Voices

Bylined opinion and news columns published by United Hebrew Congregation Terre Haute.

Let us celebrate a virtual holiday season with more hoping, less moping!

By Betsy Frank
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Is 2020 really the year without holidays?

We celebrated the High Holy Days via Zoom. Thanksgiving and now Hanukkah occur during a partial lockdown. And if you are a part of an interfaith family, as are 71 percent non-Orthodox Jewish families, you probably will miss the family Christmas celebration.

The holidays haven’t disappeared but are certainly different this year.

I had been moping around lately contemplating the fact that Dick and I will not be celebrating with family — that is, until began to reconsider our situation. Technology has allowed to remain quite well-connected.

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Hanukkah reminds us to seek light, and unity, in moments of darkness

By Student Rabbi Caitlin Brazner
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As winter approaches and 2020 (finally) nears its end, it’s hard not to think back and reflect on what’s been. After a year of divisive and polarizing politics, racial unrest and injustice, and a global pandemic that continues to ravage our country (among other issues), I can’t help but think that our season of darkness began much sooner.

This year hasn’t been easy. We feel divided and disillusioned, disappointed and disheartened.

We are entering a holiday season that many of us, due to COVID restrictions, will be forced to spend socially distanced, if not alone. We have spent endless months grappling with big questions and big challenges; that wrestling has left us tired.

And yet, at the darkest (in daylight terms) time of year, our tradition calls for the lighting of candles in celebration of a miracle — a flame that lasted against all odds and provided light when we needed it most.

Hanukkah is a story of hope and renewal, of light and warmth for these coming cold nights.

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Prayer books evolve to meet the times, and anyone can Hebrew with a little transliteration!

By Betsy Frank
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After each High Holy Days season, I hear several comments regarding the amount of Hebrew in the service.

Some say, “There was too much Hebrew and I didn’t get much out of the service.” Others observe, “More Hebrew and a more traditional service is what I want.”

Obviously, no one service will please all.

So, how did we get to this state of affairs? We are an eclectic congregation with some members who were raised in Orthodox Jewish families, some Conservative, and some, like me, in classical Reform congregations. Each of these traditions brings its own unique characteristics.

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We are better than vengeance, better than a death penalty system skewed to racial injustice

By Terry Fear
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Thirteen minutes is the amount of time it takes me to drive to Starbucks. For Orlando Hall, sitting on death row, 13 minutes sealed his execution.

Had those 13 minutes passed and the clock struck midnight, Orlando Hall’s stay of execution would have extended for 90 days. But a last-minute Supreme Court decision (6-3) vacated the stay.

At 11:47 p.m. EST Thursday, Nov. 19, Orlando Hall was pronounced dead at the U.S. Federal Penitentiary in Terre Haute. His official cause of death was “legal homicide”. He was 49 years old.

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