Dear G-d, I believe in You. You know I do. But you know, I get kind of tired of reading the news. If I try and fail at being human day after day, and if that’s happening with each and every person out there, if we’re all falling down, and that stuff escalates to the
I was not lonely when Portnoy’s Complaint came to mind, apparently. Out of fear of “The Goyim Know” set of anti-Semites, perhaps, we tend to back away to discussing our community’s problem with this, even amongst ourselves, and definitely not in public. I know when I’ve seen non-Jews express curiosity about the Jewish component of this,
Like so many other Mainers, we were without power from Monday morning through Friday night, and again Saturday morning. What an experience. We were already planning on buying a generator and transfer switch rig. I work from home as a programmer and writer for my civilian job, and so keeping the computers running (my primary
The High Holidays are over. I’ve mentioned before in posts that I sort of key our sense of time off of our Jewish holiday schedule. It’s a good way to live, in anticipation of this or that time of communal celebration. In between Simchat Torah and Passover, aside from Shabbos and what minyan times we can
On the week of her bat mitzvah, Amelia received an award for her first year of field hockey. She never held a stick before, but she got out on the field and put her all into blocking shots. At a game against Old Town last week, she had two stunning saves, the kind that look
Photo credit: Joe Angseesing, from the Internet Bird Collection The First Amendment is important to me. I think it’s important to most of us. As disconcerting as the now continuing marches in Charlottesville are, I prefer to think less about content and more about unrestrained exercise. When I think about the content, I realize that it
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
Grandparents. I have very few memories with mine, but I also have memories with people who stepped up when my were unable to or were gone. Brian has tons of memories of his grandparents and he relives them everyday. Often when coming to a hard decision we think of what advice they would give or
.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
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.
