The Greatest Sin
The High Holiday Vidui – the Jewish confessional prayer – contains a broad list of transgressions. This meditation suggests that the greatest sin of all is failure…
Read articleMeditation on the Eve of a New Year
A new meditation — written this morning — as the year 5774 comes to an end. May 5775 bring hope, blessing and peace. Instructions for using…
Read articleGates
Standing before the gates of heaven in prayer – yearning for them to stay open long enough for true repentance to be heard – is a…
Read articleRepentance Inside
What does it take to internalize a deep sense of repentance, so that real change is possible? What will it take to be the man G-d…
Read articleYom Kippur 5774
Yom Kippur. A day of prayer. Of fasting. Of repentance. It can be deadly dull, hour after hour, year after year. Yet, I’ve experienced moments that…
Read articleLet Your Heart Stir
This three-stanza prayer/poem reflects the spiritual journey of t’shuva, repentance and return. The first stanza represents the month of Elul, when we are literally called to…
Read articleCry, No More
This prayer is about having compassion for ourselves while repairing the damage we’ve done to self and others. I wrote it after my first Yom Kippur in…
Read articleAwake You Slumberers!
“Awake, ye sleepers from your slumber, and rouse you from you from your lethargy. Scrutinize your deeds and return in repentance.” – רמב”ם Are you awake?…
Read articleMeditation Before Neilah
This meditation for the last service of Yom Kippur is the second prayer inspired by a song composed by my cousin Irwin Keller for Neilah called “At…
Read articleAt the Gates
This prayer is about standing at the gates of heaven in prayer. It alludes to the Un’taneh Tokef which asserts that t’shuva (repentance), t’fillah (prayer) and…
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