Attributions, with Gratitude

• High Holy Days visits (5773/2012-13)

• High Holy Days visits (5772/2011-12)

• High Holy Days visits (5771/2010-11)

• High Holy Days visits (5770/2009-10)

• High Holy Days visits (5769/2008-09)

• Chanukah visit (5768/2008)

• Presidents’ Weekend visit (5768/2008)

• Passover visit (5768/2008)

LIST OF SOURCES: Material that I have shared at the TJC

I hereby express my gratitude to the following composers, authors, and anonymously edited classic texts.

High Holy Days visit (5773/2012–13)

ROSH HA-SHANAH EVENING

• “Opening Your Eyes” (midrash), adapted from Rabbi Lawrence Kushner, The Book of Miracles: A Young Person’s Guide to Jewish Spirituality (NY: UAHC Press, 1987), pp. 3–6, which in turn was based upon Midrash Exodus Rabbah § 24.1.

• “Light” (story), as told by Rabbi Yisroel Bernath of Montreal in Mitzvah Stories: Seeds for Inspiration and Learning, edited by Rabbi Goldie Milgram and Ellen Frankel with Peninnah Schram, Cherie Karo-Schwartz and Arthur Strimling (Philadelphia: Reclaiming Judaism Press, 2011).

• “What Takes Precedence: A Fable,” citing a quandary in the Talmud of Babylonia, Bava M’tzia 62a; story adapted from Rabbi Edwin Friedman, “The Bridge,” in Friedman’s Fables (NY: The Guilford Press, 1990), pp. 9–13.

• “B’yado” (song), Hebrew lyrics from the hymn Adon Olam (anonymous, at least 600 years old); English lyrics and music by Craig Taubman.

ROSH HA-SHANAH FIRST DAY

• “Achat Shaalti” (from Psalm 27), music by Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach.

• “Hashiveinu” (Lamentations 5:21).

• “Ilu Finu” (from the traditional prayer), music by Rabbi Miriam Margles.

• “Not Believing in God” (kavvanah for the Call to Prayer), excerpted from Rabbi Lawrence Kushner, “Trout Fishing,” in Invisible Lines of Connection: Sacred Stories of the Ordinary (Woodstock, VT: Jewish Lights Publishing, 1996), p. 111.

• “Hershey with Almonds” (kavvanah for the Reader’s Elaboration of Amidah Themes), excerpted from Rabbi Lawrence Kushner, Invisible Lines of Connection: Sacred Stories of the Ordinary, pp. 102–3.

• “Direction, Reflection, and Connection” (on the end of the Untaneh Tokef prayer) by Rabbi Richard Hirsh, Kol Haneshamah: Prayerbook for the Days of Awe (Elkins Park, PA: Reconstructionist Press, 1999), p. 352.

• “Mi Shebeirach” (free translation of traditional prayer), lyrics and music by Debbie Friedman.

• “All Is In the Hands of Heaven” (kavvanah for Malkhuyot), excerpted from Rabbi Lawrence Kushner, “Bats,” in Invisible Lines of Connection: Sacred Stories of the Ordinary, p. 121.

• “Perpetual Torah” (kavvanah for Shofarot), adapted from Rabbi Lawrence Kushner, “The Blueprint Inside Creation, The Book of Miracles, p. 26.

ROSH HA-SHANAH SECOND DAY

• “Kol Ha-Olam Kulo,” words by Rebbe Nachman of Bratslav; music by Baruch Chait; arrangement and translation by Los Lantzmun (Denver band).

• “The Mission and the Delays” (story), by Rabbi Sasson ben Mordekhai Shindookh of Baghdad, in his Kol Sasson 5:26b–27a; translated in Aryeh Wineman, Ethical Tales of the Kabbalah (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1999), p. 168.

• “Ilu Finu” (from the traditional Nishmat prayer), music by Rabbi Miriam Margles.

• “Bears” (kavvanah for Ha-Melekh), excerpted from Rabbi Lawrence Kushner, “Bats,” in Invisible Lines of Connection: Sacred Stories of the Ordinary, pp. 19–20.

• “Putting Up with Things” (kavvanah for Mi Kamokhah), excerpted from Rabbi Lawrence Kushner, “Breaking Chandeliers,” in Invisible Lines of Connection: Sacred Stories of the Ordinary, p. 86.

• “We Can Only Light the Matches” (kavvanah for the Amidah), excerpted from Rabbi Lawrence Kushner, “Field of Dreams,” in Invisible Lines of Connection: Sacred Stories of the Ordinary, pp. 98–99.

