Thoughts on being Jewish

By gapcohen - About Me - E-mail this page - Add to My Favorites - Add to Blog List - See other blogs in Religion & Spirituality

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

I Am Israel - A beautiful video

Click Here for a moving video about Israel. I used to sing that song every day while going to Hebrew Day School; The chorus translates into "Jerusalem of Gold, of bronze and of light; I am a harp for your songs." Every time I hear it, I'm brought back there. There is nothing more beautiful than the city of Jerusalem at sunset. Sign in to see full entry.

Friday, September 17, 2010

Yom Kippur Begins Tonight with Kol Nidre "Prayer"

The evening service that begins Yom Kippur is commonly known as Kol Nidre, named for the prayer that begins the service. "Kol nidre" means "all vows," and in this prayer, we ask G-d to annul all personal vows we may make in the next year. It refers only to vows between the person making them and G-d, such as "If I pass this test, I'll pray every day for the next 6 months!" Kol Nidre does not pertain to vows made from (wo)man to (wo)man. We say this prayer because we take vows so seriously that... Sign in to see full entry.

Monday, September 13, 2010

Prior to 9-11, there was a mosque IN the World Trade Center

Some people might be surprised, as I was,to find that 60 innocent Muslims died in the World Trade Center attacks. Many worked at Windows of the World, some were businessmen on work-related trips, and others toiled at careers throughout the several buildings. Also barely known; there was a Prayer Room - a Mosque basically - inside the Twin Towers themselves. Read this New York Times article and discover that New Yorkers were respectful and tolerant of this prayer room. One Muslim was even quoted... Sign in to see full entry.

Saturday, September 11, 2010

Mal and the South - a reply to Justi

Recently, Justi commented on a post by Nauticus referencing a Shira Law decision about rape within a Muslim marriage. I had commented first, illuminating an experience I had when I lived for several years in a small town in TX. So, Justi responded: " I don't know which is worse to turn a blind eye to this sort of thing or to use the Southern part of the United States as a whipping boy for all the bad as I read in gapcorns post." Justi - as it is my task during these Days of Atonement - If I... Sign in to see full entry.

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

High Holiday Thoughts: From one of my columns

G-d is purple. At least that’s what I thought when I was a little girl, standing for what seemed like days, at the very end of the Yom Kippur Service for N’ila - the “Closing of the Gates.” This was the time that we would recite our prayers most fervently - the whole congregation murmuring and chanting in unison - so G-d would seal us in the book of life. We’d been imploring G-d to inscribe us in the Book of Life, and now, as the Gates of Heaven closed, it was our last chance. At this point in... Sign in to see full entry.

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