Category: October 7th and Israel-Hamas War

They're Home and We are Starting the Torah Anew

They’re Home and We are Starting the Torah Anew

We are preparing to conclude our high holiday season with Simchat Torah – the celebration of completing the Torah reading cycle. One of the curious ...
October 13, 2025 Holidays Israel

Where Is God During The Season Of Our Gladness

Balancing mourning and joy, celebration and grief, can be difficult and we wonder where is God during the Season of our Gladness—holidays?
October 10, 2025 Holidays Israel

What Sukkot Teaches About Joy

As we enter into the time of Sukkot, we can take the time to learn and teach about the joy that celebrating the holiday can ...
October 3, 2025 Holidays Israel

Sukkot Are Temporary Shelters For Peace

In a reflection before Sukkot and the anniversary of October 7, this author views Sukkot as temporary shelters for peace and what we need now. ...
October 3, 2025 Holidays Israel

Balancing Pain and Celebration: Sukkot Message 5786

As we reach Sukkot and the anniversary of October 7, Jacob Blumenthal provides a message about balancing pain and celebration.
October 3, 2025 Holidays Israel

Dancing on Your Behalf

When hakafot are impossible on Simchat Torah, especially during war, there is an alternative, a way to dance on someone else's behalf.
October 3, 2025 Holidays Israel
Dayenu A Passover Message

Dayenu: A Passover Message

This Passover, and beyond, may we have the blessing of adding a few more verses of Dayenu for the miracles in our lives, and our ...
April 10, 2025 Holidays October 7th and Israel-Hamas War
Partial Deliverance is Still a Blessing

Partial Deliverance is Still a Blessing

Dayenu reminds us to appreciate the steps toward redemption, and we must continue taking small but meaningful steps too.
April 6, 2025 Holidays October 7th and Israel-Hamas War
EJ and the Ongoing Situation in Israel and Gaza

EJ and the Ongoing Situation in Israel and Gaza

We can never make up the losses suffered in this conflict, we can only continue in the path of justice and equity that the Torah ...
, February 21, 2025 Exploring Judaism Blog October 7th and Israel-Hamas War
תכלה שנה וקללותיה – תחל שנה וברכותיה

תכלה שנה וקללותיה – תחל שנה וברכותיה

ובאמת, לצד האסונות שידענו לאורך אלפי שנות קיומנו, ידענו גם לקום, להתאחד ולהתחזק מתוך השבר. וכך יהיה גם הפעם.
September 23, 2024 High Holidays Holidays
End the Year and Its Curses – Begin the Year with Its Blessings

End the Year and Its Curses – Begin the Year with Its Blessings

Despite the disasters we have faced, we have known how to rise, unite, and grow stronger from the fractures.
September 23, 2024 High Holidays Holidays

Redemption Of Captives And Freeing Hostages: An Ethical Imperative

While Jewish law contains many opinions, the moral imperative is clear: every effort should be made to negotiate the release of hostages without delay.
, September 22, 2024 High Holidays Holidays
Reflections on Death (1973)

Reflections on Death (1973)

Heschel writes in 1973 in "Reflections on Death": Life here and now is the task. Every moment can be an achievement.
September 22, 2024 CJ Journal - 1945-1959 Confronting Death
Introduction to the Kaddish: For Those who Died in the Israeli War (1957)

Introduction to the Kaddish: For Those who Died in the Israeli War (1957)

Written by S.Y. Agnon in the Conservative Judaism Journal for those who died in the War of 1948, these words are especially fitting today.
September 20, 2024 CJ Journal - 1945-1959 Conservative Judaism Journal
A Yizkor for the Victims of October 7th

A Yizkor for the Victims of October 7th

May God remember all the women, men, and children of Israel who were brutally murdered on the 7th of October.
September 20, 2024 Death and Dying High Holidays
Yizkor for the Victims of October 7th

Yizkor for the Victims of October 7th

This Yizkor, for the victims of the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, attempts to capture the personal details of the people killed on this ...
September 20, 2024 Death and Dying High Holidays
כיצד ראוי לחגוג את שמחת תורה בשנת תשפ״ה?

