Every year on April 4, I begin the day with the song by U2 called "Pride (In the Name of Love)." The lyrics talk about the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s focused purpose of spreading love and human dignity in the world. The lyrics include a description of April fourth (today in 1968) when he was gunned down. Every year on April 4, in his loving memory, I review the Reverend's words, his speeches; I contemplate the moral courage it took to face what he faced, and consider the brilliant inclusion of so many who would unite under a banner of sacred resistance. 

Rabbi Jill Jacobs insists that "the rabbi has to be a moral voice." Many times in addition to tending to pastoral care and priestly kinds of duties like running holy day observances, rabbis have the opportunity and responsibility to consider the values of our tradition and share them. We are part of a principled tradition of ethics that centers human dignity, and we are taught to stand up against injustice wherever it festers. 

Beyond the rabbinic call to lift up a moral voice, our tradition also insists that each of us in the community have the responsibility to lift up what is right and good everywhere we go. Exodus 19:6 tells us:

...וְאַתֶּ֧ם תִּהְיוּ־לִ֛י מַמְלֶ֥כֶת כֹּהֲנִ֖ים וְג֣וֹי קָד֑וֹשׁ  

but you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation...

This reminds us that we all are charged with the task to fill the world with holiness. To, as the prophet Micah insists,

הִגִּ֥יד לְךָ֛ אָדָ֖ם מַה־טּ֑וֹב וּמָֽה־יְהֹוָ֞ה דּוֹרֵ֣שׁ מִמְּךָ֗ כִּ֣י אִם־עֲשׂ֤וֹת מִשְׁפָּט֙ וְאַ֣הֲבַת חֶ֔סֶד וְהַצְנֵ֥עַ לֶ֖כֶת עִם־אֱלֹהֶֽיךָ׃ {ס}         “He has told you, O human, what is good, And what the Eternal requires of you:
Only to do justice, And to love goodness, and to walk humbly with your God.

I am constantly filled with gratitude when I hear of your participation in efforts to dismantle racism, and bring about justice in all of the spaces that you inhabit.

Together, we're carrying on the legacy of Dr. King, and fulfilling the highest precepts and values of our tradition, and bringing about his vision for a future of love and dignity for all. 

I'd like to invite you to another opportunity to do this work together. Join our Rosh Chodesh Racial Justice Book Review as we read a book by Patrisse Cullors (co-founder of the Black Lives Matter movement). Each month, we explore two more chapters of her work, An Abolitionist's Handbook: 12 Steps to Changing Yourself and the World, and encourage each other to work for positive change within ourselves and the world we inhabit. On our final gathering, July 28, Patrisse Cullors will join us! You can register HERE. 

Together, we’re #keepingitsacred…

Rabbi Heather Miller, 

Founder, Keeping It Sacred

ROSH CHODESH RACIAL JUSTICE REVIEW

Rosh Chodesh is the celebration of the new month. And over the next six months, our Rosh Chodesh Racial Justice Review series will take time to explore 12 Steps to Changing Yourself and the World: An Abolitionist’s Handbook by Patrisse Cullors. Each month, we will discuss two chapters of this work which will simultaneously address transforming our inner personal lives and also the institutional infrastructures of injustice around us. 3pm PT/6pm ET: 3/3, 4/2, 5/8, 5/31, 6/30 and 7/28 Register at: keepingitsacred.com/upcoming-1

BREAKING NEWS! Co-founder of Black Lives Matter, artist, and author Patrisse Cullors will JOIN US 7/28 to discuss her book!

WOMEN CLERGY IN THE JEWISH AND EPISCOPALIAN TRADITIONS

Join The Rev. Susan Russell (All-Saints Church, Pasadena) and Rabbi Heather Miller (Keeping It Sacred) over the course of three sessions to discuss women clergy in their respective religious traditions: Jewish and Episcopalian. The sessions will cover where we’ve been, where we are and where we’re going. Come, reflect on your experiences and raise your questions with us. This program is over zoom and free, though donations to Keeping It Sacred or All-Saints Church are welcomed. This program is being hosted in honor of the 50th Ordination anniversary of Rabbi Sally J. Priesand which will take place on June 3, 2022.

