Our Blog

Last week, while studying Parshat Pinchas with many of you at our Saturday morning Torah Study, we talked about a scribal phenomenon that is unique to Parshat Pinchas. After the Torah tells the story of Pinchas hearing the word of G-d and taking matters into his own hands and killing an Israelite man and a Midianite woman for engaging in sexual–and perhaps marital–relations, we learn that he and his descendants are designated priests...Read more...

Going forward, we will be offering two live services a month led by Rabbi Faryn, one traveling shabbat in people’s homes, and one Welcome Shabbat on Zoom led by congregants.

A Welcome Shabbat is a short gathering composed of some songs like Shalom Aleichem and Lecha Dodi, candlelighting, healing blessings, the Mourners’ Kaddish and Shabbat poetry. It gives attendees a chance to see one another and offer each other a Shabbat Shalom...Read more...

Have you ever wondered if there was a ritual from Jewish practice to ease a transition or mark time? Have you ever been to the mikveh? Jewish tradition offers us the mikveh, the sacred waters, for full ritual immersion with. Traditionally we use it for conversion, prior to marriage, to prepare for Shabbat or holy days, and for women at the end of their monthly cycle. We can also create our own rituals for times of transition and change. To...Read more...

Judaism has many genres of spiritual and liturgical music. One of my favorite genre is Chassidic melodies, sometimes put to words and sometimes just melodies. Written by Chassidic teachers from the last 200–300 years, these melodies were passed down from teacher to student. One of the reasons I am so drawn to Chassidic melodies is because they tell a story. But we don’t always know what the origin story was. We only know...Read more...

A 3 session class beginning Wednesday, March 8, 7:00 pm on Zoom

I grew up quite secular and didn’t learn about the gems in Jewish prayer until my 20s or 30s, and even more deeply in my 50s. Whether this is your story or whether you know many prayers, discovering what the prayer has to offer you specifically can be precious. We don’t have to be “religious” or “believe in God” in order to find Jewish prayer meaningful....Read more...

Bold. Relevant. Barrier-Free.

Founded 33 years ago, Or Shalom Jewish Community has embodied the values of courageousness, connection, and accessibility undeterred by our transitional periods. Our work to heal the world has brought comfort and support to countless community members and friends, both the familiar and the stranger. Or Shalom Jewish Community continues to thrive as the sole source for Reconstructionist observance in the...Read more...

Or Shalom has experienced the deaths of two members recently.

Al Sion, zichrono livracha (may his memory be for a blessing) and

Beth Abrams, zichrona livracha (may her memory be for a blessing).

It is a Jewish tradition to say Baruch Dayan HaEmet upon hearing the news of a death.  This means Blessed is the True Judge. One can interpret this to mean that only God really...Read more...

Chanukah comes during the darkest time of year. It is the season of deeper darkness where we honor the dark and the light. We have the opportunity to appreciate the relationship between darkness and light and their interdependence. If you think about it, we are created in the darkness (the womb) and are born into the light. Both the day and the night are beautiful. Most references in the dominant narrative are that dark is bad and light...Read more...

I never realized we needed or wanted to actually join Or Shalom until I became a parent.  In the early 2000's, when I was single and childless, I went to services at Or Shalom alone - or sometimes with a friend - for High Holidays. I loved it. While my...Read more...

As we celebrate Shabbat this Friday night at Brandeis with the support of our Amazing Musical Ensemble, we take a peak at this week’s Torah portion, Chayei Sarah. I have been thinking a lot about transitions, and I noticed the theme of transitions throughout this...Read more...

A few weeks ago, I asked people who attended Friday night services what motivated them to leave their homes and find their way to Brandeis for services on a Friday night, when there were many other things competing for their time. People said such a variety of things,...Read more...

The High Holy Days are over, so what can this still mean to us?

During the Jewish High Holy days we pray to be inscribed in the Book of Life before the gates close, either at the end of Yom Kippur or some believe not until the end of Sukkot on Hoshana Rabba.  If taken literally, there is something that doesn’t seem right about this. Does it mean anyone who dies during the upcoming year or even during the 10 days between Rosh...Read more...