.
, October 13, 2023 Israel Israel-Hamas War 2023
Prayer for the Welfare and Return of Israel’s Captured and Missing

Prayer for the Welfare and Return of Israel’s Captured and Missing

Prayer for the Welfare and Return of Israel's Captured and Missing by the Rabbinical Assembly of Israel and Masorti Israel
, October 13, 2023 Israel Israel-Hamas War 2023
Talking to Kids About Israel (October 2023)

Talking to Kids About Israel (October 2023)

Rabbi Rebecca Rosenthal offers some wisdom on how to talk to children of all ages about what is happening in Israel in an appropriate way.
October 13, 2023 Children Israel
Violence in Israel: Self-Care and Mental Health

Violence in Israel: Self-Care and Mental Health

The bombing at Hebrew University was a transition moment in my life. I got by for about a month and then started to break down. ...
October 9, 2023 Interpersonal Interactions Israel

Exploring Judaism and the Crisis in Israel

October 9th, 2023 In the two years since we launched, Exploring Judaism has significantly impacted the Conservative/Masorti presence on the internet. We have worked to ...
October 9, 2023 Exploring Judaism Blog Israel
Remembering Our Loved Ones Before Us

Remembering Our Loved Ones Before Us

When our loved ones die, who remembers those they remembered? Here's a way to remember all of those that came before us.
September 21, 2023 Death and Dying Family
Mourning: A Rabbi's Own Perspective

Mourning: A Rabbi’s Own Perspective

A rabbi, familiar with leading others through the process of mourning, goes through the same. Rabbi David Baum remembers his mother.
August 25, 2023 Death and Dying Holidays
Deja Jew, or, Asking the Question Yet Again: Why Be Jewish?

Deja Jew, or, Asking the Question Yet Again: Why Be Jewish?

Dig deeper into Jewish identity, memory, spirituality, and wisdom, exploring more into the question: "Why Be Jewish?"
August 13, 2023 Daily Living Embodied Prayer
Tu B'av: A Day For Joyous Love

Tu B’av: A Day For Joyous Love

Tu B'av, a minor summer holiday following Tisha B'av commemorates joyous events in Jewish history and celebrates love.
July 31, 2023 Holidays Living

The Torah of the Summer Barbecue

Summer barbecues are great for relaxation and rejuvenation, and an opportunity to extend and receive hospitality like Abraham and Sarah.
June 22, 2023 Food Hospitality
Fatherhood as a Jewish Stay-at-Home Dad

Fatherhood as a Jewish Stay-at-Home Dad

Fatherhood has been a journey of obligation, an exploration of identity, and an opportunity to experience life through my child's eyes.
June 12, 2023 Father's Day Holidays

Re-writing the Wedding Ceremony: A Jewish LGBTQ+ Tradition 

"We were learning what being married Jewishly means and what's important to us as a couple, then inscribing that into the wedding ceremony."
May 29, 2023 LGBTQ+ Lifecycles
What do I do if I can't go to minyan when saying kaddish?

What do I do if I can’t go to minyan when saying kaddish?

Saying Kaddish for a loved one is a cherished and prized custom, but it is not the only way to remember and honor the lives ...
May 19, 2023 Death and Dying Every Day
How to Travel Jewishly

How to Travel Jewishly

How can you travel in a Jewish way? Emily Jaeger offers five solid ways that you might want to consider when you're traveling the world.
May 15, 2023 Living Travel
We Reclaimed Two Jewish Wedding Customs and You Can Too

We Reclaimed Two Jewish Wedding Customs and You Can Too

There are many Jewish wedding customs out there, finding the right ones for you can help you explore the more subtle emotions of the event. ...
May 15, 2023 LGBTQ+ Lifecycles
Planning my Queer Halakhic Jewish Wedding

Planning my Queer Halakhic Jewish Wedding

Making the choices for our queer wedding ceremony including the ceremony, ketubah, sheva berachot, circling, and breaking the glass.
May 15, 2023 LGBTQ+ Lifecycles

What Does the Month of Iyar Have to Do with Healing?

