Words of the Week

by Erika Dreifus on
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When we ask God to remember the souls of our departed at Yizkor, we request more than a mere mental act. We pray implicitly that by focusing on our loved ones’ souls, God will take action on their behalf and save them from whatever pain they may be suffering, wherever they may be. At the same time, the implication is that this act of remembrance also constitutes a guarantee of Jewish community—well beyond just those we remember, and far beyond us as well. In remembering and in asking for God’s remembrance, we request divine help in continuing our people’s trajectory beyond ourselves, to achieve the ultimate aims of our people’s history. Yizkor is, in the end, not a prayer for the dead, but a promise by the living.

Source: Rabbi Aaron Panken (z”l).

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Monday Markets and Jobs for Writers

by Erika Dreifus on
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Background of a keyboard, mug of coffee, and wallet on a tabletop; text label indicating "Markets and Jobs for Writers: No fees to submit work/apply. Paying gigs only."

The weekly batch of no-fee, paying competitions, contests, and calls for submissions—plus jobs for those of us who write (especially those of us who write fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction). These posts are intended to complement/supplement monthly issues of The Practicing Writer newsletter, where you’ll always find more listings, none of them limiting eligibility to residents of a single municipality, state, or province (this blog, on the other hand, does sometimes include those more restricted opportunities).

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Sunday Sentence

by Erika Dreifus on
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In which I participate in David Abrams’s “Sunday Sentence” project, sharing the best sentence I’ve read during the past week, “out of context and without commentary.”

When you study a Jewish text and create new meaning out of it, you engage in the most central practice in the Jewish religion.

Source: David A.M. Wilensky, “Getting Drunk on Jewish Texts and Arts at LABA Launch” (J, The Jewish News of Northern California)