Entries by actualize

Who Wrote The Book of Life?

One goal of the High Holidays is to be inscribed in God’s Book of Life. Whether veritable or metaphorical, the imagery works. There’s an essentially Jewish approach to getting name-dropped into […]

Homemade Happiness

I am a sucker for baked goods. My taste in pastries has been refined over the years, from Chips Ahoy to bakery made black and whites, to baking my own […]

They Paved Paradise

A person I love called to ask if their adult son could attend Rosh Hashanah services and how much that single ticket would cost. I began wondering about the first […]

Wholehearted High Holidays

The Jewish religion of today reminds me of a New York subway station with trains departing the station in opposite directions. Orthodoxy is focused on adherence to rigorous interpretations of […]

Spiritual Open Heart Surgery

You might think that difficult times make us likely to ask God for help. If so, religion would be a thriving business today. Perhaps Judaism offers an alternative response to […]

Resilience

Hurricanes, Floods, Earthquakes – Nuclear Weapons, Famines in Africa In 5777 we witnessed the stresses and shocks that come with a new reality.  What distinguishes today’s threats from those of […]