Iyar and healing refer not just to a named ailment, but overall wellness and health both internally and externally.
May 14, 2023 Health Illness
What is Healthy Jewish Pride?

What is Healthy Jewish Pride?

What is healthy Jewish pride? While exploring the past, present, and future of Chanukah, Rabbi Bernat-Kunin proposes a new home ritual.
May 10, 2023 Hanukkah Hanukkah Reflections

Fasting While Ill

It is considered forbidden to fast on fast days if injurious to one’s health, for the sake of performing positive commandments.
, May 10, 2023 Health Illness

Jewish Viewpoints on Serious Illness

We give thanks to God every day for the gift of life, but recognize that we are mortal and that illness and death will come.
, May 10, 2023 Health Illness

Jewish Customs Showing Care for People who are Ill

Visiting the sick is counted as one of the mitzvot that is rewarded both in this world and also in the World to Come. 
, May 10, 2023 Health Illness

Mourning Practices for the Loss of a Parent

The period of mourning for one’s parents is a full twelve months, and serves a deeply therapeutic function for the mourner.
, May 8, 2023 Death and Dying Lifecycles
death

When Death is Imminent

Judaism does not recognize any gray area between life and death. Whenever possible, a dying person should not be left alone.
, May 8, 2023 Confronting Death Death and Dying

Yahrzeit: The Jewish Anniversary of Someone’s Death

Yahrzeit should be a day given over to remembering and honoring an individual for whom one once sat shivah and is learning to live without.
, May 8, 2023 Death and Dying Lifecycles
A New Egalitarian Divorce

A New Egalitarian Divorce

Rabbi Barmash's new teshuvah empowers women and infuses the rites of marriage and divorce with more equality and dignity for both partners.
May 8, 2023 CJLS Divorce

What is Yizkor?

Yizkor consists of a collection of readings and recitations revolving around two central prayers: Yizkor prayers, and the El Malei Rachamim.
, May 4, 2023 Death and Dying Lifecycles

Bar, Bat and B. Mitzvah – Where did it Come From and Where is it Going?

B'nei Mitzvot are one of today’s best known Jewish milestones, marking coming of age as an “adult” and responsibility for one’s own actions. 
May 1, 2023 B-Mitzvah Lifecycles
Climate Disruption and Passover

Climate Disruption and Passover

Let’s do more than remember our refugee origin story and include how climate change and disruption are leading to new refugees.
April 3, 2023 Climate change Holidays
Mujaddara on Passover

Mujaddara on Passover

How my family created and passed down cultural traditions, and how the Conservative Teshuvah on Kitniyot impacts our life outside the academy.
March 19, 2023 Food Halakhah

Tombstone Customs in Judaism

Tombstone customs in Judaism stem from the religious obligation to mark a grave. This is traditionally done with tombstones or stone markers.
, February 28, 2023 Death and Dying Lifecycles

What Does Jewish Law Say About Autopsies and Organ Donation?

The halakhah does not generally permit autopsies, due to honoring the dead. However, there are two important exceptions to that rule.
, February 28, 2023 Confronting Death Death and Dying

Kohanim and Funerals

Kohanim were forbidden to come into contact or share indoor space with the bodies of the dead, apart from their closest of relatives.
, February 28, 2023 Death and Dying Funerals
Mourners torn clothing

Aninut: What Should Mourners Do Until Burial

The period from the time of death until burial is known as aninut - the customs of the mourners during the initial stages of bereavement. ...
, February 26, 2023 Death and Dying Lifecycles

How to Comfort Mourners During Shivah

What do I do when I go to a shivah? Remember that conversation should be about the deceased, not the mourners or the visitors.
, February 26, 2023 Death and Dying Lifecycles

Jewish Laws and Rituals for Funerals

What are the Jewish laws and rituals regarding funerals? Generally, a ritual washing, burial, and a funeral, each with their own customs.
, February 26, 2023 Death and Dying Funerals

What is Sheloshim?

Shloshim are the thirty days that follows the week of shivah and is considered a period of reduced mourning.
, February 26, 2023 Death and Dying Lifecycles
Floating candle

What is Shivah?