Join us Sunday nights at 5pm PT/8pm ET, April 11th, 18th, & 25th. Register at keepingitsacred.com/upcoming-1.

INTERFAITH ZOOM PASSOVER SEDER

Join us April 16th, Saturday night at 5pm PT/8pm ET as Grammy winning artist, Joanie Leeds once again joins our own Rabbi Heather Miller to co-lead our Interfaith, Intergenerational Passover Seder! Celebrate key parts of the seder in a joyful, inclusive environment. No experience necessary. Bring your friends. REGISTRATION at bitly.com/KITSPASSOVER is open NOW!

And check out highlights from last year's gathering HERE:

A BIT ABOUT... PASSOVER

And... for those of you who would like a refresher on the significance of the holiday of Passover, check out this video in the Keeping It Sacred "A Bit About..the Holidays" series. In each episode, Rabbi Miller shares some of her favorite features of the holiday. Available on our YouTube, or if you prefer, our Keeping It Sacred podcast channels (on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Breaker, Google podcasts, and more). For this and more episodes, please see our web page HERE.

UNTOLD STORIES OF THE BIBLE: A WORKSHOP

Have you ever wondered about the parts of the Bible that are not explained? So did the rabbis! And they filled in the gaps in the text with their own writing and understanding of what happened in a literary art form called midrash. Rabbi Miller will explain the concept and provide examples. Then, together, we will do a close read of selected texts to view gaps in the storylines, and write our own expositions based on our own life experience.

Sundays March 20, March 27, April 3, & April 10 at 10:15am PT/1:15pm ET Register at: keepingitsacred.com/upcoming-1

ISLAMIC CENTER OF IRVINE, RAMADAN

Wednesday the 13th of April, 2022 in-person in Irvine, CA, starting at 6:15 PM PT, join Rabbi Miller at the Islamic Center of Irvine's Interfaith Iftar. Please email Rabbi Miller at rabbimiller@keepingitsacred.com if you are interested in attending. We'd love for you to join! 

CENTRAL CONFERENCE OF AMERICAN RABBIS CONVENTION

1,800 years ago, Joshua Ben Perachiya said in the Mishnah Pirkei Avot:

"עֲשֵׂה לְךָ רַב, וּקְנֵה לְךָ חָבֵר”

"Make for yourself a rabbi, and get for yourself a friend.” Five hundred Reform rabbinic colleagues (350 in-person and 150 more online) gathered this past week and my how good it was when siblings dwell together! Each shared best practices and fellowship, encouragement and perspectives on the major questions of the day including especially: how do we best create safe, respectful, engaging, equitable, vibrant and empowering Jewish community?

Participants learned from our Vatikot (elder women rabbis in the ordained classes of the 70s and 80s)-- what was bitter for them, what was surprising and what was sweet. Colleagues also got excited about new books coming out: Prophetic Judaism edited by the CCAR Press (in which Rabbi Miller has two entries), Torah Tutor: A Contemporary Torah Study Guide written by Rabbi Leonore Bohm which is a wonderful collection of Torah Commentary and centers women's perspectives, and Sally Opened Doors by Sandy Sasso about the first woman rabbi in America, Rabbi Sally J. Priesand. Rabbi Priesand was also celebrated at the Women's Rabbinic Network dinner, the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion breakfast, Monday Morning Shacharit Services, and by our Keynote Speaker Rabbi Dr. Carole Balin who spoke on the events in the Reform Movement leading up to the ordination of Rabbi Priesand on this 50th year of her rabbinate. 

Colleagues approached Rabbi Miller dozens of times to congratulate the entire Keeping It Sacred community for its inspired leadership in the fields of new ways for forming community, digital media engagement, visual Talmud Study, global engagement, cutting edge approaches to wedding officiation, and interfaith and other organizational partnerships. Our community is certainly a strong contributor to the landscape of Jewish life! 

HEALING CIRCLE & TALMUD TEXT STUDY EVERY THURSDAY

Ever want to jump into a conversation with the rabbinic sages of old? Now you can! Join us as we study a page of Talmud every day, adding our perspectives and the relevance to our own lives as we go along. 

