Debra Orenstein, at The Blogs

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Apr 25, 2024, 11:52 PM

The Seder Began Something

The Seders are behind us, but the exploration of what it really means to be free is not. The Passover Seders and the entire holiday are always a balance between celebration and serious, sometimes difficult, reflection. We rejoice in spring,...

Jul 26, 2021, 10:45 PM

Finish the Week Strong: Strengthen Your Container

The Hebrew word for “hope,” tikvah is related to the Hebrew word for ritual bath, “mikvah.” People immerse in the mikvah when seeking renewal and/or transformation. Likewise, transformation and renewal occur when we immerse ourselves in hope. Rabbi Zalman...

Jul 22, 2021, 6:06 PM

The lifting list

Yesterday, you focused on someone who lent you hope. To whom can you lend hope? No doubt, you have at least some friends, relatives, neighbors, children, students, employees, or colleagues who are particularly in need of hope. Today’s exercise: Make a...

Jul 22, 2021, 4:58 PM

Gratitude for hope letter

One of the most famous and best-studied Positive Psychology interventions is the Gratitude Letter. A gratitude letter blesses both the person who delivers it and the person who receives it. Even six months after writing a letter — and...

Jul 22, 2021, 11:54 AM

Hakarat HaTov: Recognizing the good

The exercise instructions are bolded, below. I hope that the background and examples will be helpful, too. There are lots of good reasons why we fail to recognize the good in our lives. For survival, our brains focus on...

Jul 20, 2021, 9:41 AM

Please take a moment to thank yourself for participating in this series (gratitude) – and to encourage yourself about the good future you are creating (hope). Today’s exercise: First, and as quickly as you can (two minutes or less), write...

Jul 20, 2021, 3:41 AM

Hope & gratitude: Intro to the 10-day challenge

As a follow-up to my recent lecture at the Manhattan JCC on “Hope & Gratitude Through a Jewish Lens," I am providing a 10-day Hope & Gratitude Challenge (#hopeandgratitudechallenge). I hope you enjoy it! The articles you are seeing today...

Jun 15, 2021, 10:44 AM

Korach: ‘Small’ Miracles

(via Pexels / Tanya Gorelova)

In the Torah portion, Korach (Numbers 16:1-18:32), the ground opens up and swallows rebels, insurrectionists are immolated from a Heavenly fire, and a desiccated stick miraculously blossoms - all to show God's power and God's chosen leaders. Then, in...

May 11, 2021, 8:06 PM

Pandemic seedtime and harvest

עֹד כָּל-יְמֵי הָאָרֶץ זֶרַע וְקָצִיר ... לֹ֥א יִשְׁבֹּֽתוּ׃ So long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest will never cease. – Genesis 8:22 Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi described elderhood as a time of sacred harvesting.* Throughout youth and middle age, we plant ideas,...

Apr 9, 2021, 2:37 AM

Last year, I celebrated 30 years as a rabbi. (For the record, I was the youngest in my class.) It was a big number that didn’t feel particularly special or holy. This year, the 31st anniversary of my ordination,...

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About Me

Debra Orenstein, rabbi of Congregation B'nai Israel in Emerson, NJ, is an acclaimed teacher, author, and scholar-in-residence. She is editor of Lifecycles 1:Jewish Women on Life Passages and Personal Milestones and Lifecycles 2: Jewish Women on Biblical Themes in Contemporary Life (Jewish Lights). A seventh generation rabbi, she was in the first rabbinical class at The Jewish Theological Seminary to include women. She earned a Certificate in Positive Psychology and teaches online. Visit RabbiDebra.com to learn more.

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