Resources - Teachings

OHALAH Members have chosen to freely share these resources. Please credit authors and sources.

Chanukah

• The Peaceful Maccabee, Leah Novick; “Shlom Zion Ha Malkah” – A model of rulership for our time

Chasidut

• Master of the Field, Zev-Hayyim Feyer; A poem, in the form of four haiku, based on a teaching of Rebbe Nahman of Breslov
• Vayetze, Elliot Ginsburg; An MP3 of a shiur given at OHALAH 2009 on ratzo v’shov: the path of the tzadik descending to ascend.

G!d

• RH Morning 2012 Drash — “God”, Beth Cohen; A subject we don’t like talking about — God. My personal story about having God in my life. Questions to ponder about who God is for each of us. Getting to knowing before whom we stand and from whom we ask forgiveness on Yom Kippur Day. What’s in it for me?

Health

• Lifelong Erotic Sex in Marriage: Replacing Infatuation with Intimacy, Rabbi Moshe ben Asher, Ph.D. & Magidah Khulda bat Sarah; Explores the effect of destructive cultural ideas in the failure of marriages; contemporary problematic sex-based roles and related activity that cannot provide a healthy foundation for marriage and family life, but lead instead to marital infidelity; the damaging and destructive outcomes and costs of marital infidelity; healthy foundation for marriage and family; misguided ideas of romance promoted to increase commercial profits, but which become ingrained cultural marital expectations; the character of authentic intimacy; the connections between authentic intimacy and lifelong fulfilling sexual relations; and the foundations of successful marital intimacy. (15 pp.)

Holocaust

• Rabbi Pamela Frydman’s Keynote Address, Rabbi Pamela Frydman

Kabbalah

• The Body in Kabbalah: A Study in the Process of Jewish Renewal, David Seidenberg; Four examples of the Renewal interpretation of Kabbalah, with a comparison with examples found in traditional Kabbalistic texts.

Miscellaneous Teachings

• Avot on Jealousy, Dennis Beck-Berman; A resource for the ethics discussion on collegial jealousy at the upcoming Ohalah conference. Three sayings from Avot (with footnotes) which address jealousy, reproduced from the draft of my forthcoming edition of Avot.
• Shlom Zion Ha Malkah – A model of rulership for our time, Rabbi Leah Novick
• Reclaiming Melech, Rabbi Marcia Prager

​Mussaf

• Mussaf Yom Tov, Reb Zalman Schachter-Shalomi; Yom Tov Mussaf Alternative (all Hebrew)

Omer

• Counting the Omer: A Kabbalistic Meditation Guide, Min Kantrowitz; A mystical approach to counting the omer

Pastoral/Spiritual Care

• Lifelong Erotic Sex in Marriage: Replacing Infatuation with Intimacy, Rabbi Moshe ben Asher, Ph.D. & Magidah Khulda bat Sarah; Explores the effect of destructive cultural ideas in the failure of marriages; contemporary problematic sex-based roles and related activity that cannot provide a healthy foundation for marriage and family life, but lead instead to marital infidelity; the damaging and destructive outcomes and costs of marital infidelity; healthy foundation for marriage and family; misguided ideas of romance promoted to increase commercial profits, but which become ingrained cultural marital expectations; the character of authentic intimacy; the connections between authentic intimacy and lifelong fulfilling sexual relations; and the foundations of successful marital intimacy. (15 pp.)
• Shemini d’var Torah Coping with Loss, Stephanie Tivona Reith; A d’var Torah about what we as pastoral caregivers can learn from this parshah about helping others cope with loss.
• The Suffering of Hagar: A Psycho-Spiritual Reflection, Stephanie Tivona Reith; The Hagar narrative is a study in suffering and in hope, in dysfunctional human interactions and in spiritual help and sustenace. Hagar’s story can have contemporary relevance in situations involving mental illness, family dysfunction and abuse, homelessness, and general social isolation. It can serve both as a mirror for those who are suffering and as a template for pastoral caregivers.