• “The Blessing of Torah” (kavvanah for the Torah Service), excerpted from Rabbi Shefa Gold, “Introduction,” in Torah Journeys: The Inner Path to the Promised Land (Teaneck, NJ: Ben Yehuda Press, 2006), pp. 1, 3.

• “Direction, Reflection, and Connection” (on the end of Untaneh Tokef) by Rabbi Richard Hirsh, Kol Haneshamah: Prayerbook for the Days of Awe, p. 352.

• “Atari Adventure” (kavvanah for Malkhuyot), excerpted and adapted from Rabbi Lawrence Kushner, “The Hidden Signature,” in Invisible Lines of Connection: Sacred Stories of the Ordinary, pp. 21–22.

• “God Proofs” (kavvanah for Zikhronot), excerpted and adapted from Rabbi Lawrence Kushner, “Federal Express,” in Invisible Lines of Connection: Sacred Stories of the Ordinary, pp. 31–32.

• “Praying God’s Prayers” (kavvanah for Shofarot), excerpted and adapted from Rabbi Lawrence Kushner, The Book of Miracles, pp. 71–73.
• “R’tzei,” music by Bruce Chalmer.

YOM KIPPUR EVENING

• “Return Again,” lyrics by R. Kahn (free translation of a traditional prayer), music by Shlomo Carlebach.

• “When the climber reaches the summit” (kavvanah for the Sh’ma), excerpted from Mirabai Starr, God of Love: A Guide to the Heart of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam (Rhinebeck, NY: Monkfish Book Publishing, 2012), pp. 12–13.

• “The first week I spend at college” (kavvanah for the first blessing after the Sh’ma), excerpted from Lawrence Kushner, “Homecoming,” in Invisible Lines of Connection: Sacred Stories of the Ordinary, p. 53.

• “K’racheim Av” (traditional penitential prayer), music by Michael Isaacson.

• STORY: “Free Spirits and Soul Whisperers, Part 1,” excerpted, rearranged, and adapted from Monty Roberts, The Man Who Listens to Horses (NY: Ballantine Books, 1997).

• “Im Ein Ani Li, Mi Li” (song), Mishnah Avot 1:14; music by Debbie Friedman.

• “Adon Ha-S’lichot” (hymn), traditional across North Africa and the Middle East. [Click here for a rendition by the Moroccan-Israeli singer Moshe Havusha.]

YOM KIPPUR DAY

• “Adon Ha-S’lichot” (hymn), traditional across North Africa and the Middle East.

• “Hashiveinu” (Lamentations 5:21).

• “Ilu Finu” (from the traditional prayer), music by Rabbi Miriam Margles.

• “My God of Love” (kavvanah for the Call to Prayer), excerpted from Mirabai Starr, God of Love, pp. 76–77.

• “The Spaces in Between the Words” (kavvanah for the Torah Service), excerpted from Bruce Feiler, “Introduction,” Birkon Artzi (NY: CCAR Press, 2012), p. 3.

• “Mi Shebeirach” (free translation of traditional prayer), lyrics and music by Debbie Friedman.

• SERMON: “Free Spirits and Soul Whisperers, Part 2,” based upon J.H. (“Yossi”) Chayes, Between Worlds: Dybbuks, Exorcists, and Early Modern Judaism (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2003); his translation of the 1666 memorandum of Rabbi Samuel Vital (in Hayyim Vital, Shaar HaGilgulim, 77b–78a) appears on pp. 177–180.

• “Cosmic Poetry Slam” (Introduction to the haftarah), excerpted and adapted in part from Lawrence Kushner, “The Roofer,” in Invisible Lines of Connection: Sacred Stories of the Ordinary, p. 104.

• “Practice Faith in God” (kavvanah for the Amidah), excerpted from Rabbi Kerry Olitzky, “Facing Cancer as a Family” (LifeLights series; Woodstock, VT: Jewish Lights, 2002).

• “Direction, Reflection, and Connection” (on the end of Untaneh Tokef) by Rabbi Richard Hirsh, Kol Haneshamah: Prayerbook for the Days of Awe, p. 352.

• “Bar’cheinu Avinu,” music by Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach.

• “R’tzei,” music by Bruce Chalmer.

• “The Book of Jonah,” based on a presentation by Rabbi Rachel Adler (August 2012).

• “To Be Forgiven” (kavvanah for N’ilah), excerpted from Lawrence Kushner, “Jury Duty,” in Invisible Lines of Connection: Sacred Stories of the Ordinary, p. 95.

