The National Wellness Institute promotes the use of the “Six Dimensions of Wellness”. Addressing these dimensions — occupational, emotional, spiritual, social, intellectual and physical — “builds a holistic sense of wellness,” which in turn helps “build resilience and enable us to thrive amidst life’s ...
Five years ago today, on the 18th day of the Omer, corresponding to the attribute of netzach she’b’tiferet, my friends and I started a congregation in Harlem. We didn’t mean to. You see, we didn’t have any experience building synagogues. Many of us didn’t ...
What do Limmud and Cheesecake have in common? They both make a perfect complement to Shavuot. In these days of counting the Omer, we ascend spiritually from the narrowness of Egyptian slavery to the birth of our modern Jewish peoplehood and identity. And as ...
I remember the exact moment when Zayde, my grandfather, tried to engage me in a conversation about his death. He was living with prostate cancer that would inevitably end his life and he wanted to talk about possessions, specifically the apartment that he owned. ...
How many days exactly do we count between Pesach and Shavuot? Reading the biblical passage, one will notice that there is a slight tension. In Leviticus 23:15-16 we are told to count seven weeks, seven complete weeks, [49 days], but are also told “count ...
Right now, you are in the desert. You are moving in the midst of a great throng, and yet you feel trapped and alone. You are supported and yet you feel vulnerable, exposed; although assured of sustenance, you are unsure of this assurance, and ...
Rabba Shani Gross is the Director of North American Programs at the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies. Shani earned rabbinic ordination from Yeshivat Maharat, is a Wexner Graduate Fellow/Davidson Scholar, and a former Hillel Fellow for Rabbinic Entrepreneurship. ...
During World War II, the Nazis gave the leaders of the Greek island of Zakynthos 24 hours to write up a list of their Jewish citizens and their assets. This was the norm throughout Greece. Bishop Chrysostomos and Mayor Lucas Carrer returned the list ...
On the second day of Passover many Jews begin the tradition of counting the Omer. "Omer" is the Hebrew word for a sheaf offering brought to the Temple following the commandment “you shall bring a sheaf… and you shall count seven weeks (49 days).” The ...
Leviticus 23:16-17 You must count until the day after the seventh week—fifty days; then you shall bring an offering of new grain to God. You shall bring from your settlements two loaves of bread as an elevation offering; each shall be made of two-tenths ...
