I awoke the other night, prior to Rosh Hashanah, to what sounded like the terrified scream of a teenage girl. I checked on Amelia immediately. She was snoring in her bed in the third floor loft. No, the sound was coming from outside. It wasn’t an owl. We have plenty of those and their noises don’t
Last night, serendipity caused a delightful convergence that reminds me the distance between Jews is largely arbitrary. Our shul had three people and our permanent non-Jewish guest (a displaced Southern gentleman with a heart of gold) turn out for selichot, so we crossed the street and joined a service led by our local Chabad shaliach. It
.אהוב את המלאכה, ושנא את הרבנות, ואל תתודע לרשות
Love work; despise public office; and do not be intimate with the ruling authorities.
Pirkei Avot 1:10
Judaism is a living contradiction. At some points we learned that we should never question Hashem, but should obey on blind faith. Look what happened when Moses hit the rock. Look at Nachshon walking into the Red Sea. Etc. Yet at some points Judaism is all about questioning, just look at the Talmud or Avraham
A few months ago, a weird guy carrying a canoe paddle showed up at our shul. He walked in, wearing a fedora, a leather jacket, carrying a backpack and an oar. I’m not sure what he was doing there. Most Jews at this point are conditioned to take this sort of thing passively, avoid and
There have been a number of moves within the USCJ, and an article or two from Modern Orthodox rabbis lately encouraging traditional or observant Jews to be more receptive to intermarriage. With a lot of intermarried friends, I’m loathe to go on too much of a tear about this. However, coming from a family that
Today is the convergence of Mother’s Day and Lag BaOmer, so it makes for a nice oasis in the midst of the joyless wasteland that is Sefirat HaOmer. I haven’t shaven except for National Guard duty, and though I listen to jazz on the merits of Rabbi Willig’s opinion, I don’t truly enjoy it. It’s
The world presents itself in two ways to me. The world as a thing I own, the world as a mystery I face. What I own is a trifle, what I face is sublime. I am careful not to waste what I own; I must learn not to miss what I face. Rabbi Abaraham Joshua
Pesachim 2a, right from the mishna says, “On the night of the 14th of Nissan, one searches for chametz by candlelight.” This is called bedikas chametz. The rabbis hotly debate the whys and whatfors (and accompanying minutia), but what it comes down to, for me, is a fun but weird way to get my children to
Commiserating with Judith on adjacent ellipticals at the JCC (and posting it to Instagram) may feel like you’re fighting anti-Semitism, but seriously, no, it’s not.
Writer, President of Bangor's Congregation Beth Israel, soldier, programmer, father, musician, Heeb, living in the woods of Maine with three ladies and a dog.
Director of Education for Congregation Beth Israel in Bangor, Maine, special educator and former school board member, mother to Amelia and Nezzie.