The word shivah refers to the seven days of mourning that follow the burial of a parent, child, sibling, or spouse.
, February 26, 2023 Death and Dying Lifecycles
The Four Mitzvot of Purim

The Four Mitzvot of Purim

Purim has something for everyone. In celebrating the Purim, our tradition outlines four special mitzvot for the holiday.
February 5, 2023 Food Holidays
Festivities and food on Purim

Festivities, Food, and Mitzvot on Purim

Purim is celebrated with days of feasting and merrymaking, and occasion for sending gifts to one another and gifts for the poor.
, February 5, 2023 Food Holidays
Life exists in relation

Life Exists in Relation

If we try to look past the tangible, if we focus on the other, in relationship, we can come to see the Divine, even if ...
January 27, 2023 Every Day Learning
Mikveh - Not just for niddah anymore

Mikveh: Not Just for Niddah Anymore

Moving well beyond niddah, mikveh is now used to mark any and all transitional and transformative moments.
December 27, 2022 Every Day Lifecycles
What is the jewish afterlife

What is the Jewish Afterlife?

What does Judaism say about the afterlife? Exploring the inherent conflicts between the different ideas and why that's a good thing.
December 25, 2022 Death and Dying Every Day
DIY Hanukkah and the Potato Menorah

DIY Hanukkah and the Potato Menorah

DIY Hanukkah: My custom of making a potato menorah and why DIY Judaica can provide a crucial connection to Judaism.
December 11, 2022 Food Hanukkah
Customs for Hanukkah

Customs for Hanukkah

Beyond lighting the menorah, Hanukkah customs include special foods, the dreidel and gift-giving, especially when spending time with family.
, December 6, 2022 Food Hanukkah
The Risks of Playing Jewish Geography

The Risks of Playing Jewish Geography

In the game of Jewish geography, you connect with who you don’t know by connecting through who you do know. But is the game good ...
November 17, 2022 Community Every Day
What does it take to feel Jewish

What does it take to feel Jewish?

Collecting experiences helps us feel like we belong. By doing ‘Jewish,’ we create meaningful Jewish lives where spirituality feels less contrived.
November 16, 2022 Conversion Jewish Identity
Dress to Impress Yourself…Into the Book of Life

Dress to Impress Yourself…Into the Book of Life

Sara Beth Berman teaches us: Everything you need to know about clothing the body that holds your precious soul for the High Holidays.
September 19, 2022 Clothing High Holidays
My Bangin’ Rosh Hashanah Seder

My Bangin’ Rosh Hashanah Seder

Emily Jaeger explains to us: What is the Rosh Hashanah seder, how do we perform it, and why you might consider doing one too.
September 15, 2022 Food High Holidays

Hold Onto This Rope

Rabbi Jessica Fisher reflects on the overturning of Roe: Mitzvot are a rope tossed overboard to haul us up from the depths and back to ...
August 10, 2022 Health Living
Before a Prayer for our Country: A reflection on the Repeal of Roe

Before a Prayer for our Country: A reflection on the Repeal of Roe

Rabbi Adam Kligfeld shares his reflection, before the prayer for our country, on the impact and our civic obligation.
August 5, 2022 Health Living
I Cried: A Reflection on the Overturning of Roe

I Cried: A Reflection on the Overturning of Roe

Rabbi Rebecca Rosenthal reflects on the overturning of Roe, the emotions she experienced, and the wisdom of Rabbi Chanina.
August 5, 2022 Health Living
How to call Non-Binary Jews to the Torah

How to call Non-Binary Jews to the Torah

Being called to Torah is a moment of sacred encounter. Here's how to call Non-Binary Jews to the Torah based on the CJLS Teshuvah in ...
August 1, 2022 CJLS Halakhah
How do Jews Celebrate the Birth of a Daughter?

How do Jews Celebrate the Birth of a Daughter?

There are several ceremonies that families use to welcome and name a newborn girl in the synagogue or in the home.
, June 21, 2022 Baby Naming Lifecycles
What is a Brit Milah, Jewish Ritual Circumcision?

What is a Brit Milah: Jewish Ritual Circumcision?