The more varied the participants the deeper the conversations. Thursdays 11am PT/2pm ET.

Currently, we are 100 members strong from 28 different states and 8 countries!

We are:

People interested in becoming Jewish

Members of various Jewish denominations

Clergy

Lay leaders

Retired people

People who are not Jewish

We are in our 20s to 80s, and we are everywhere on the spectrum of gender.

Build community affirming of one another’s journey in the sea of Talmud with us! Benefit from the wisdom of Jewish tradition!

What people say:

"Yesterday's class was superb!! I remain impressed by so many things that you do! You are able to keep us on track, share (some of) your knowledge with us, make all sorts of connections to the Jewish and secular worlds, and meet each of us where we are! Kudos to you!!"

"Talmud study has opened a window to that world for me. I love the anthropology and sociology of it all."

"The minority opinions may someday count as much as the majority opinions. It reminds us that things change the Halacha changes and we change each year that we read it."

"We have the opportunity to compare the Halacha we are practicing today with the one they were writing and studying in the Talmud... It has been very interesting how things have evolved how we keep the tradition in our own way."

"I feel very close to this amazing group and I'm grateful to Rabbi Miller for conducting it."

AND just prior to our Talmud Study, we hold space for check-ins and healing prayers for loved ones in need, including ourselves. 

Keeping It Sacred programs are free for all because we uphold the value of keruv/accessibility; voluntary financial contributions to help offset the cost of these programs are greatly appreciated.

To join and of these gatherings, please register HERE. Also, DM Rabbi Miller on Facebook HERE to be added to the closed, secret group where we question and discuss. And look for us on Instagram daily HERE.

PLEASE SUPPORT OUR WORK: MONTHLY

Are you inspired & empowered by the work we are doing?

Would you like to help us build our capacity for goodness?

If yes, please consider becoming a monthly donor to Keeping It Sacred. Our new platform on the Our Future page allows you to choose how to support the work.

If everyone of our newsletter subscribers could contribute just $36/month, we could really get to the NEXT LEVEL of our organizational capacity.

That means: more programs, more inspiration, more effectiveness, more sacredness in the world! And always accessible, relevant, and empowering...

Please scroll above and see the depth of the work we are doing, and consider monthly support. HERE is the link to do so. Thank you for all the ways you're building this community!

UPCOMING EVENTS:

iCal USER? 

If you use iCal and would like the complete Keeping It Sacred calendar added to your calendar, click HERE. This way you won't miss an opportunity to connect via our LIVE activities. 

EVERY DAY

Please enjoy TWO seasons of our 7-episode web series People Keeping It Sacred and our Jewish Holiday series called "A Bit About..." both available on YouTube HERE and via podcast on your favorite podcast player including: PocketCasts, Breaker, RadioPublic, Apple + Podcasts, Google Podcasts  Spotify and more HERE.

ONGOING: SPIRITUAL COUNSELING

Rabbi Miller is available for 1-on-1 spiritual counseling; pay what you can. Topics are based upon the participant and can include your personal theological understanding of coronavirus, spiritually making space for others in your home, the spirituality of isolation and finding your way back to sacred connection. For more information, click HERE.

EVERY THURSDAY: PRAYER CIRCLE

Join us as we gather Thursdays for a Prayer Circle. Lift up names of those who are ill, and join together for support and community. All are welcome. 10:30am PST/ 1:30pm EST/ 3:30pm Brazil time, 6:30pm London-time. Register for this program HERE. 

EVERY THURSDAY: KEEPING IT SACRED-DAF YOMI GROUP MEET-UP

Our Facebook group will host our next virtual meetup via zoom. For the link to attend this meeting Thursdays 11am PST, 2pm EST, 4pm Brazil time, 7pm London time. Register for this programHERE.  

