Beginning lines of the Book of Lamentations Tomorrow we mark the 9th day of the Jewish month of Av (usually called Tish’a b’Av, the 9th of Av), a day set aside in Jewish tradition for grieving and lamentation. While it originally commemorated the destruction of both Temples in Jerusalem on this date (in 586 BCE … Continue reading Why We Need to Lament

Image credit: BimBam One of the best known prayers in the Jewish liturgy is the Mourner’s Kaddish. It’s a relatively short prayer, usually said only in a minyan of 10 Jewish adults, who hear the person chanting it and respond. We say it at funerals, in a shiva house, during the mourning period of 30 … Continue reading Why Do We Say the Mourner’s Kaddish?

This past Thursday was my father’s second yahrzeit, the anniversary of his passing, according to the Hebrew calendar. It is traditional to light a memorial candle that will burn for 24 hours, and to find a community with which to recite the Mourner’s Kaddish, a special prayer praising the Divine. I am privileged to have … Continue reading A Life Well Lived

Designed by Kwakwaka’wakw artist, Curtis Wilson This past Saturday was Canada Day. When we first moved here, in 1994, people were still arguing about the change from Dominion Day. When we became citizens in 2003, our citizenship judge, Art Miki, told us how his father had been discriminated against for being of Japanese origin, despite … Continue reading Standing on Guard For Thee