• “Forgiveness” (poem), by Rabbi Ofer Sabath Beit Halachmi, in Rabbi Eric Weiss, editor, Mishkan R’fuah: Where Healing Resides (NY: CCAR Press, forthcoming), p. 63.

• “Love Poems to the Holy One,” excerpted and adapted from Mirabai Starr, God of Love, pp. 104–5.

• “R’tzei,” music by Bruce Chalmer.

• “Hashiveinu” (Lamentations 5:21).

• “For Those Who Paint the Undersides of Boats,” from Mary Gordon, “For Those Whose Work is Invisible,” part of “Six Prayers” in God is Love: Essays from Portland Magazine, edited by Brian Doyle (University of Portland, 2003).

• “Havdalah” (traditional prayer), music by Debbie Friedman.

High Holy Days visit (5772/2011–12)

ROSH HA-SHANAH EVENING

• “My Mother’s Favorite China” (story), by Rabbi Naomi Levy, Hope Will Find You: My Search for the Wisdom to Stop Waiting and Start Living (NY: Harmony Books, 2010), pp. 143–146, slightly adapted for live storytelling.

• “Return Again,” lyrics by R. Kahn (free translation of a traditional prayer), music by Shlomo Carlebach.

• SERMON: “Dis-Illusionment,” citing the classical midrash by Rabbi Yehudah son of Rabbi Simon, Leviticus Rabbah § 11.7; and Judith Viorst, Necessary Losses: The Loves, Illusions, Dependencies and Impossible Expectations That All of Us Have to Give Up in Order to Grow (NY: Fawcett Gold Medal, 1986), pp. 185, 366.

• “B’yado” (song), Hebrew lyrics from the hymn Adon Olam (anonymous, at least 600 years old); English lyrics by Craig Taubman; music by Craig Taubman; from the album “Friday Night Live” (1999).

ROSH HA-SHANAH FIRST DAY

• “Creation for the Sake of Song,” Zohar, Midrash ha-Ne·elam 5b, translated by Nathan Wolski.

• “God Lives!” by I.Z. Rimmon, translated by Richard Flantz.

• “Prayer as a Caring Entity,” adapted from quotations of Pierre Bensusan; in Joseph Skibell, “Learning from the Fingers and Mind of a Guitar Master,” The Forward (Sep 9, 2011).

• “Leave a Little Bit Undone,” lyrics by Rabbi Joe Black. (Watch his performance here.)

• Nehemiah 8:1–8, adapted from the New Jewish Publication Society translation.

• “Mi Shebeirach” (free translation of traditional prayer), lyrics and music by Debbie Friedman.

• “Prayer for the Members of Our Armed Forces,” by Rabbis David E. S. Stein, Hanoch Fields, and Leila Berner.

• “Prayer for Families Experiencing Abuse,” adapted from the Clergy Task Force on Domestic Abuse in the Jewish Community, Jewish Women International.

• “Background for Making Sense of Hannah’s Story,” based on Philip S. Esler, “The Role of Hannah in 1 Samuel 1:1–2:21: Understanding a Biblical Narrative in Its Ancient Context,” in Christian Strecker, ed., Kontexte der Schrift: Herausgegeben von Christian Strecker Wolfgang Stegemann zum 60. Geburtstag. Vol. II. (Stuttgart: Kohlhammer, 2005).

• SERMON: “How Hannah Got Her Groove Back,” citing Mirabai Starr, “Grace is not something you can demand,” from her blog post, “The Grace of Forgiveness,” excerpted from God of Love (forthcoming).

ROSH HA-SHANAH SECOND DAY

• “The Meaning of Life,” Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, 1972 television interview with Carl Stern; transcribed in Moral Grandeur and Spiritual Audacity: Essays, ed. by Susannah Heschel (NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1996)

• “Ilu Finu” (from the traditional Nishmat prayer), music by Rabbi Miriam Margles.

• “Make for Me an Opening,” Midrash Song of Songs Rabbah § 5.2.

• “From Psalm 90,” excerpted from a translation by Norman Fischer, Opening to You (Viking Compass, 2002) pp. 115–116.

• “Life Is a Journey,” by Rabbi Alvin Fine (CCAR Press).

• “Finders Keepers: Making the Text Sacred,” citing an interview with Forrest Fenn by Lorene Mills on “Report from Santa Fe” (May 14, 2011); and Craig Childs, Finders Keepers: A Tale of Archaeological Plunder and Obsession (NY: Little, Brown and Company, 2010), pp. 169–70, 221–29.

