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  • At Thanksgivukkah, celebrate uniqueness of the separate holidays

    November 20, 2013 4:49pm

    How the specialness of Hanukkah and Thanksgiving can enhance the revelry of both holidays.

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    What children can teach us at Rosh Hashanah

    August 27, 2013 12:29pm

    Cultivating a relationship with God comes easy for children, and they can teach adults — if we only slow down to listen, writes JTA contributing writer Dasee Berkowitz.

  • In experiencing real freedom, the importance of boundaries

    March 11, 2013 2:15pm

    One of the lessons of Passover is that only within boundaries and structure can we experience true freedom, Dasee Berkowitz writes.

  • A Purim directive: Laugh it up!

    February 11, 2013 7:08pm

    Purim is a holiday that isn’t ripe with laws and ritual obligations, but the Scroll of Esther offers a directive for observance that is clear: Jews should make the days “of feasting and joy.”

  • With a candle each night, celebrate the many dimensions of courage

    November 30, 2012 7:14pm

    Overcoming our most natural desires and exercising personal restraint is a kind of heroism. At Chanukah, the suggestion here is to dedicate each night to this kind of everyday courage.

  • Keeping our word, improving the world

    September 8, 2012 7:46pm

    At Yom Kippur, a reflection on being more conscious of our words, their intrinsic holiness and their powerful potential to create a better world.

  • Five steps to studying and learning from the Torah

    May 15, 2012 7:08pm

    If we study the Torah the way a child plays with a toy — repeatedly and open to the possibility of discovering something remarkable — then perhaps we can discover something remarkable.

  • Storytelling lends even more magic to the Exodus saga

    March 28, 2012 6:00pm

    The seder experience requires us to be engaged storytellers, not passive participants. After all, the Haggadah states, “all who expound upon the Passover story shall be praised.”

  • Pump up the volume: Music propels the way to a rededicated Jewish life

    December 12, 2011 5:22pm

    Chanukah means dedication, so it’s a great time to do a little rededication of our Jewish lives. Classic and contemporary Chanukah music can help.

  • Taking seven steps to ‘Sukkot happiness’

    October 5, 2011 6:15pm

    “Sukkot happy” is a bit different from the kind of happy that our post-modern culture espouses. Here is a plan with seven steps to help you get there.