Friday, October 2 at Kol Ami One of the things I love about being Jewish in the Pacific Northwest is that Judaism keeps asking me to pay attention to where I am. I grew up in Oregon’s Willamette Valley, on the Indigenous homeland of the Kalapuya people. Salmon, cedar trees, mountains, rivers and stories connected to this land were part of the world around me. And alongside that was my Jewish world. I belonged to an ancient people too, with our own stories, foods, calendar, la

Dear Kol Ami community, Sukkot begins Friday evening, September 25. After the intensity of the High Holidays, our tradition sends us outside. We build a shelter with branches for a roof. We gather around a table, share food, look up at the sky, and call this season z’man simchateinu, the season of our joy. I have been thinking about an old Hasidic story. Reb Uri saved all year to buy a beautiful etrog for Sukkot. On his way to the market, he met a wagon driver whose horse had

As we prepare to welcome 5787, I am looking forward to gathering with you for Erev Rosh Hashanah and beginning a year devoted to honoring 250 years of Jewish life in America. Throughout the High Holy Days, our sermons, music, learning, and storytelling will explore the many ways Jews have shaped America—and the ways America has shaped us. We will celebrate the courage, creativity, resilience, and diversity of our Jewish American community while also asking what our tradition

Late August Shabbat in the Park Late August is one of my favorite times of year. The evenings are warm, the light is beautiful, and I cannot imagine a better way to spend Shabbat than together in the park, eating, singing, playing and creating Jewish space in nature. Please join me on August 21 at 6:00 PM at a lovely, small and very green park in Kirkland. The location will be provided when you register. Come as a member or a guest. Bring your family, bring a friend or simply

Today, August 13, is also Rosh Chodesh Elul, the beginning of our journey toward the Jewish New Year. Rosh Hashanah is only one month away. Are we ready? Not just with our meals, plans, and holiday clothes, but in our hearts? The Hebrew month of Elul begins our spiritual preparation for the New Year. It is a time to slow down, reflect on the year behind us, repair what needs our attention, and think about who we want to become in the year ahead. Rabbi Alan Lew writes, “The gr

Our new teen programs!

She dug her own grave each Tisha B'Av

July 4, Year 250: Redeemed Last night, nearly 100 neighbors from many different faith traditions gathered at Kol Ami for an epic interfaith potluck and Shabbat service. There was even a Jell-O salad—a true sign of a synagogue interfaith gathering. There was singing and laughter. Tables overflowing with food. Prayer. Learning. And, perhaps most beautiful of all, I watched people exchange phone numbers. Neighbors were becoming friends. That is how peace begins. The goodness of

Midweek Torah Study with Rabbi Yohanna Kinberg Wednesdays • Noon–1:00 PM “Rabbi Shimon ben Halafta said: The Holy One, blessed be God, found no vessel capable of holding blessing for Israel except peace.” — Mishnah Uktzin 3:12 The Mishnah, the foundational collection of Jewish law and wisdom compiled nearly two thousand years ago, concludes in a remarkable place. After six orders, sixty-three tractates, and thousands of teachings about ritual, ethics, justice, purity, and com

We live in a world that moves very fast. Our calendars are full. Our phones never stop buzzing. The news never sleeps. Work follows us home. Even our moments of rest can feel hurried. Judaism offers another way. Every week, our tradition invites us to do something remarkably countercultural: Stop. Put down our work. Step away from our screens. Gather around a table. Share a meal. Sing. Laugh. Rest. Connect. Long before anyone spoke about stress reduction, burnout, mental heal

A special end of the year message from the rabbi

In honor of Yom Ha’Atzmaut Do not be afraid. Walk through fear into an expansive, unfolding future. There is a line we carry as Jews, whether we name it or not. From The Silver Platter (Alterman): “And the land will be quiet… The youth will step forward and say: We are the silver platter on which the Jewish state was given.” A people does not come into being without fear. A state is not born without trembling hands. Jerusalem, 1975. Jerusalem is where I learned about fear.

Assistant Director of Education (Part-Time) Congregation Kol Ami: A Center for Jewish Life (Kirkland, WA) Kol Ami is seeking a warm, organized, and relational educator to serve as our Assistant Director of Education . This part-time role supports our vibrant youth and family education programs and helps create joyful, inclusive Jewish learning experiences. Responsibilities include: Onsite leadership for 28 Saturday morning programs (8:00 AM–12:00 PM) Supporting 2 Friday night

Train Tunnel Standing at the sealed passage between Israel and Lebanon If I could open up the tunnel between Israel and Lebanon at Rosh HaNikra, I would hack away at it with my nails, my teeth, with everything I have. I have stood and looked at that sealed tunnel at Rosh HaNikra many times in my life. Remembering that, even if for a short time, a train ran from the beautiful coastal city of Haifa up the stunning Mediterranean coastline to Beirut. Beirut. I have heard it is, o

Never Again—for Us or for Anyone? Yom HaShoah 5786 | Kol Ami: A Center for Jewish Life In memory of the six million Jews and all those who were killed during the Shoah (catastrophe), and in honor of those who stood up for us when we could not stand up for ourselves. “Never again”—just for us? Or “never again”—for anyone? Where are we this year? Where are you? We, as human beings, move constantly between the particular and the universal. Between caring for our own and caring f

Last night, as we gathered under the full moon of freedom, our hearts were not only filled with memory, but with fear, urgency, and deep love for our people. We know this night. We have lived this night before. We know the feeling of our ancestors, running in the dark, stepping into the unknown, carrying what they could, trusting in something not yet visible. Tonight, many of our people in Israel are again under threat, sheltering, listening, waiting. The ancient story is no

This August, something beautiful is happening just up the road from us. From August 13–16, 2026, in nearby Duvall, a new gathering is emerging: CHAVAYA — A Jewish Transformational Festival. It is a weekend of music, dance, learning, Shabbat, and connection. A space to step outside of our daily rhythms and enter into something more spacious, more embodied, more alive. And I am honored to share that I will be there as one of the workshop leaders. What is Chavaya? Chavaya means

Amaze. Amaze. Amaze.

There was a time when Jewish life revolved around sacrifice. Animals brought to an altar. Smoke rising. Blood marking the line between the everyday and the holy. The book of Leviticus sits in that world. A world where closeness to God meant offering something up. Something costly. Something alive. And then it stopped. With the destruction of the Second Temple, sacrifice as the center of Jewish life ended. Not slowly. It just stopped. The altar went quiet. So the question is n

Across Jewish history, sacred spaces have been targets. The places where Jews gather to pray, learn, sing, celebrate, and mourn have again and again drawn the attention of those who wish Jewish life would disappear. The Temple in Jerusalem. The synagogue down the street. The study hall. The holiday table. The preschool hallway. It is an old story. Painfully old. And yet the deeper story is not the violence. The deeper story is that we are still here. Because Jewish history is