?כיצד ראוי לחגוג את שמחת תורה בשנת תשפ״ה

חווינו אחד מן האסונות הגדולים ביותר בתולדות המדינה, ומאז, כיצד ראוי לחגוג את שמחת תורה בשנת תשפ״ה?
September 20, 2024 Halakhah High Holidays
How to Appropriately Celebrate Simchat Torah in 5785

How to Appropriately Celebrate Simchat Torah in 5785

With the ongoing tragedy of October 7th and the ongoing hostage situation and war, how do we appropriately celebrate Simchat Torah in 5785?
September 20, 2024 Halakhah High Holidays
כוונה לכניסת שמחת תורה תשפ”ה

כוונה לכניסת שמחת תורה תשפ”ה

דקות לפני כניסת החג, מתכנסים בבית הכנסת, לוקחים כלי חרס שביר ביד ואומרים האלה.
September 20, 2024 High Holidays Holidays
Intention for Simchat Torah 5785

Intention for Simchat Torah 5785

A ritual and intention before the start of Shemini Atzeret/Simchat Torah this year in 2024/5785 based on a Talmudic story.
September 20, 2024 High Holidays Holidays
In Need of a Divine Hug: The Embrace of the Sukkah

In Need of a Divine Hug: The Embrace of the Sukkah

This year, we should learn to experience the embrace of Sukkot by embracing one another, knowing that God is reaching out to embrace us, too.
September 20, 2024 High Holidays Holidays
Welcoming Special Ushpizin for Sukkot This Year (5785)

Welcoming Special Ushpizin for Sukkot This Year (5785)

This year, as we feel as fragile as the Sukkah itself, we offer a framework for Sukkot and Ushpizin – our Exalted Sanctified Guests. 
September 20, 2024 Holidays Observing Sukkot
A New Year Filled With Hope

A New Year Filled With Hope

Tradition reminds me that even if I don't feel hope now, it's still here. Maybe it isn't present right now, maybe we will find it.
September 19, 2024 Elul High Holidays
שנה חדשה מלאה תקוה

שנה חדשה מלאה תקוה

המסורת מזכירה לי שאפילו שאני לא מרגישה את התקווה עכשיו - היא איפשהו כאן. ואולי היא נוכחת כרגע, אולי נמצא אותה.
September 19, 2024 Elul High Holidays
Holding Both Joy and Sorrow

Holding Both Joy and Sorrow

Our hearts are big enough to hold all the emotions we feel during this holiday season, as we pray, eat, and observe the holidays together.
September 17, 2024 High Holidays Holidays
The power of memory making

The Power of Memory-Making

Memory-making, the way we tell ourselves our story, the way we frame our history, offers the opportunity to give us power and, ultimately, hope.
September 17, 2024 High Holidays Holidays
Gathering Our People: Yom HaZikaron and Yom Ha’Atzma’ut

Gathering Our People: Yom HaZikaron and Yom Ha’Atzma’ut

While I express my love for Jewish tradition, I am also holding the Jewish people in my hands and giving them a kiss as well.
May 9, 2024 Holidays October 7th and Israel-Hamas War

A Yom HaZikaron like no other… God-willing

Yom HaZikaron is different this year. Our troops are still falling and getting wounded. The sense of loss and mourning is not theoretical.
May 9, 2024 Holidays October 7th and Israel-Hamas War
Through My Children’s Eyes: Yom HaAtzmaut & Yom HaZikaron

Through My Children’s Eyes: Yom HaAtzmaut & Yom HaZikaron

Rabbi Rackover reflects on Yom HaZikkaron and Yom HaAtzmaut: For the first time, my daughter was afraid to share her Jewish identity. My heart broke.
May 9, 2024 Holidays October 7th and Israel-Hamas War
A SEAT FOR THOSE WHO CAN'T COME HOME

A Seat For Those Who Can’t Come Home

This year, as we prepare the seder, we encourage an extra setting at your table—an empty chair for our family still in captivity in Gaza.
April 15, 2024 October 7th and Israel-Hamas War Passover
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 Living

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 Living
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 Living
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 Living
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 Living
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