Ella Wheeler Wilcox’s most famous poem came to mind recently. Laugh, and the world laughs with you, or something like that, cry, and you cry alone. Grief has been bad. It’s been isolating, I think, for all of us. I took Herschel to the vet on Friday. He tried so hard to pretend to be
Amelia and I went on one final backpacking trip this past summer before we moved to Maine. We took our big, loyal, and lovable Great Dane, Herschel, with us to the Pine Grove Furnace section of the Appalachian Trail in Pennsylvania. Starting from the state park, we made our way to a nearby pad-site /
The cougar sighting appears in my forthcoming book, THE KOSHER BACKPACKER, a self-help book on being an observantly Jewish outdoors enthusiast.. In 2002 or 2003, I saw a cougar in the Adirondacks. Max, my black Labrador Retriever, and I were coming down Bennies Brook Slide from Lower Wolf Jaw, and in the middle of the
Tevye and Golde sang: “May the Lord protect and defend you. May He always shield you from shame. May you come to be In Yisroel a shining name.” When it’s just us in the car, Amelia demands Manilow. There’s something disconcerting about a 12-year-old who likes Lorde and Pink and whatever else is contemporary singing
Plutarch, in Lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans, asked if Theseus’ ship, having had all of its component parts replaced across generations, was the same ship as it was when it was first constructed. The same paradox exists within our own lives. All of our cells will be completely replaced on a cycle of
Writer, President of Bangor's Congregation Beth Israel, soon-to-be-retired-soldier, programmer, father, musician, Heeb, living in the woods of Maine with three ladies and a dog. Brian is also a rabbinical student with the Pluralistic Rabbinical Seminary.
Director of Education for Congregation Beth Israel in Bangor, Maine, runs joint religious school with our sister congregation, special educator and former school board member, mother to Avi and Nezzie.
