Rabbi Shoshana's Blog

Finding Our Lost Hearts: the practice of radical t'shuvah

A Yom Kippur Sermon The last scene of the Disney movie Moana is one of the most powerful endings I’ve seen in a children’s movie. Moana...

Blessing of Choosing: a radical alternative to Erusin in a Jewish wedding

My husband, Yotam Schachter, and I got creative with the first ritual blessing of our wedding. Why? The traditional Jewish liturgy for...

The Torah of Deep Time

A Rosh HaShanah Sermon 2023/5774 Delivered at Temple Beth El of Portland, Maine Exactly ten-and-a-half years ago, I got on a plane to...

When Trees are our Counsel

Reb Nachman of Bratslav used to pray: רבונו של עולם Master of the Universe, grant me the ability to be alone; may it be my custom to go...

The Wellbeing & Becoming Ketubah

My husband and I wrote this original ketubah (marriage contract) for ourselves. We liked it so much we wanted to make it available for...

Earth Amidah

In Jewish tradition, the Amidah prayer is a series of blessings recited three times a day. Each blessing has a theme. I wrote the...

Eileh Ezkarah: a Martyrology service for our time

View on RitualWell.org I wrote this poem for Yom Kippur , 2020 and recited it at Temple Beth El in Portland, Maine, where I was helping...