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Riding the Waves Erev Rosh Hashanah 5782/2021 Rabbi Cassi Kail As the High Holy Days approached this year, I struggled to find the words to address this community. I – so rarely without words—wondered what I could say that would meet our needs at this precise moment. One Facebook meme joked that every rabbi should […]
On Diversity and Belonging Rosh Hashanah Morning 5782/2021 Rabbi Cassi Kail In 1997, the novelist George Dawes Green was growing tired of poetry slams. He loved the feel of people coming together and sharing parts of themselves, but he felt disconnected from the high language of poetry. He noticed a moment of high energy and […]
On Cancel Culture Kol Nidrei 5782/2021 Rabbi Cassi Kail Elisha ben Abuya’s story is a cautionary tale. Elisha had been a well-respected scholar whose love for teaching Torah was infectious. In his lessons, he placed particular emphasis on the importance of mitzvot, the ways we act out our faith. Nearly overnight, Elisha’s reputation drastically changed, […]
Shmita: A Sacred Opportunity for Renewal Yom Kippur Morning 5782/2021 Rabbi Cassi Kail It was 5:30 in evening and I had been writing for hours, or at least trying to write. I had composed the same paragraph over and over again, unsatisfied with my work. Time ticked by and I grew more and more frustrated. […]
The Path of a Mourner Yizkor 5782/2021 Rabbi Cassi Kail Mourners didn’t just enter the temple mount. They did so in a special way, a unique way. Whereas everyone else entered to the right, they went around to the left. It sounds like such an insignificant detail, and yet the Talmud insists that it is […]
Camp is Life Rabbi Cassi Kail rabbikail@bethelsp.org “Camp is life. The rest is just details.” I spent ten days in August on faculty at Camp Newman. As I drove up the coast of California, inching closer to Santa Rosa, I felt both my excitement and my nerves rising. I had the pleasure of serving as […]
Elul Project: The Stories of Our Lives Rabbi Cassi Kail rabbikail@bethelsp.org “Storytelling,” explains author Robert McKee, “is the most powerful way to put ideas into the world.” Our Jewish tradition is based on stories. The Torah includes narratives about our people’s moral, spiritual, and communal evolution. It describes tales of struggle and faith, interpersonal challenges […]
Annual Meeting Report Rabbi Cassi Kail rabbikail@bethelsp.org 5781 was unpredictable in ways we never could have imagined and will certainly never forget. It was a year of struggle and loss, and challenge and physical isolation. It was also a year that offered gifts, new insights, and a renewed passion for strengthening our nearly 100-year-old congregation. […]
Havdalah Transition Rabbi Cassi Kail rabbikail@bethelsp.org For the past fifteen months, community members have come together on Zoom every Saturday night to mark the end of Shabbat. With a short but meaningful ceremony called Havdalah. It is one of my favorite Jewish rituals, which delights the senses as well as the soul. While Havdalah comes […]
Celebrate Freedom Rabbi Cassi Kail rabbikail@bethelsp.org On an April afternoon, I went to the temple and was surprised by a building filled with workers going in and out, laying down materials, and taping up walls. The clangs and bangs were music to my ears. Workers were there to repair our broken elevator. You might recall […]