• “A Prayer for Those Who Are Waiting,” excerpted from Rabbi Naomi Levy, Hope Will Find You: My Search for the Wisdom to Stop Waiting and Start Living (NY: Harmony Books, 2010), pp. ix, xi.

YOM KIPPUR EVENING

• “Return Again,” lyrics by R. Kahn (free translation of a traditional prayer), music by Shlomo Carlebach.

• SERMON-STORY: “Hope Will Find You,” story excerpted and condensed from Naomi Levy, Hope Will Find You: My Search for the Wisdom to Stop Waiting and Start Living (NY: Harmony Books, 2010).

• “Adon Ha-S’lichot” (hymn), traditional across North Africa and the Middle East. [Click here for a rendition by the Moroccan-Israeli singer Moshe Havusha.]

YOM KIPPUR DAY

• “Adon Ha-S’lichot” (hymn), traditional across North Africa and the Middle East.

• “Thankful,” by Ruth Fainlight, in Burning Wire (Bloodaxe Books, 2002).

• “The Pharaoh Within,” based on a reading by Edward Feld et alia, Mahzor Lev Shalem (2010), p. 80.

• “No One Way to Serve God,” Hasidic anecdote as rendered by Rabbi Rami Shapiro.

• “Ashamnu (“When I Was Young”),” poem by Alan Cook.

• “Prayer for Our Prayer Leaders,” adapted from a traditional prayer as rendered by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi.

• SERMON: “Repentance, States of Consciousness, and the Importance of Remembering Acts of Caring,” citing Rabbi Zeira, Talmud of Babylonia, B’rakhot 40a (“Come and see how the character of the blessed Holy One differs from that of flesh and blood”); Rabbi Moses Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, Repentance Lore, chap. 3.
   
• “For Those Who Paint the Undersides of Boats,” from Mary Gordon, “For Those Whose Work is Invisible,” part of “Six Prayers” in God is Love: Essays from Portland Magazine, edited by Brian Doyle (University of Portland, 2003).

• “Discussion Questions for the Book of Jonah,” based on insights gained from Uriel Simon, The JPS Bible Commentary: Jonah (1999).

• “Havdalah” (traditional prayer), music by Debbie Friedman.

High Holy Days visit (5771/2010–11)

ROSH HA-SHANAH EVENING

• “A Priest Tends the Flame” (story), my elaboration of a folk motif.

• “The Preciousness of a Broken Heart,” Pesikta de-Rav Kahana 24 (circa 1000 C.E.); translation adapted from W.G. Braude and I.J. Kapstein, p. 369.

• SERMON: “Take Words with You,” citing Midrash Exodus Rabbah 38.4; and Moses Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, Lore of Repentance 1:1–2.

• “B’yado” (song), Hebrew lyrics from the hymn Adon Olam (anonymous, at least 600 years old); English lyrics by Craig Taubman; music by Craig Taubman; from the album “Friday Night Live” (1999).

• “My Wish for You, 5771”: based upon the Talmud of Babylonia, Sanhedrin 7a.

ROSH HA-SHANAH FIRST DAY

• “Creation: A Medieval Piyyut,” excerpted from a poem by Rabbi Joseph Ibn Abitur (10th–11th cent.), translated by Edward Feld et alia, Mahzor Lev Shalem (2010), p. 20.

• “The Point of Praising God,” Rabbi Reuven Hammer, as quoted in Mahzor Lev Shalem (2010), p. 69.

• “Prayer as Farming,” the Slonimer Rebbe (Abraham of Slonim), as quoted in Mahzor Lev Shalem (2010), p. 38.

• “The Pharaoh Within,” based on a reading by Edward Feld et alia, Mahzor Lev Shalem (2010), p. 80.

• “This Is Real,” Rabbi Alan Lew, This Is Real and You Are Completely Unprepared, p. 105.

• Nehemiah 8:1–8 adapted from the New Jewish Publication Society translation.

• “Mi Shebeirach” (free translation of traditional prayer), lyrics by Debbie Friedman and Drorah Setel, music by Debbie Friedman.

• “Reasons to Sound the Shofar,” based on Rabbi Moses Chaim Luzzatto, Derekh Ha-Shem (God’s Way) § 4.8:4 (circa 1735); my translation.

ROSH HA-SHANAH SECOND DAY

• “Turning (Sur mei-Ra),” Psalms 34:15; tune adapted from a chant by Rabbi Shefa Gold.

