Articles written by Glen Pickus
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Weekly Worship | The Temple Beth Or community
The reasons for joining a religious institution such as Temple Beth Or are as various as the number of its members. Temple Beth Or offers a place for Jews to worship together in... — Updated 1/15/2023
Choosing to fast on Yom Kippur l Worship
"Is this not the fast I have chosen?” (Isaiah 58:6). Jews hear these words every year at services on Yom Kippur which starts at sunset on Tuesday, Oct. 8. Jews fast on Yom Kippur... — Updated 1/15/2023
Rededicating my life | Worship
The first night of Hanukkah, the eight-day Festival of Lights, starts this year at sunset on Dec. 18. As I’ve been writing this column for the Mukilteo Beacon worship page since... — Updated 1/15/2023
Balancing Act | Worship
Hanukkah came “early” this year. The first candle in the menorah was lit this past Sunday, Nov. 28, on the first night of the eight-day holiday. Because Jewish holidays follow... — Updated 1/15/2023
Please forgive me | Worship
By my count, I’ve written about the Jewish High Holy Days at least 15 times for the Beacon Worship page, so some of the following may already be familiar to you. This year, Rosh... — Updated 9/21/2022
Where religion and state intersect | Worship
Voting is a civic right and responsibility. Voting is a moral obligation. Making sure that every eligible person has equal access to the ballot box is an act of good citizenry. In... — Updated 7/20/2022
What the Passover story teaches all of us | Worship
Passover is perhaps the one Jewish holiday that non-Jews are most familiar with. The story of Moses, the ten plagues and the parting of the Sea of Reeds allowing the enslaved Jews... — Updated 4/13/2022
An ancient value useful in modern times | Worship
This column is inspired by and uses excerpts from an article written by Temple Beth Or’s Rabbi Rachel Kort in the synagogue’s newsletter “The Oracle.” To read that article g... — Updated 2/9/2022
Affecting Our Fate | Worship
During the Jewish High Holidays we are asked to ponder our fate for the upcoming year. This is the laser focus of the Unetanah Tokef prayer, which some say is the pinnacle of the Ro... — Updated 9/1/2021
We all can be chosen | Worship
Being labeled "the chosen people" has been problematic for Jews as it can sometimes be off-putting to non-Jews, while simultaneously being discomforting to Jews. For some, the... — Updated 5/5/2021
Seeking social justice is our tradition | Worship
Like all other religions Judaism comes in several flavors. There are the familiar Reform, Conservative and Orthodox movements. Less well known denominations include... — Updated 2/17/2021
Hanukkah confusion | Worship
Despite being one of the most widely celebrated Jewish holidays, understanding why we celebrate Hanukkah can be confusing. First, there is the common misperception that Hanukkah is... — Updated 12/10/2020
Virtual worship during a real pandemic | Worship
In pre-COVID-19 pandemic times right about now, with the Jewish High Holy Days approaching, I would be psyching myself up to spend a lot of time in worship services at Temple Beth... — Updated 9/23/2020
We have a duty to do what we can to save lives | Worship
The novel coronavirus doesn't care who you are. It just wants to invade your body and make you sick with COVID-19. In the past I didn't really worry much about epidemic diseases.... — Updated 4/23/2020
Seeking the Unaffiliated
It doesn't take a demographer to know that Jews are only a small percentage of the total population of Snohomish County. Though small in number, there are more than enough Jews in... — Updated 2/12/2020
Larger than the lunar landing
Fifty years ago this month, humankind set foot on the moon for the first time. It was one of the few times when calling an event historic was an understatement. Yet the Apollo 11 flight wasn’t the most important event in my life... — Updated 7/10/2019
Fighting hate l Worship
The world learned an important lesson from the rise of Nazism in the 1930s that hate must be resisted with vigor and vigilance because appeasing hate is doomed to fail. One widespread form of hate today, in the United States... — Updated 4/24/2019
Continuing the vision l Worship
Temple Beth Or’s creation story starts in a hot tub in Victoria, British Columbia, in the early 1980s when two of our founders attended a medical conference. The two young physicians, just starting their own families, agreed... — Updated 2/6/2019
Torah teachings about climate change l Worship
The Torah’s continued relevancy in the modern world amazes me. While I’m not claiming the Torah’s compilation of wisdom from 3,000 years ago anticipates global warming, I am saying it does offer ethical rules and values... — Updated 12/5/2018
Judaism is a process l Worship
As the sun sets on Yom Kippur (Sept. 19 this year), the process of seeking atonement for the past year’s transgressions ends for Jews around the world. The beginning of that process formally started on Rosh Hashanah, 10 days... — Updated 9/12/2018
Earning a Good Name
Like many religions, Judaism attempts to explain the unexplainable. What really resonates with me is how Jewish ethics and teachings can make the seemingly incomprehensible not only knowable but simply so. Most, if not all,... — Updated 7/18/2018
Timing can be everything l Worship
It doesn’t hurt to be a little lucky. Temple Beth Or’s search for our next rabbi took a lot of energy and coordination and was carefully planned. As we executed our plans we... — Updated 5/2/2018 Full story
Who is Temple Beth Or? l Worship
Searching for a rabbi is not your typical business world job recruitment effort. As mentioned in a previous column, after nine rewarding years at Temple Beth Or (TBO), Rabbi Jessica Marshall left TBO last July to pursue other... — Updated 3/21/2018
What if? l Worship
Tonight we celebrate the second of eight nights of Hanukkah. Each night of Hanukkah I proudly place my lit menorah in my front window sill so passersby can see that a proud Jew celebrating Hanukkah lives in my house. Because I... — Updated 12/13/2017
Saying sorry: 3 steps to seeking forgiveness on Rosh Hashanah | Worship
“I’m sorry” are two words that are sometimes impossible to say out loud. With the start of Rosh Hashanah tonight Wednesday, Sept. 20 Jews in Mukilteo and around the world will start a 10-day period of saying “I’m... — Updated 9/20/2017
