Bereishit Genesis 1:1-6:8 Isaiah 42:5-43:10 “Bereisheit bara Elohim.” These are the first three words of the Torah, which we begin reading again this week: “In the beginning, God created.” This week, we roll the Torah all the way back to the beginning of beginnings, to the first event in the Torah: creation. Acting out of…
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Holidays
Torah
As Sukkot ends, your last chance for compassion
Chol Hamo’ed Sukkot Exodus 33:12-34:26 Ezekiel 38:18-39:16. On this Shabbat Sukkot, we read about Moses and the second set of tablets. Having just…
Recipe
Put the feast back in the 'Feast of Booths'
Sukkot is also known as the Festival of Tabernacles or the Feast of Booths — and I tend to focus on the feast part. Eating with friends and family in a…
Bay Area
Marc Benioff blows shofar, buys Time magazine
Tech executive Marc Benioff began a week in which he and his wife Lynne announced plans to buy Time magazine by blowing the shofar at Congregation…
Sukkot
Let’s revive this ancient Sukkot rain ritual
It’s always incredible to see our houses of worship overflowing on Yom Kippur, a powerful time of teshuvah — spiritual return, relational reconciliation…
First Person
In time of reflection, gratitude to my survivor grandparents
Every day, a new tech innovation born in the Bay Area revolutionizes the way we work, live and connect with one another, in San Francisco and throughout…
Israel at 70
Fixing the Israel-diaspora rift this Yom Kippur
On the High Holidays, the Jewish nation stands before God to be judged, both collectively and as individuals. The nation’s chances of being judged for a…
Mixed & Matched
My Christian boyfriend loves Yom Kippur
Dear Dawn: In the past you have said that a Jew shouldn’t make the High Holiday services the very first Jewish service that their non-Jewish partner…
Torah
How will you make the most of your short time?
Vayelech Deuteronomy 31:1-30 Isaiah 55:6–56:8 As I write, I am mourning the loss of my dear colleague, Rabbi Rachel Cowan, who died Aug. 31 from brain…