Spirituality

Cross stiched image of a broken heart being sewn back together with white thread

With Wounds Still Open, We Ask: Where is God?

Rabbi Sandra Cohen

September 23, 2020

I do not believe that God sent us COVID-19, and I do not believe God will cure it. That is for humans to do, using our God-given intellect and ambition to develop the vaccines and treatments that will help stop the spread of this natural virus.

Purple and blue brushstroke painting by artist Julie Silver

COVID-19

Finding Healing, Finding Hope: The Powers of Poetry

C.E. Harrison

September 22, 2020

In a time as devastating as the COVID-19 pandemic, people heal in many different ways. For Cantor/Rabbinic Pastor Lisa Levine, healing comes in the form of music and poetry.

Dark and empty movie theater with a glowing white screen at the front of the room

High Holidays

Rosh HaShanah at the Movies: Contemplating My Relationship with God

Aron Hirt-Manheimer

September 13, 2020

One year, on the second day of Rosh HaShanah, we were shocked to find the doors of Temple Israel of Hollywood locked. It was news to us that most Reform congregations observed only one day of the holiday.

Forest path with light shining through and if elucidating the way

Yom Kippur

What Does it Mean to Make Successful T’shuvah?

Lee B. Kass

August 20, 2020

For the first time this year, High Holidays will be conducted remotely for our community – but it will show us that we can, as Rabbi John Rosove taught, truly “overcome the past for the sake of a better future.”

Two pomegranates sitting on a black reflective surface with their mirror images shown below

Jewish Values

Introducing a Meaningful New Way to Reflect This High Holiday Season

Rabbi Esther L. Lederman

Rabbi Leora Kaye

August 20, 2020

If the High Holidays were to be pared down to their very essence, what are some words and phrases that might come to mind?

Belonging. Connection. Memory. An accounting of the soul.

These are just some of the words that drove the creation of the URJ