“We had wanted to find a way to explore the Jewish High Holy Days for years, and we might have interviewed any number of wonderful guests, who would have provided myriad windows intothe themes and meaning of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur,” program host Krista Tippett wrote in her online journal. “But as we researched this program, my imagination was caught by Sharon Brous … She now leads an urban community she helped to found in Los Angeles in 2004 named IKAR — after the Hebrew word for “essence,” or “core.” Her congregation is bursting to theseams, mostly with people in their 20s and 30s. IKAR calls itself both progressive and traditional.

“Solemn words like repentance and atonement define the Days of Awe, though these English translations of Hebrew words are resonant culturally with their Christian appropriations. More importantly, they don’t capture the poetic and visual nuances of the Hebrew. Yet Sharon Brous embraces them intellectually and kinetically. In the deepest spirit of Jewish tradition — of midrash and Talmud, of reverent yet imaginative interpretation of text and practice, of sacred and fearless conversation across generations about them — she fills them with new connotations for her generation.”

The Covenant Foundation’s three-year grant to IKAR is allowing the organization to develop its Minyan Tzedek project, enabling congregation members to pursue a range of social justice projects rooted in Jewish learning.

To read the full journal entry by Krista Tippett and to hear a recording of her recent interview with Rabbi Brous, click here.