The rhythm of the Jewish calendar allows us to sense a deeper level of experience beyond the seasonal changes. As we leave the month of Av, which required us to face our national tragedies and mourn for what we lost, we can get ready to embrace a more uplifting period. In Elul, we turn from a period of mourning to a personal accounting for change. We are given the opportunity to remake ourselves. Elul is a time expressly for soulful thinking about our true selves and who we w

(Posted originally on “Reclaiming Judaism”) This blog has become an intimate part of my life. I began writing it in 2011 as part of a class on Educational Technology (which is already so outdated). We had to explore different blog platforms, choose one, and just write a quick introductory “hello”. From that, I was hooked. And thousands of visitors and views later, I am fortunate to be able to write what I feel and think in the hope that you will connect to what I’m sharing wi

It was not hard to take a back seat to my own spiritual growth. As a youngster, I dutifully attended High Holiday services but felt that it was a pretty boring endeavor. The overwhelming feeling of formality blocked any emotional response on my part. The hazzan (cantor) chanted in an operatic voice, sometimes so dramatically, that it was actually jarring. Synagogue was an ‘event’ that I was attending. There were all the trappings of a Broadway show: everyone was dressed up, t

Zooming alone We are thankfully in the midst of some re-openings, however, our situation will not revert to more innocent times or change radically soon. So, we will need to adjust our thinking and reconfigure options for the most probable scenarios of the ways in which we come together since online gatherings are here to stay. How will it be possible to develop real and meaningful connections when limited to on-screen interactions? When content alone is not enough Many organ

This is a new experience for me, responding to a reader request! After reading a post on Gratitude, I was asked to write about Love. Even though writing through a Hebrew/Jewish lens is naturally limiting, “Love” as a subject is so encompassing and elusive that we will need to narrow in even more. Our focus here will be on love in a committed relationship. Love in Parallel Terms When speaking about concepts in Judaism, scholars recommend beginning at the source where it first

“..the more enamored we are of our selves, the more fixed we are in our own ‘realities’, limiting the possibilities of our awareness.” Daniel Brown, Harvard clinical psychologist Our culture is so far deep into self aggrandizement that sometimes we lose awareness of how susceptible to the craziness we’ve become. It takes a lot of mental energy to steer clear of the ego-filled information we hear on a daily basis. Even if we are not participating, it seeps into us on a deeper

The Joy of Gratitude Hebrew is a language with deep meanings that go way beyond an outer definition, and to understand foundational concepts, some words are best understood in Hebrew. Gratitude is one of them. There are several terms for the experience of being grateful. Being Aware of the Good The most common modern Hebrew expression is HaKarat HaTov which exactly means ‘Recognizing the Good’. So, before you even decide to be grateful, you have to begin to be aware of the go

Will our connections with each other slowly melt away? Clearly, we are not paying attention Or taking advantage of obvious opportunities. One would think that the pandemic would have caused us to do some deep thinking about our communal future as Jews. No matter what theological differences there are among us (and no doubt there are many), what we can all agree on is that Judaism will be forever changed. Our isolation from each other, more acute now, exacerbates the reality t

Inspired by Psalm 46 God is our refuge and strength, God will help us in our troubles, God is near—as near as the air we breathe. We can feel God’s presence in times of need… Though the earth may change, The mountains may rumble, And the waters will evermore roar and foam, God is within all and within us, Forever giving us strength and a forever constant in our midst. God is always—and though our world might be filled with life’s challenges God is our rock and will give us st

“It is because I believed in God that I was angry at God, and still am. But my faith is tested, wounded, but it’s here. So whatever I say, it’s always from inside faith……Within my traditions, you know, it is permitted to question God, even to take Him to task.”  Elie Wiesel, The Tragedy of the Believer. In recent weeks, I have been overwhelmed with questions that I ask of God. It is a fruitless exercise because really, there are no possible answers. Some of my questions are t

The quiet allows the voice of our soul to emerge On the week before Shavuot, we begin the fourth book of the Hebrew Bible, known in English as Numbers. In Hebrew, the book is called BaMidbar (wilderness, desert). Already we’re experiencing some confusion, why the two different names? Each name refers to a different verse. The name of the book in Hebrew is related to the first verse, which sets the stage for where God speaks to Moses…in the wilderness. However, the English/Lat

