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Accusations and Agreements

I hoped to find some relief to my pre-election anxiety by studying a bit of Torah. Yet, I’m so concerned about the political climate that I seem to be finding present day political implications everywhere I look, even in Torah. In this week’s…

You Go Your Way . . .

I often hear from families in turmoil. Sometimes it is children estranged from parents. At other times it is siblings at war over inheritances.  As a result of disagreements, families separate emotionally and even geographically.  Where can…

No More Floods

Humans have acquired god-like powers with modern discoveries and technologies.  To put these power to their highest and best use, we need to recall spiritual lessons. Torah teaches how best to solve problems with essentials of faith like optimism…

A Better Beginning Again

Before reading Bereshit (in the beginning) this week, the Torah scroll has to be rolled all the way from one end back to the other. It takes strong wrists and a careful eye to reset the Torah scroll back to its beginning. Part of the rolling…

Resilience in Endings . . . and New Beginnings

Last in a series on resilience in Jewish spiritual life. For a whole year's Torah cycle of weeks, we've been looking to Torah for resilience lessons. We began with Cain as an unlikely resilience teacher.  We learned resilience from Noah…

When (bad) Things Happen to (good) People

Part of a yearlong series about resilience in Jewish spiritual life.When are you most likely to ask “why” about your life?Especially when life seems difficult or unfair, we ask “why” because we sense that understanding can help…

My Father Was . . .

My ancestors were wanderers from Poland. My father was born in Brooklyn to immigrants from Ostraleka, Poland. He became a cabinetmaker and then moved into the plastics packaging industry. The career leap allowed his family to move from an apartment…

Resilience When We Would Rather Not Remember

Part of a yearlong series on resilience in Jewish spiritual life.It's just a few weeks until Rosh Hashanah.  The Jewish season of teshuvah (repentance, repair, return) is upon us. And of course, what we repent, repair and return (to) depends…

We have no secrets

Recent news reports are replete with stories of people who fail to intercede against bad behavior. For example, one college sports team coach now Congressman turned a blind eye to locker room abuse. Even worse are those enabling illegal and…

The Eye is in the Hand of the Beholder

Part of a yearlong series on resilience in Jewish spiritual life.If art and beauty are in the eye of the beholder, then what about spirituality and especially communal spirituality?  And when we feel disconnected – as everyone sometimes…