Pesach

• A Personal and Spritual Passover, Stan Levy; A personal encounter with Passover
• Passover symbols, Lynn Gottlieb; Meaning of the symbols of the seder plate from a Torah of Nonviolence perspective
• Mussaf Yom Tov, Reb Zalman Schachter-Shalomi; Yom Tov Mussaf Alternative (all Hebrew)

Reb Zalman z”l

• T’naim document, Reb Zalman Schachter-Shalomi
• Finnegan’s Awakening, Reb Zalman Schachter-Shalomi
• ANIM Z’MIROT-A HYMN OF GLORY, Reb Zalman Schachter-Shalomi
• Reb Zalman’s 13 Attributes, Hazzan Greg Yaroslow; Reb Zalman’s z”l 13 Attributes (in English) – a minor (original key)

Rosh Hashanah

• Isaac Unbound — A Tikkun for Rosh Hashanah, Dan Goldblatt; When one looks at all of the references to the most enigmatic of the Avot — Yitzchak, a compelling picture emerges that might give us pause and lead to a deeper appreciation of our tradition.
• Rosh Hashanah, Reb Zalman Schachter-Shalomi; Think of Rosh Hashanah like the stem cells of the year. They can become anything organic as they develop and grow.
• The Akedah Cycle: a sermon in poetry for the second day of Rosh Hashanah, Rachel Barenblat; A cycle of ten midrashic poems exploring parashat Vayera / the Akedah Cycle, intended to be offered on the second day of Rosh Hashanah.
• Kavvanah for Tekiah Gedolah, Geela Rayzl Raphael
• Akeida, Bonnie Koppell; Questions raised by the akeida
• Rabbi Amy Grossblatt Pessah has created a resource to encourage individuals to reflect deeply during the High Holy days. Each year between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, we take time to contemplate our actions over the past year. These questions can help us to examine our inner lives as we strive to become the best versions of ourselves.
  

Shechina

• Shekhinah of the Future, Leah Novick; Reflections on what future feminist theologies might look like. Text, originally delivered at OHALAH 2004.

Slichot

• S’lichah, Reb Zalman Schachter-Shalomil This love poem is one of the S’lihot recited between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Ibn Gayat (b. 1038 – 1089) was not timid about using the most intimate symbols in asking God to become reconciled with us.

Song of Songs

• Initiation onto the path of Love, Rabbi Shefa Gold

Sukkot

• Tikkun Mayim, Mirele Goldsmith; A ceremony of repair for our relationship with water, especially for Sukkot.
• The Ushpizin, Sarina Berlow; Compiled by Sarina Berlow for the Lehigh Valley Rosh Hodesh Group (Tishrei 5754/Seplember 1993)

Teshuvah

• Kol Nidre Sermon: What Are We Here For?, Rachel Barenblat; A sermon for Kol Nidre which touches on Jewish teachings about reincarnation and the meaning of life.
• Yom Kippur, Reb Zalman Schachter-Shalomi; The challenges of teshuvah and Yom Kippur.
• Three Poems of Teshuvah: A Sermon for Yom Kippur Morning, Rachel Barenblat; A sermon for Yom Kippur morning which draws on three contemporary poems as its central texts: poems by Jane Kenyon, Mary Oliver, and Stanley Kunitz.

Tikun Olam

• The Suffering of Hagar: A Psycho-Spiritual Reflection, Stephanie Tivona Reith; The Hagar narrative is a study in suffering and in hope, in dysfunctional human interactions and in spiritual help and sustenace. Hagar’s story can have contemporary relevance in situations involving mental illness, family dysfunction and abuse, homelessness, and general social isolation. It can serve both as a mirror for those who are suffering and as a template for pastoral caregivers.

Tu B'Shevat

• Tu B’Shevat Flowchart Haggadah, David Seidenberg; A one-page Tu B’Shevat flowchart haggadah
• A Tu B’Shevat Seder, Dennis and Julia Beck-Berman

​Yom Kippur

• AL CHET SHECHATATI L’FANECHA, Rabbi Rachel Barenblat
• Yom Kippur Sermon: “No Regrets”, Ed Stafman; How do we live our lives so fully so that we might ultimately die with no regrets? What is the work of YK?
• A sermon for Yom Kippur Morning: In The Belly of the Whale, Rachel Barenblat; A sermon which draws on midrash, parenting, and Aviva Zornberg to open up the themes of the book of Jonah.

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