Rabbi Jill’s Latest Blog Posts
Hanukkah Candle #2: Experiences That Formed You
For this 2nd night of Hanukkah, our question is: Which two experiences helped shape who you are? For the 1st night, we lit one candle for something we know for sure. Now we turn to experiences. Here are mine. I hope you will add yours in the comments. 1 — My graduate school degree in …
1st Night Hanukkah: 1 Thing You Know For Sure
Hanukkah begins in the darkest month of the year. We light the menorah (hanukkiah) for eight nights but we begin with just one. Each night, we increase the light by adding one new candle. Hanukkah means “rededication.” Tonight, we dedicate our lighting to deep knowing. It is hard to believe that we are still in …
Why Rosh Hashanah? Why Now? Who Cares?
Why Rosh Hashanah? Why ritual? Why come at all? (PS it begins Monday September 6 – yes, on Labor Day) Because — in the midst of our “tsunami of tsuris” an eloquent phase my colleague Rabbi Leah Herz coined – there is comfort in coming together. Simply being present with each other. Hearing healing music. …
Spiritual Journeying: Counting the Omer
Counting the Omer is a spiritual practice that is profound and transformative, universal and entirely personal. It is the next step in the Passover experience as we move out from our newfound freedom and journey into the wilderness. This year, in 2021, we start with day one the evening of the second seder, March 28. …
What Does Healing Look Like & Refugee Shabbat
I want to talk to you about healing. It was exactly a year ago this week when many of us began to register that the pandemic was going to upend our lives. In March of 2020, I agonized over getting on a plane to officiate a long-planned wedding in Chicago (the daughter of one of …
Healing: Seeking Wholeness For Soul & Body *Begins This Week!
It has been a year since we have been on lockdown and our lives disrupted. My husband and I received our second covid vaccine late last week, and in addition to the huge hope it instilled in me, it also allowed me to feel the weight of the last year. It is funny how that …
Healing Shabbat Meditation & Music
Friday, February 19 4:30 pm Pacific // 7:30 Eastern Join us for a very special Healing Shabbat. Meaningful prayer, music and meditation. We are so excited to welcome one of my very favorite humans, the multi-talented soulful Rabbi Aviva Funke as our special co-leader! Rabbi Aviva Funke is a mother, sacred-space facilitator, musician, and spiritual …
Hope Is In The Air
Bones longing for a rest, Breath waiting to exhale, Shoulders craving to relax, Belly hungry to unclench. Five years of waking up anxious, Guiding myself to count three grateful things Before I turn to the always “breaking news” Of another tear in the fabric of all I hold dear. In January of 2020, Determined …