• “The Summer Day,” poem by Mary Oliver

• “Ilu Finu” (from the traditional Nishmat prayer), music by Rabbi Miriam Margles.

• “In Praise of God,” Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, as quoted in Mahzor Lev Shalem (2010), p. 48.

• “God Language,” Rabbi Arthur Green, Radical Judaism: Rethinking God and Tradition (2010), pp. 19–20.

• “Day In, Day Out,” poem by Miriam Baruch Halfi, translated from Hebrew by Edward Feld et alia, as quoted in Mahzor Lev Shalem (2010), p. 60.

• “What Is Expected of Me?” excerpted from Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, What Is Man, p. 107; as cited by Rabbi Sharon Brous.

• “Prayer for the Members of Our Armed Forces,” by Rabbis David E. S. Stein, Hanoch Fields, and Leila Berner.

YOM KIPPUR EVENING

• “Welcoming All Comers”: adapted from Rabbi Chaim Stern, from the already adapted version in Mahzor Lev Shalem (2010), p. 2.

• “Return Again,” lyrics by R. Kahn (free translation of a traditional prayer), music by Shlomo Carlebach.

• “In Prayer,” adapted and rearranged from Rabbi Zoë Klein, in Rabbi Michael Comins, Making Prayer Real: Leading Jewish Spiritual Voices on Why Prayer is Difficult and What to Do about It (2010), p. 62.

• “Redemption,” quoting Martin Buber (p. 79) and adapting from Chaim Stern (p. 210), in Mahzor Lev Shalem (2010).

• “The Value of Darkness,” quoting Rabbi Richard N. Levy, in Rabbi Michael Comins, Making Prayer Real (2010), p. 79.

• “House versus Home,” quoting Rabbi Naomi Levy, in Rabbi Michael Comins, Making Prayer Real (2010), p. 186.

• “Confessionals in the Plural,” citing Denise Levertov, as quoted in Gregory Boyle, Tattoos on the Heart (2010), p. 10.

• SERMON-STORY: “Not by Might,” story excerpted and condensed from Kathryn Watterson, Not by the Sword: How a Cantor and His Family Transformed a Klansman (1995).

• “B’yado” (song): see above, Rosh ha-Shanah Evening.

YOM KIPPUR DAY

• “On God’s Sovereignty,” excerpted from “Kingdom’s Crown” I:IV (circa 1040 C.E.); in Selected Poems of Solomon Ibn Gabirol (2001), p. 143; transl. Peter Cole.

• “Slavery and Redemption Each Week,” adapted from Joel Lurie Grishaver; in Rabbi Michael Comins, Making Prayer Real (2010), pp. 160–61.

• “Catholic Confession Anecdote,” by Jay Sanderson, to the Board of Rabbis of Southern California, August 10, 2010.

• “On Reading Aloud from the Torah Scroll,” from Derekh Ha-Shem (God’s Way) § 4.8:6 by Rabbi Moses Chaim Luzzatto (Padua, Italy; ca. 1735); my translation.

• SERMON: “A Wolf Comes to Friendly Forest,” an adaptation for storytelling of “The Friendly Forest” in Rabbi Edwin Friedman, Friedman’s Fables (1990), pp. 25–28, and the associated Discussion Questions.

• D’var Haftarah: “Standing on the Margins with the Elderly,” quoting Mother Teresa, Pema Chödrön, and Gregory Boyle; from Gregory Boyle, Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion (2010), pp. 46, 71–72.

• “How Prayer Averts the Severity of the Decree,” quoting Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel and Rabbi Tirzah Firestone, from Rabbi Michael Comins, Making Prayer Real (2010), pp. 125, 129. • “Teshuvah according to Kabbalistic Philosophy,” from Henri Atlan, The Sparks of Randomness (forthcoming), Vol. 1, p. 50.

• “The Ballad of Jonah ben Amittai,” based on lyrics printed in London between 1584 and 1628, reprinted in Hyder E. Rollins, A Pepysian Garland: Black-Letter Broadside Ballads of the Years 1595–1639 (Cambridge University Press, 1922); expanded and adapted by me, in light of insights gained from The JPS Bible Commentary: Jonah (1999) by Uriel Simon; set to the music of “Packington’s Pound” (traditional).

• “Repentance from a Position of Strength,” from Rabbi Alan Lew, One God Clapping, p. 300

• “At the Western Wall,” by Rabbi Abraham Twerski; from Rabbi Michael Comins, Making Prayer Real (2010), p. 111.