4/10 UNTOLD STORIES OF THE BIBLE

10:15am PT/1:15pm ET Sundays March 20-April 10 Have you ever wondered about the parts of the Bible that are not explained? So did the rabbis! And they filled in the gaps in the text with their own writing and understanding of what happened in a literary art form called midrash. Rabbi Miller will explain the concept and provide examples. Then, together, we will do a close read of selected texts to view gaps in the storylines, and write our own expositions based on our own life experience. Register at: keepingitsacred.com/upcoming-1

4/11 WOMEN CLERGY IN THE JEWISH AND EPISCOPALIAN TRADITIONS

Monday nights at 5pm PT/8pm ET, April 11-25. Join The Rev. Susan Russell (All-Saints Church, Pasadena) and Rabbi Heather Miller (Keeping It Sacred) over the course of three sessions to discuss women clergy in their respective religious traditions: Jewish and Episcopalian. The sessions will cover where we’ve been, where we are and where we’re going. Come, reflect on your experiences and raise your questions with us. This program is over zoom and free, though donations to Keeping It Sacred or All-Saints Church are welcomed. This program is being hosted in honor of the 50th Ordination anniversary of Rabbi Sally J. Priesand which will take place on June 3, 2022. Register here: https://www.keepingitsacred.com/event-details/women-clergy-in-the-jewish-and-episcopalian-traditions

4/13 IN-PERSON INTERFAITH IFTAR

Wednesday the 13th of April, 2022 in-person in Irvine, CA, starting at 6:15 PM PT, join Rabbi Miller at the Islamic Center of Irvine's Interfaith Iftar. Please email Rabbi Miller at rabbimiller@keepingitsacred.com if you are interested in attending. We'd love for you to join! 

4/16 INTERFAITH, INTERGENERATIONAL PASSOVER SEDER

Join us April 16th, Saturday night at 5pm PT/8pm ET as Grammy winning artist, Joanie Leeds once again joins our own Rabbi Heather Miller to co-host our Interfaith, Intergenerational Passover Seder! Celebrate key parts of the seder and a joyful, inclusive environment. No experience necessary. Invite your friends. Register here: bitly.com/KITSPASSOVER

4/18 WOMEN CLERGY IN THE JEWISH AND EPISCOPALIAN TRADITIONS

Monday nights at 5pm PT/8pm ET, April 11-25. Join The Rev. Susan Russell (All-Saints Church, Pasadena) and Rabbi Heather Miller (Keeping It Sacred) over the course of three sessions to discuss women clergy in their respective religious traditions: Jewish and Episcopalian. The sessions will cover where we’ve been, where we are and where we’re going. Come, reflect on your experiences and raise your questions with us. This program is over zoom and free, though donations to Keeping It Sacred or All-Saints Church are welcomed. This program is being hosted in honor of the 50th Ordination anniversary of Rabbi Sally J. Priesand which will take place on June 3, 2022.

4/25 WOMEN CLERGY IN THE JEWISH AND EPISCOPALIAN TRADITIONS

Monday nights at 5pm PT/8pm ET, April 11-25. Join The Rev. Susan Russell (All-Saints Church, Pasadena) and Rabbi Heather Miller (Keeping It Sacred) over the course of three sessions to discuss women clergy in their respective religious traditions: Jewish and Episcopalian. The sessions will cover where we’ve been, where we are and where we’re going. Come, reflect on your experiences and raise your questions with us. This program is over zoom and free, though donations to Keeping It Sacred or All-Saints Church are welcomed. This program is being hosted in honor of the 50th Ordination anniversary of Rabbi Sally J. Priesand which will take place on June 3, 2022.

4/29 SHABBAT SERVICES

Friday night, 4/29 at 5:30pm PT/8:30pm ET, give yourself the gift of space to reflect and rejuvenate with monthly shabbat services. Rabbi Miller and Jeffrey Silverstein will lead the community with Jewish thought and sacred song. Together, we will lift up anniversaries, birthdays, and honor remembrances of our loved ones. This program runs the last Friday night of every month. Please email Rabbi Miller your important dates so we know when to honor your sacred times (birthdays, anniversaries, remembrances) at rabbimiller@keepingitsacred.com. And please register here: keepingitsacred.com/upcoming-1.

