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Who shall live and who shall die: God’s iPhone, Rosh Hashanah 5769

The U\’netaneh Tokef prayer says: On Rosh Hashanah it is inscribed, and on Yom Kippur it is sealed: Who shall live and who shall die, who shall perish by water and who by fire, who by famine and who by thirst . God\’s got it on His iPhone, of course.

Is our fate really sealed? Is change possible?

Within the calendar that constitutes the Jewish cathedral in time, no days are more saturated with the experience of human nature, and with experiments in human change, than the Days of Awe. This is when we are asked, paradoxically, both to steep in our powerlessness to escape our species\’ fate, and yet also to try out behaviors that can rescue us from our destinies.

Timing is everything in the Olympics — and in Darfur

However, I also live with the images of the many people I have met in Darfur and Chad who have seen their communities and lives torn apart. They are not anticipating medals; they simply want to know that the world cares and that we have the resolve to act.

Students translate charity lessons into action

Realizing tikkun olam as a central pillar of Jewish practice, synagogues throughout the country require children to perform service projects before becoming b\’nai mitzvah, sensitizing them to their growing responsibilities toward others as they approach adulthood. In many cases, these projects have been the inspiration for ongoing philanthropic endeavors.

A Festival of Lights — lite

COEJL\’s Web site describes its three-pronged approach of \”engaging the Jewish community in awareness, advocacy and concrete action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promote energy conservation and sustainable legislation,\” in order to \”change how American Jewry responds to … daunting environmental problems.\”

Partners in Creation

Many rabbinic texts detail our long tradition of ecotheology, explicitly supporting the idea that caring for the Earth is a distinctly religious imperative.

First Person – Will You Be at Peace?

The 20th century offered repeated incontrovertible proof that launching a campaign against genocide, getting it to permeate the collective consciousness and mobilizing the masses to take action is a difficult challenge.

Karen Gilman: What Makes Her Run?

That volunteer work is vast. She served as the sisterhood president of Temple Israel of Hollywood and currently co-chairs its AIDS lunch project, which distributes food once a month. Gilman is also social action chair for the Western Federation of Temple Sisterhoods, which presents the women\’s positions on legislative policy.

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More news and opinions than at a Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.