Rabbi Oler and students in our sukkah

Lighting Hanukkah candles at a family service and dinner

. The High Holidays are occasions for introspection and self-improvement. We reflect on our goals and take renewed responsibility for our behavior and our ethical and spiritual growth.

. We celebrate Sukkot, the fall harvest festival, with a festive family-style dinner in our sukkah. This temporary structure, open to the skies, teaches us not to depend on external material protection for our inner spiritual security and helps us understand the plight of the homeless.

. Hanukkah reminds us of the human values of courage and self-reliance in the struggle for freedom. The story of the Maccabees models for us the power of human beings to overcome seemingly insuperable obstacles when they are determined to choose their future for themselves.

. Our Passover seder and the Religious School's model seder stress self-liberation along with our responsibility to redeem the oppressed. These themes are expressed in this passage from our original Haggadah: "In every generation each person should feel as if personally redeemed from Egypt. We each have challenges, 'enslavements,' to overcome. Our emancipation is our own responsibility. The story of Passover inspires us to seek personal liberation and transformation towards a more compassionate and redemptive way of being in the world."