• “The Scratched Diamond,” by Jacob Kranz (“The Dubno Maggid”)

• “Havdalah” (traditional prayer), music by Debbie Friedman

High Holy Days visit (5770/2009–10)

(I regret that I was unable to collate and post my sources this year, due to the exigencies of packing and moving immediately after Yom Kippur.)

High Holy Days visits (5769/2008-09)

ROSH HA-SHANAH EVENING

ROSH HA-SHANAH FIRST DAY

• “Return Again,” lyrics by R. Kahn (free translation of a traditional prayer), music by Shlomo Carlebach.

• Translations of Psalm 36:8–11 and Psalm 90 by Joel Rosenberg, from the siddur Kol Haneshamah (The Reconstructionist Press).

• “Ve-nahar yotzei me-Eden” (Gen. 2:10), music by Shefa Gold.

• “Just as we find our own pace walking through art museums . . . ,” by Rabbi David A. Teutsch, from the machzor Kol Haneshamah (The Reconstructionist Press), p. 195.

• “The service of gratitude is eternal . . . ,” by Rabbi Mordecai M. Kaplan, from the machzor Kol Haneshamah (The Reconstructionist Press).

• Interpretive translation of Nishmat prayer by Marge Piercy, from the siddur Kol Haneshamah (The Reconstructionist Press), pp. 232–33.

• Running translation of parts of Yishtabach prayer by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi.

• Nehemiah 8:1–8 adapted from the New Jewish Publication Society translation.

• “Mi Shebeirach” (free translation of traditional prayer), lyrics by Debbie Friedman and Drorah Setel, music by Debbie Friedman.

• STORY: “Gideon’s Horn”—adapted from the short story “Gabriel’s Horn” by Rabbi Mitchell Chefitz in his The Curse of Blessings (Philadelphia: Running Press, 2006), pp. 39–47.

ROSH HA-SHANAH SECOND DAY

• “Ilu Finu” (from the traditional Nishmat prayer), music by Rabbi Miriam Margles.

• “On a hospital bed . . . may we be ready,” by Rabbi Carl Choper, from the machzor Kol Haneshamah (The Reconstructionist Press), p. 269.

• “Appointed time has come” (liturgical poem): vowelized Hebrew text adapted from www.piyut.org.il/textual/english/24.html.

• “B’yado” (song): see above, Rosh ha-Shanah Evening.

YOM KIPPUR EVENING

• “If Yom Kippur is the answer, what is the question?”: excerpted and adapted from a piece by Rabbi Richard Hirsh.

• SERMON-STORY: “Delayed Atonement: A True Story of Reconciliation”: adapted from newspaper feature articles by T. Christian Miller (Los Angeles Times, 12/11/99) and by Steve Getzug (Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles, 12/10/99), and from George Gregory’s obituary by Dennis Mclellan (Los Angeles Times, 3/20/05).

• “B’yado” (song): see above, Rosh ha-Shanah Evening.

YOM KIPPUR DAY

• “You knew me long before you fashioned me . . . ,” Hebrew poem by Rabbi Yehudah Halevi, transl. by Joel Rosenberg, from the machzor Kol Haneshamah (The Reconstructionist Press), pp. 149–50.

• “Each of us is bombarded daily with messages . . . ,” by Rabbi David A. Teutsch, from the machzor Kol Haneshamah (The Reconstructionist Press), p. 150.

• Mishnah Yoma 8:9, Talmud Berakhot 34b, and Midrash Ecclesiastes Rabbah 8.18: translations by Joel Rosenberg, from the machzor Kol Haneshamah (The Reconstructionist Press), pp. 183, 185, 187.

• SERMON: “The Divine Flow: Three Lessons from the Zohar”: Sava de-Mishpatim, Zohar 2:94b–99a, adapted from the translation by Daniel Matt, The Zohar: Pritzker Edition, vol. 5 (Stanford University Press, forthcoming); quotations of Melila Hellner-Eshed from A River Flows from Eden: The Language of Mystical Experience in the Zohar, translated from the Hebrew by Nathan Wolski (Stanford University Press, forthcoming); “Ve-nahar yotzei me-Eden” (Gen. 2:10), music by Rabbi Shefa Gold.

• “The Ballad of Jonah ben Amittai,” based on lyrics printed in London between 1584 and 1628, reprinted in Hyder E. Rollins, A Pepysian Garland: Black-Letter Broadside Ballads of the Years 1595–1639 (Cambridge University Press, 1922); expanded and adapted in light of insights gained from The JPS Bible Commentary: Jonah (1999) by Uriel Simon; set to the music of “Packington’s Pound” (traditional).

