Sefirat HaBinyan: Counting the Building
If you prefer to read this essay as a downloadable PDF, it’s available in that format here: Sefirat_HaBinyan_Framework_Nerlinger. I. Two Corridors of Sacred Time The Jewish year is structured around […]
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Laments 5786
What are the laments of our hearts as we approach Tisha b’Av this year? What feels broken in us, in our communities, in our world? What are we holding, how […]
In Times Like These
What questions and passions animate us as we approach this particular Purim? Where in public life do we see analogies to Vashti, to Esther, to Achashverosh, to Mordechai? What lessons […]
After the Amidah: Acceptable to You
We began this journey with “Adonai S’fatai,” asking God to open our lips – a prayer before the formal prayer. We close with “Yihiyu L’Ratzon” and “Elohai N’tzor” – prayers […]
A Jonah for 2025
New for this Yom Kippur: a retelling of the Jonah story created for this year. After a prologue to set the scene, this script follows our two protagonists — the […]
New Haftarah for Mideast Peace (Rosh Hashanah 5786)
With the approaching new year’s sweetness, we taste the bitterness of suffering across the Mideast. What does this poignant Season of Meaning ask of us, and can we breathe new […]
Grant Peace – Amidah Blessing 7
The closing blessing of the Amidah asks for shalom: peace, wholeness, completion. What does this prayer mean to us today? What does it ask of God – and of us? […]
Answering Wickedness With Wisdom
The words in Hebrew for “chametz” and “matzah” are similar. They both have a “מ – mem” and a “צ – tzadi,” and the third letters are nearly identical in […]
From the Depths: Pesach 5785 / 2025
Once again, Passover approaches amidst some anxiety and uncertainty. Many of us are living in Mitzrayim / meitzarim / constriction. And once again, Pesach comes to remind us that our […]
Seeking What is Hidden
A revelation is not a creation of new information, but it is the ability to access something that was previously unknown. When something is concealed, it’s not less there, it […]