It’s been an eventful couple of months, and I haven’t been aggressive about writing for the blog. Passover was magical this year. Nezzie was a nightmare at the community first night Seder at our synagogue. Did we fulfill the halachic requirements? Yes. Was Nezzie tedious and embarrassing? Also yes. The second night was even better.
I don't want to live in a world without lions, and without people who are lions.
I was thinking the other day that it would be a good time in Amelia’s life to show her either “Aguirre, the Wrath of God” or “Fitzcarraldo” and introduce her to Werner Herzog. The man is one of my favorite filmmakers. His films often beat you over the head with imagery. When he’s paired with
I watched a video I shouldn’t have today, footage of the carnage of the recent school shooting (“which one?” will be the sadly relevant question months from now). I’ve served in the military for so long partly because I don’t want those kinds of scenes playing out here, especially in our schools. Or at least
“And if a stranger sojourn with thee in your land, ye shall not do him wrong. The stranger that sojourneth with you shall be unto you as the home-born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.” I have
It is now no more that toleration is spoken of as if it were the indulgence of one class of people that another enjoyed the exercise of their inherent natural rights, for, happily, the Government of the United States, which gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance, requires only that they who live under its protection should demean themselves as good citizens in giving it on all occasions their effectual support. ... May the children of the stock of Abraham who dwell in this land continue to merit and enjoy the good will of the other inhabitants—while every one shall sit in safety under his own vine and fig tree and there shall be none to make him afraid.
A week ago, Amelia came home with a social studies assignment. Given that Thomas Jefferson was on a three month four of southern France and northern Italy during the Constitutional Convention, how did he influence the document? Enter the Historical Acknowledgment Du Jour – “Religious Freedom Day.” Today’s historical significance talks about our First Amendment right,
Every year we head to Virginia over the winter holidays. We visit Williamsburg, live in a timeshare, go see faux Colonial nonsense, and wonder what it is about that area that attracts so many people to it. I’ve discovered a new dimension to this annual excursion: I miss Maine terribly. There were some things that
The 8 days of Chanukah this year were busy for my family On the second night, my wife invited a family from the Hampden Library children’s story group. My wife made her exquisite latkes, and it marked the only night of the week we sang Maoz Tzur, with the Israeli-born grandmother of Nezzie’s little friend. For
The ice atop our wooden deck crackles as I venture out to the woodpile. The night is quiet, but the cracks are loud, intrusive, and it feels like a violation. I kneel down in the snow by the shed, lifting up the blue tarp and grabbing what remains of the wood left by the house’s previous
I’m sitting here in front of our wood stove, sipping on a mug of spiced apple cider. We had our first serious snowfall of the season last night. I joke about being “of a desert people,” but I think my ancestors’ extended stay in Lithuania resonates more. I love the cold. When I was a
Is the order to pursue justice in Torah a collective or individual mandate? Does the mandate to take care of the stranger of the orphan imbue them with rights, or merely that we must meet our obligations to them under the Law? How does that gel with modern society? Should we necessarily be looking to
Writer, President of Bangor's Congregation Beth Israel, 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.
