Sorry, friends, for not writing for a few days. I was home with my family for the holiday weekend. But I'm back!

I attended a Rosh Hashanah service this past Saturday at the same temple I've been attending since I was a wee Jew. I was very happy to see that:

A.) All services are now conducted from gender-neutral prayer books, which replace words like "King" and "Him" with "God" and "Sovereign One."

B.) My rabbi, who I adore, gave a sermon on the state of Israel, and he acknowledged that the nation is far from treating all as equals. As an example, he mentioned the shooting at a gay and lesbian center in Tel Aviv in August. A gunman opened fire at the center, killing two people and wounding at least fifteen. I was extremely grateful that my rabbi addressed GLBT rights - it was very appropriate, considering a passage we had read earlier in the service from our prayer books read, "We shall grant others the same rights we claim for ourselves."

Though I don't 100% identify with Judaism (the God stuff throws me off sometimes), I still wholeheartedly appreciate the religion and how accepting it can be.