5/8 ROSH CHODESH RACIAL JUSTICE REVIEW

3pm PT/6pm ET, join Rabbi Miller for a discussion of Patrisse Cullors' latest book, 12 Steps to Changing Yourself and the World: An Abolitionist’s Handbook. Patrisse Cullors herself (the author & co-founder of Black Lives Matter) join us 7/28! Explore how to transform yourself and the world around you amidst thoughtful, committed, tender-hearted community members. All are welcome. Register at: keepingitsacred.com/upcoming-1.

5/27 SHABBAT SERVICES

Friday night, 5/27 at 5:30pm PT/8:30pm ET, give yourself the gift of space to reflect and rejuvenate with monthly shabbat services. Rabbi Miller and Jeffrey Silverstein will lead the community with Jewish thought and sacred song. Together, we will lift up anniversaries, birthdays, and honor remembrances of our loved ones. This program runs the last Friday night of every month. Please email Rabbi Miller your important dates so we know when to honor your sacred times (birthdays, anniversaries, remembrances) at rabbimiller@keepingitsacred.com And please register here: keepingitsacred.com/upcoming-1.

6/24 SHABBAT SERVICES

Friday night, 6/24 at 5:30pm PT/8:30pm ET, give yourself the gift of space to reflect and rejuvenate with monthly shabbat services. Rabbi Miller and Jeffrey Silverstein will lead the community with Jewish thought and sacred song. Together, we will lift up anniversaries, birthdays, and honor remembrances of our loved ones. This program runs the last Friday night of every month. Please email Rabbi Miller your important dates so we know when to honor your sacred times (birthdays, anniversaries, remembrances) at rabbimiller@keepingitsacred.com. And please register here: keepingitsacred.com/upcoming-1.

6/30 ROSH CHODESH RACIAL JUSTICE REVIEW

3pm PT/6pm ET, join Rabbi Miller for a discussion of Patrisse Cullors' latest book, 12 Steps to Changing Yourself and the World: An Abolitionist’s Handbook. Patrisse Cullors herself (the author & co-founder of Black Lives Matter) join us 7/28!Explore how to transform yourself and the world around you amidst thoughtful, committed, tender-hearted community members. All are welcome. Register at: keepingitsacred.com/upcoming-1.
 

7/28 ROSH CHODESH RACIAL JUSTICE REVIEW & PATRISSE CULLORS

3pm PT/6pm ET, join Rabbi Miller for a discussion of Patrisse Cullors' latest book, 12 Steps to Changing Yourself and the World: An Abolitionist’s Handbook. Patrisse Cullors herself (the author & co-founder of Black Lives Matter) join us 7/28! Explore how to transform yourself and the world around you amidst thoughtful, committed, tender-hearted community members. All are welcome. Register at: keepingitsacred.com/upcoming-1.

7/29 SHABBAT SERVICES

Friday night, 7/29 at 5:30pm PT/8:30pm ET, give yourself the gift of space to reflect and rejuvenate with monthly shabbat services. Rabbi Miller and Jeffrey Silverstein will lead the community with Jewish thought and sacred song. Together, we will lift up anniversaries, birthdays, and honor remembrances of our loved ones. This program runs the last Friday night of every month. Please email Rabbi Miller your important dates so we know when to honor your sacred times (birthdays, anniversaries, remembrances) at rabbimiller@keepingitsacred.com. And please register here: keepingitsacred.com/upcoming-1.

THANK YOU!

You are a cherished member of this community and we love to hear from you-- what questions do you have? Reach out to rabbimiller@keepingitsacred.com or via phone at 818-312-8388 anytime to let us know what you’re finding meaningful, inspiring and what you’d like to see.

Together, we're #keepingitsacred...

GIFTS TO KEEPING IT SACRED

All of us at Keeping It Sacred would like to extend a sincere THANK YOU to each and every person who has extended a financial gift to the KITS community this past year. You power the work and ensure that quality relevant & empowering programming and resources remain accessible for all regardless of economic capacity. 

If you like what we're doing and would like to make a meaningful gift in this new year of any amount, please visit our contributions page at:

keepingitsacred.com/our-future

Thank you for #keepingitsacred...

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