Brit Milah refers to the covenant of circumcision, both the ritual act and the festive occasion surrounding a baby boy’s circumcision.
, June 20, 2022 Baby Naming Brit Milah
Your Tween Doesn’t Want a B-Mitzvah? That’s OK.

Your Tween Doesn’t Want a B-Mitzvah? That’s OK.

By empowering children to own this decision, we’re helping them to develop into young adults, and isn’t that what a B-Mitzvah is all about?
June 20, 2022 B-Mitzvah Lifecycles
Why You Should Host a Pride Shabbat

Why You Should Host a Pride Shabbat

Aimee Close shares her story of becoming a synagogue member and the power and importance of Pride Shabbat and being welcoming.
June 7, 2022 Inclusion LGBTQ+
How to See and Be Seen: Choosing Judaism

How to See and Be Seen: Choosing Judaism

Shavuot is the holiday of choosing Judaism. We choose to see the beauty of the tradition and be seen holding it with full hearts and ...
May 20, 2022 Conversion Shavuot
Learning about Mental Illness from Ruth

Learning about Mental Illness from Ruth

Risa Sugarman teaches that comparing Ruth's strengths to owning our own positive attributes as primary instead of our mental illness.
May 20, 2022 Illness Shavuot
Mountain with fog and the words: Revelation: A Poem

Revelation: A Poem

Yakira Keshet offers a poem to commemorate Shavuot, her journey to Judaism, and the presence of our souls at Mount Sinai.
May 12, 2022 Conversion LGBTQ+
blurry image of a concert with orange lights with the words: Omer Mixtape Netzach week 4

Omer Mixtape: Netzach Week 4

Rabbi Jenna Stein Turow counts the omer and explores the inner self by connecting divine elements to songs that hold special meaning.
May 6, 2022 Music The Omer
Blurry image of a stethoscope with the words: What does Conservative Judaism say about Abortion

What does Conservative Judaism say about Abortion?

There are different sources, published by the Rabbinical Assembly, that express Conservative Judaism’s approach to abortion.
May 3, 2022 CJLS Halakhah
blurry image of a concert with yellow lights with the words: Omer Mixtape Tiferet Week 3

Omer Mixtape: Tiferet Week 3

Rabbi Jenna Stein Turow counts the omer and explores the inner self by connecting divine elements to songs that hold special meaning.
April 29, 2022 Music The Omer
Blurry image of a concert with blue lights and the words:Omer Mixtape 2022.

Omer Mixtape 2022

Rabbi Jenna Stein Turow counts the omer and explores the inner self by connecting divine elements to songs that hold special meaning.
April 29, 2022 Music The Omer
blurry image of a concert with red and blue lights with the words: Omer Mixtape Gevurah Week 2

Omer Mixtape: Gevurah Week 2

Rabbi Jenna Stein Turow counts the omer and explores the inner self by connecting divine elements to songs that hold special meaning.
April 23, 2022 Music The Omer
blurry image of a concert with Red lights with the words: Omer Mixtape Chesed Week 1

Omer Mixtape: Chesed Week 1

Rabbi Jenna Stein Turow counts the omer and explores the inner self by connecting divine elements to songs that hold special meaning.
April 16, 2022 Music The Omer
blurry image of dishes and the words The Important Thing That Keeps our Family “Doing Jewish”

The Important Thing That Keeps our Family “Doing Jewish”

The most important thing to teach the next generation is how to make a seder, including what comes before the festival candles are even lit.
April 13, 2022 Food Passover
The Four Questions and Living with Mental Illness

The Four Questions and Living with Mental Illness

We have the opportunity to help teens create long-lasting positive connections to the very traditions they are appropriately questioning.
March 31, 2022 Health Illness
blurry background of a grocery store with the words freedom and food allergies

Freedom and Food Allergies

How is one with food allergies supposed to feel free when they can’t partake in the matzo balls, charoset, cake, or anything else?
March 29, 2022 Food Health

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Exploring Judaism is a home for the Torah of Conservative Judaism, embracing the beauty and complexity of Judaism, and our personal search for meaning, learning, and connecting. There is always something to learn and explore.

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