When a complex system is far from equilibrium, small islands of coherence in a sea of chaos have the capacity to shift the entire system to a higher order.” – Ilya Prigogine, Nobel Prize-winning chemist A few weeks ago I saw an article hanging on a community bulletin board titled: “Creating an Island of Sanity Read More
Author: Jodi Kushins
Stand Up, Branch Out: Living in Alignment with the Trees
This past Sunday we gathered for our 20ish annual Tu b’Shvat seder. As a community rooted in eco-Jewish exploration and action, this somewhat obscure, oft-ignored holiday* is one we’ve always taken seriously. After taking last year off to give our leadership a break, we were reminded how much this gathering serves as an anchor for Read More
With Hope and Intention
“Preschool in my Wisconsin town planted seeds in the sidewalk cracks.”Credit: reddit user sunflower53069 For the past few years, I’ve been feeling grateful for all the moments in the Jewish calendar dedicated to renewal and rededication. Not because I think it’s important to believe or do certain things in order to be a “good Jew,” Read More
Charting Our Path Through the Wilderness
NOTE: The following is an edited version of notes shared during the Kehilat Sukkat Shalom fall community meeting in November. KSS members gathering twice a year, fall and spring, to connect on organizational business. These notes set the stage for our 20th anniversary and plans for a thriving future. 20 years ago, the founders of Read More
Consoling Ourselves with Jewish Art & Culture
Sharonah Laemmle, The 10 Days (2012) Many of us who live in places where the weather and landscape change with the seasons enjoy not only the physical variations we observe, but the metaphysical ones as well. As the days get shorter and darker in central Ohio, we naturally turn our attention from tending our gardens Read More
Shabbaton with Judaism Unbound’s Lex Rofeberg
Judaism Unbound released its first podcast in February 2016. Since then, Dan Libenson, Lex Rofeberg, and their team have released over 500 episodes featuring Jewish innovators including rabbis, scholars, educators, musicians, artists, farmers, healers, community builders. In hosting conversations with people unapologetically reconstructing Judaism they have not only given voice to those doing that work, Read More
Connecting Through Deep Time
The author in her grandma’s lap, with three generations of matriarchs (Miami Beach, 1976) Growing up in a Conservative congregation, I wasn’t allowed to attend yizkhor on Yom Kippur. The special memorial service occurs four times each year – Yom Kippur, Shemini Atzeret (at the end of Sukkot), Passover, and Shavuot. My parents adhered to Read More
Opening Up Through Elul
The Spiral by Dori Midnight Join us throughout the month of Elul for conversations and activities designed to help you prepare for the Days of Awe. Draw inspiration from Joanna Macy’s (z”l) Work That Reconnects together with the study of sephirot from mystical Jewish tradition to reflect on the year gone by and gear up for Read More
Lessons from Ships Adrift at Sea
The first week of July, a series of ships floated through our Sukkat Shalom. Aboard were lessons from the past and messages for a sustainable future. The first was the MS St. Louis which set sail from Hamburg, Germany to Havana, Cuba on May 13, 1939 with over 900 passengers, most Jewish, fleeing Nazi persecution. Read More
Celebrating Small Moments of Revelation
Yesterday, we came together to celebrate Shavuot. As with many Jewish holidays, Shavuot is a holy day which has gained new meanings and interpretations over time. The ancient Hebrews marked this day (50 days after the barley reaping) as the start of the wheat harvest. In temple times, the priests tied this period with calls for Read More