• “Havdalah” (traditional prayer), music by Debbie Friedman

High Holy Days visits (5769/2008-09)

ROSH HA-SHANAH EVENING

• Quotation by Rav from the Talmud of the Land of Israel: Kiddushin 4:12 (end).

• Quotation by Nachman of Bratslav, from Nathan of Nemirov, Sichos ha-Ran (Rabbi Nachman’s Teachings) #94; translation from Aryeh Kaplan, Rabbi Nachman’s Wisdom (NY: Sepher-Hermon Press, 1973), p. 219.

• Excerpt from “The Frisco Kid” (1979), screenplay by Michael Elias and Frank Shaw, directed by Robert Aldrich.

ROSH HA-SHANAH FIRST DAY

• “Morning Blessings” (free translation of traditional prayer), lyrics and music by Shefa Gold.

• “Achat Shaalti” (from Psalm 27), music by Shlomo Carlebach.

• “Ashira la-Yah” (based on Psalm 104:33), lyrics and music by Shefa Gold.

• “Ilu Finu” (from the traditional prayer), music by Miriam Margles.

• “As We Bless,” lyrics and music by Faith Rogow.

• “Mi Shebeirach” (free translation of traditional prayer), lyrics by Debbie Friedman and Drorah Setel, music by Debbie Friedman.

ROSH HA-SHANAH SECOND DAY

• “Packing Slip,” excerpt from the poem by Jessica Greenbaum, in Salamander II/2 (2006); reprinted in The Torah: A Women’s Commentary (NY: URJ Press, in press), p. 786.

• Quotation from Barry Lopez, Crow and Weasel (North Point Press, 1990).

• “The Sword of Wood” (international folk tale), adapted from the version of storyteller Doug Lipman (West Somerville, Massachusetts).

• “Barcheinu Avinu” (traditional prayer), music by Shlomo Carlebach.

YOM KIPPUR EVENING

• “Thank You,” excerpt from the poem by W. S. Mervin.

• “The Measure of Success,” adapted from the short story by Mitchell Chefitz in his The Curse of Blessings (Philadelphia: Running Press, 2006), pp. 81–89.

YOM KIPPUR DAY

• “Prayer Is . . . ,” excerpt from Who Needs God by Rabbi Harold Kushner.

• “Days of Awe,” excerpt from the poem by Joan Logghe, in Joan Logghe and Miriam Sagan, eds., Another Desert: Jewish Poetry of New Mexico (Santa Fe: Sherman Asher Publishing, 1998).

• Quotations from “New Year’s Message from Reb Zalman (September 11th, 2007),” The Reb Zalman Legacy Project (Fall-Winter 2007), www.rzlp.org.

• “The Ballad of Jonah ben Amittai,” based on lyrics printed in London between 1584 and 1628, reprinted in Hyder E. Rollins, A Pepysian Garland: Black-Letter Broadside Ballads of the Years 1595–1639 (Cambridge University Press, 1922); expanded and adapted in light of insights gained from The JPS Bible Commentary: Jonah (1999) by Uriel Simon; set to the music of “Packington’s Pound” (traditional).

• “Havdalah” (traditional prayer), music by Debbie Friedman

Chanukah visit (5768/2008)

SHABBAT EVENING

• Prayerbook handout photocopied and adapted from Kol Haneshamah: Shabbat Vehagim, 2nd edn. (Wyncote, PA: Reconstructionist Press, 1994).

• “Mah Gadlu” (from Psalm 92), music by Shefa Gold.

• “We are loved by an unending love” chant, words from “Unending Love” by Rami Shapiro, as adapted in Kol Haneshamah, p. 61.

• Amidah insertion for Chanukah, translation by Joel Rosenberg from Kol Haneshamah, p. 102.

• Interpretive translation of Hashkiveinu, “The Dark Embraces Everything,” by Rainer Maria Rilke (as it came to him circa 1900), as translated from the German by Anita Barrows and Joanna Macy, from The Book of Hours: Love Poems to God (1997).

• Kavvanah (orientation) for the Amidah, excerpted from a poem by Rainer Maria Rilke, translated by Stephen Mitchell (adapted).

SHABBAT MORNING

• One-page Amidah, adapted from an article in the Reconstructionist (Jan.–Feb. 1987) by Steven G. Sager, as modified in Raayonot (1990).

• Translation of Psalms 30 from Tanakh, the New Jewish Publication Society version (second edition, 1999), adapted.

