Join Us at First Lunch Assembly of the Year, November 6
Our first lunch assembly for the Lowell Transitional Living Center is coming up in a little over a week. Here are the details on what we need and how you can help. (more…)...
Ritual Committee Update
Karen Lipshires and Stephanie Karakantas, Ritual Committee Chairs:
Our new Yom Kippur prayer book says “A congregation, by definition must include diverse individuals with a range of ideas, feelings, and practices. Moreover, the richest experience comes when all of us bring our full selves into the community—not only our pious thoughts and positive feelings, but the full range of our selves and our emotions, including skepticism, and anger” (Mishkan HaNefesh: Machzor for the Days of Awe, Yom Kippur, p. xvii).
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Sin, Atonement, and Forgiveness: Kol Nidre 5777 Sermon
Rabbi Robin S. Sparr:
Gutt yontif.
Last year in this slot, I talked about forgiveness, and how difficult it can be to forgive in a genuine and healing way.
This year, I’d like to take a step back, look before forgiveness, and to focus instead on the idea of SIN. What is a sin? What does the word really mean? The dictionary defines sin as “an offense against God, religion, or good morals.” But somehow, the word “sin” makes many of us uncomfortable. We may bristle, or cower, at the word “sin.” It feels like an old fashioned word, a descriptor for truly unspeakable acts, something dark and ominous.
In our old, recently retired, machzor, Gates of Repentance, we encountered the word “sin” dozens and dozens – perhaps hundreds – of times. Surely, each of us is deeply flawed, entertaining dark thoughts and feelings, and often acting in ways that do not represent our highest ideals. But the multiple recountings of our long lists...