Betsy Frank is UHC para-rabbinic fellow and president.
All life involves transitions. We move from one place to another, sometimes willingly, sometimes not.
Our family relationships change due to marriage, divorce, birth and death.
Yet, we survive and our lives evolve into other forms. In January, we witnessed the transition from one U.S. president to another.
Disagreements are a part of our Jewish heritage and yet our peoplehood — our religion — remains intact.
Three deaths recently occurred during a three-week period in our community. Two were expected, with the passing of Martha Silverman and Louise Sommers. But Terry Fear‘s death took us by surprise.
Expected deaths certainly bring sorrow and arouse memories of our experiences with those who have gone. We often reflect quietly on their passing. Sudden deaths are much harder to accept.
Ruchi Koval wrote feelings of sadness can co-exist along with acknowledgment of blessings. And she said, “That’s OK”.
In these dark winter months, we may acknowledge the sadness. It is OK! The soul knows this is important and the soul also knows that spring will, indeed, come again.
Is 2020 really the year without holidays?
We celebrated the High Holy Days via Zoom. Thanksgiving and now Hanukkah occur during a partial lockdown. And if you are a part of an interfaith family, as are 71 percent non-Orthodox Jewish families, you probably will miss the family Christmas celebration.
The holidays haven’t disappeared but are certainly different this year.
I had been moping around lately contemplating the fact that Dick and I will not be celebrating with family — that is, until began to reconsider our situation. Technology has allowed to remain quite well-connected.
After each High Holy Days season, I hear several comments regarding the amount of Hebrew in the service.
Some say, “There was too much Hebrew and I didn’t get much out of the service.” Others observe, “More Hebrew and a more traditional service is what I want.”
Obviously, no one service will please all.
So, how did we get to this state of affairs? We are an eclectic congregation with some members who were raised in Orthodox Jewish families, some Conservative, and some, like me, in classical Reform congregations. Each of these traditions brings its own unique characteristics.