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
Perhaps one day I will write why I believe being a stepmother is hardest of all, but not today and not one week from today. Next week is not about me, it is all about my daughter: what she is losing and what she is gaining. What I hope she is gaining is comfort, security, peace and love.
My wife, Leah, and I are engaged in some classes for an endeavor of major consequence for our personal lives. It’s a cause we believe in, temporarily suspended when we came down with a case of the Nezzie over two years ago. The problem with these classes is that they are group classes, and they
The gematria for the Hebrew word for snow, שלג (sheleg), is 333, which is the same value of the word שכחה (shich’cha) for forgetfulness. Parents of children out of Maine schools for two, possibly three days, may be worried about forgetfulness when it comes to academics. Some rabbi, and I’m never going to remember the source,
Amelia and I undertook our first real serious Maine hike together over Thanksgiving weekend. We went to Sears Island, walked along the shoreline, and talked about the deep things that Amelia likes to let out on long hikes. This is an amazing honor roll student. This is a kid that is already formulating her plans
Zeno of Elea made a series of arguments against Aristotle’s observations of motion. My favorite of his arguments is the dichotomy paradox, but today, we’re on his arrow paradox. For an arrow to move, said Zeno, it must change positions. Since time is composed of instants, and at each instant, the arrow is not moving,
Above – Amelia runs into the garden maze at the Governor’s Palace in Williamsburg Kvetch – Yiddish for a constant complainer, or a nagging complaint I really have no reason to complain, but I wanted a Yiddish word relevant to blogging, and I remembered Esther Kustanowitz’s very interesting blog, My Urban Kvetch. We’re moving to
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.
