Kol Ami | BLOG

Check your receipts: Rosh Hashanah is coming!

Aug 16, 20234 min read

Check your receipts: Rosh Hashanah is coming!

Rosh Hodesh Elul, the new month of Elul, is the last new moon of the year 5783. The next new moon will be Rosh HaShanah. This month of...

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Saving Israeli Democracy-American Jews have a role too!

Congregation Kol Ami

Aug 9, 20231 min read

Saving Israeli Democracy-American Jews have a role too!

Shalom! I am inviting you to get involved in the Israeli pro-democracy movement. Even if it is just for the learning and keeping up to...

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Why Jewish Camp makes me cry and the ancestors cheer

Congregation Kol Ami

Aug 8, 20234 min read

Why Jewish Camp makes me cry and the ancestors cheer

We just returned home from a quick trip to URJ Camp Kalsman in Arlington, Washington. Seth and I both had campers up at our local Reform...

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Congregation Kol Ami

Aug 1, 20231 min read

Interfaith Shabbat this Shabbat!

The goal: To welcome people who are not Jewish into our community this Shabbat. Exposure! Connections! Demystifying! Sharing of our...

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Why Tisha B'Av? Because none of our holidays are irrelevant.

Congregation Kol Ami

Jul 24, 20233 min read

Why Tisha B'Av? Because none of our holidays are irrelevant.

Why Tisha B'Av? For most of my life I have heard many liberal Jews, rabbis included, downplay the relevance of Tisha B'Av. Why? It...

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Back from a month in the woods and back into the woods to celebrate Shabbat.

Congregation Kol Ami

Jul 19, 20233 min read

Back from a month in the woods and back into the woods to celebrate Shabbat.

Shalom! I am just back from a month of vacation. We went camping in the woods. Just my husband Seth and myself. Over the four weeks, we...

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Congregation Kol Ami

May 23, 20235 min read

Kol Ami's future...?

It is bright. This is what I can tell you. Our future is bright. Sustainable. Energetic. Growing. Joyful. Thoughtful. Kind. Generous. Kol...

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Kirkland Together: Recognizing Antisemitism 4/29 3-6pm space limited!

Congregation Kol Ami

Mar 23, 20231 min read

Kirkland Together: Recognizing Antisemitism 4/29 3-6pm space limited!

Register today for our Kirkalnd symposium on antisemitism. https://www.kolaminw.org/events-1/kirkland-together-recognizing-antisemitism...

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Turn a day of hate into a day of love 2/25 10:30am 🪬💕🪬💕

Congregation Kol Ami

Feb 24, 20232 min read

Turn a day of hate into a day of love 2/25 10:30am 🪬💕🪬💕

This Saturday 2/25 has been marked as a national day of hate of the Jews-by people who really hate Jews. People who work in Jewish...

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Camp Kesher: the best thing we did as a family for almost 20 years

Congregation Kol Ami

Feb 17, 20234 min read

Camp Kesher: the best thing we did as a family for almost 20 years

In the summer of 2003, when Ozi was not even 3 years old, I was asked by my boss to attend Camp Kesher, a Jewish family camp on Vashon...

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Shabbat Shira: Congregation as Choir and the Rhythm is going to get you

Congregation Kol Ami

Feb 2, 20234 min read

Shabbat Shira: Congregation as Choir and the Rhythm is going to get you

One of the most beautiful and uplifting aspects of Jewish prayer, for this rabbi at least, is a communal song. The songs and prayers we...

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Congregation Kol Ami

Jan 20, 20233 min read

We all have foreskin

One well-known covenant of the Jewish people is brit milah, the covenant of foreskin removal on the 8th day. Also known as a Bris. I have...

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Congregation Kol Ami

Jan 6, 20235 min read

“Everybody is going to be dead."

“Everybody is going to be dead one day, just give them time.” Neil Gaiman The best gift you can give your children is a well-planned...

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Kol Ami & MLK Day Seattle: A new partnership

Congregation Kol Ami

Jan 2, 20233 min read

Kol Ami & MLK Day Seattle: A new partnership

2023 SEATTLE MLK COMMUNITY WORKSHOPS and MARCH Show your solidarity. Young and Old alike. Help make the Jewish community visible at this...

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Congregation Kol Ami

Dec 30, 20225 min read

Od Avinu Chai! We are still kicking!

When Joseph reveals his hidden identity to his brothers in this week's parashah Vayigash, he does so with emotion. He reveals himself in...

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Vayeishev: It was never a coat, it was always a dress.

Congregation Kol Ami

Dec 15, 20223 min read

Vayeishev: It was never a coat, it was always a dress.

Jacob had a favorite son. Of his many sons. Twelve in all. You know one of them had to be genderqueer. And it turned out to be his most...

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This Friday! Free to Be: 50 years of Free to be You and Me.

Congregation Kol Ami

Nov 7, 20222 min read

This Friday! Free to Be: 50 years of Free to be You and Me.

This Friday, 11/11, at 7:30 pm, Kol Ami is celebrating Free to Be You and Me (released on my birthday, 11/27/1972) through story and...

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It is a Tree of Life: Reflections on anti-Jewish violence in America on the Tree of Life Anniversary

Congregation Kol Ami

Oct 27, 20225 min read

It is a Tree of Life: Reflections on anti-Jewish violence in America on the Tree of Life Anniversary

When I was a young adult, my home synagogue, where my father was rabbi, was shot up by a machine gun. Behind the gun: Chris Lord, a...

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Migrants coming from Texas to Seattle: How you can help with this humanitarian crisis right now!

Congregation Kol Ami

Oct 18, 20223 min read

Migrants coming from Texas to Seattle: How you can help with this humanitarian crisis right now!

Love the stranger...this is the most repeated mitzvah in the Torah. It is not an option for us Jews. We have been strangers in a strange...

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Reporting Live from NAMI WA conference...Mental Health Matters at Kol Ami

Congregation Kol Ami

Sep 17, 20228 min read

Reporting Live from NAMI WA conference...Mental Health Matters at Kol Ami

A special thanks to Jesse Zook Mann for support and guidance in preparing this work. This afternoon I am offering a session on inclusive...

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