The Jewish Way: Living the Holidays

The bad times brought out the best in them, the good times sometimes the worst. These facts, more than anything else, tell me that far from being over, the Jewish journey has reached its most exciting phase. Today, for the first time in two thousand years, we have a sovereign state in Israel and freedom and equality in the Diaspora. As almost never

Remembering Jeremiah, the sages formulated a third way: to sustain their faith through institutions that (unlike the Temple) could be established anywhere – the synagogue, the school, the house of study and the home. In the meanwhile they would practise what today would be called active citizenship in the countries of their dispersion.

even though Jews were shattered politically and scattered geographically, they were still a nation. Even at such a time they are bound by a covenant of mutual responsibility. Jewish fate and destiny are indivisible.

we can now envision the life cycle not as stages in the life of each Jewish individual, but rather as the unfolding expression of the covenant at every moment of each person’s life. It is not our life cycle we celebrate; it is the life of the covenant linking God with the Jewish people that is worthy of our attention and that justifies our celebrat