What if God is waiting for us to cry out? What if all we need to do is to cry out in despair, as Abraham did thousands of years ago? חָלִ֨לָה לְּךָ֜ מֵעֲשֹׂ֣ת ׀ כַּדָּבָ֣ר הַזֶּ֗ה לְהָמִ֤ית צַדִּיק֙ עִם־רָשָׁ֔ע וְהָיָ֥ה כַצַּדִּ֖יק כָּרָשָׁ֑ע חָלִ֣לָה לָּ֔ךְ הֲשֹׁפֵט֙ כָּל־הָאָ֔רֶץ לֹ֥א יַעֲשֶׂ֖ה מִשְׁפָּֽט׃ “Far be it from You to do such a thing, to bring death upon the innocent as well as the guilty, so that innocent and guilty fare alike. Far be it from You! Shall not the

Torah is a living entity in my life and is an endless and forever Giving-Tree. It is this imagery that captures me when we lift the Torah and say “Etz Chayim Hee LaMahazikim Ba” (It is a Tree of Life When You Hold It Close (my own translation). On so many levels, the Torah informs me about how to live a life with more humility, with more honor towards others, with an appreciation for the Creator. So, I have a visceral response when I hear the words describing the Hebrew Bible

Podcasts. Virtual tours. Songs. Make-Your-Own-Haggadah. There is an endless array of information and resources about how to celebrate Passover while ‘sheltering-in-place’. Everyday, more information floods my inbox with advice and tips about how to make adaptations so this Passover-in-isolation does not feel so isolating. I often feel that I am drowning from the overload. Every time I open another suggestion or click on another link I am reminded that this Passover, I will be

I read something from an unlikely source that struck my deepest core as a Jew, and came to a full stop at a passage from the first chapter of “How to be an Anti-Racist”, a new book by Ibram X. Kendi. I’m sure Dr. Kendi did not intend this outcome, in fact, I feel guilt at even sharing this, because I personalized a phrase he used to illustrate a core issue of his, one that influenced his childhood and his present thoughts about racism. Perhaps in writing this, I am part of th

The Experience of the Holy This post is not about matchmaking, or even the journey to find your ‘soul mate’. Here, searching for the “One” refers to our deep desire to achieve integration, to be at ‘one’ with who we are on the inside with how we behave on the outside. To feel whole. The challenge is that often, although we know who we want to be in the ideal, we often behave in ways that don’t hit that target. Syncing doesn’t always occur, mainly because life gets in the way

How can I reach the heavens when all I can think of is that I need some caffeine? Yom Kippur heightens the juxtaposition between the holy and the mundane. It is a day when we suspend our daily functions (e.g. eating, bathing) in order to help us reach a higher, less base level of existence. Those unfamiliar with the rites of the holiday often focus on the strange edict of fasting as some type of divine punishment, some way of beating us into submission. Others see it as it is

What would you do in an emergency? I heard something disturbing that I couldn’t shake off. This is not what I usually write about, but I feel compelled to not let this incident go by without a comment. A Russian jet crashed, on the runway, the rear of the plane totally swallowed up by flames as it made its emergency landing. The circumstances and causes are still under investigation. Seventy-eight passengers were on the plane, 41 of whom died. The whole event was upsetting, b

Yet Again? This piece in The Hill, written by Rabbi Steinmetz, senior rabbi at Congregation Kehillath Jeshurun and editor-at-large at J’accuse Coalition for Justice is a well-expressed post about our inability to respond properly as a Jewish community to recent tragic murders. These are heart-wrenching tragedies borne of the oldest hatred, Antisemitism. Please click here to read the post and be informed. Comments welcomed. #Antisemitism #Jewishcommunity #Judaism

How do you wake up every morning? Do you have a particular ritual? In Judaism, we have a tradition of waking up with a declaration of gratitude. It’s not really a prayer, it’s more a statement of deep appreciation. We say the Modeh Ani in the morning to express our appreciation for waking to consciousness. What we say is: “Modeh Anee Lefanecha Melech Chai v’kayam, She-he-chezarta-bee Nishmatee B’chemla Raba Emunatecha”. I offer thanks to You, living and eternal King, for You