• “On Chanukah (Hodaah Insert),” from Mishkan T’filah (June 2005 draft).

SHABBAT EVENING SERVICES

• Prayerbook excerpts from: Kol Haneshamah: Shabbat Vehagim, 2nd edn. (Wyncote, PA: Reconstructionist Press, 1995)

• “Why I Never Bawl Out a Waitress” by Harry Golden

• Psalm 8: transl. Jewish Publication Society (1985); adapted by David E. S. Stein

SHABBAT AFTERNOON PRESENTATION:
“WHAT’S A RABBI FOR?”

• Lucy S. Dawidowicz, ed., The Golden Tradition: Jewish Life and Thought in Eastern Europe (1967; 1984)

• Moses Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, Lore of Sanhedrin § 4.1–3, 15

• Ismar Schorsch, “Emancipation and the Crisis of Religious Authority: The Emergence of the Modern Rabbinate,” in Werner Eugen Mosse, et al., eds., Revolution and Evolution: 1848 in German-Jewish History (1981)

• Aaron Schreiber, Jewish Law and Decision-Making: A Study Through Time (1979)

MELAVEH MALKA

• “Hevdelim” lyrics/music: R. Leila Berner

• “Barcheinu Avinu” lyrics: traditional liturgy; music: Shlomo Carlebach

• “Shalom Aleichem Waltz” lyrics: traditional liturgy; music: David Shneyer

• “Ilu Finu” lyrics: traditional liturgy; music: Miriam Margles

• “Lev Tahor” lyrics: Psalms 51:12–13; music: unknown

Passover visit (5768/2008)

SHABBAT EVENING DINNER AND DISCUSSION:
“How to Leave Egypt without a GPS: The Inner Preparation for Passover”

• “Who is ‘Pharaoh’ today?”: Imam Yahya Hendi of Georgetown University (remarks to the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association annual convention; March 26, 2008)

• Personal Prayer of Rabbi Alexandri: Talmud of Babylonia, Berakhot 17a

• Frozen Grand Central Station (by Improv Everywhere): see the video and behind-the-scenes descriptions at http://improveverywhere.com/2008/01/31/frozen-grand-central/

SHABBAT MORNING TORAH STUDY AND WORSHIP

• Topic: “Passover versus Yom Kippur: Comparison and Contrast”: based on the idea and outline by Rabbi Mark S. Diamond, Board of Rabbis of Southern California

• Topic: “The Halakhah of Greetings on Shabbat”: The following is the classic statement of the teaching to which I alluded: “One is allowed to comfort mourners on Shabbat, and likewise to visit the sick. However, on Shabbat one does not speak to the mourner or to the ill person as is done on a weekday [when it is a mitzvah to offer condolences, or to pray aloud for the ill person’s recovery]. Rather, one says: ‘Shabbat of course takes priority over petitions [of any kind]; meanwhile, I trust that healing will come soon ’” (Joseph Caro, Shulchan Arukh, Orach Chayyim § 287.1, my translation; also Yoreh De’ah § 335.6; compare Moses Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, Lore of Shabbat § 24.5).

COMMUNAL PASSOVER SEDER

• “Miriam Argues for Her Place as Prophetess” (poem read aloud by Jenny Goldberg): by Chava Romm, as printed in The Torah: A Women’s Commentary (URJ Press, 2008).

• “At the Table with Others who Are Not Like Us”: Imam Yahya Hendi of Georgetown University (remarks to the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association annual convention; March 26, 2008)

• “Hope You Find the Afikomen” (song): Based on anonymous lyrics titled “Don’t Sit on the Afikomen” from jewishfreeware.org; adapted by David E. S. Stein

• “Making Meaningful Midrash”: Based on the learning game called “Mutual Storytelling,” in Playfair: Everybody’s Guide to Noncompetitive Play by Matt Weinstein and Joel Goodman (Impact Publishers, 1980); adapted by David E. S. Stein

• “Our Passover Things” (song): Based on anonymous lyrics from jewishfreeware.org; adapted by David E. S. Stein

• “Allies’ Declaration at the Seder Table” (read aloud by Father Rocky Schuster): Adapted by David E. S. Stein from Exodus 18

• “The Ballad of the Five Women (Plus Two)” (song): Based on lyrics by Burt Jacobson from jewishfreeware.org; adapted by David E. S. Stein

• “Next Year in Jerusalem”: Imam Yahya Hendi of Georgetown University (remarks to the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association annual convention; March 26, 2008)