What Do We Want?
Everyone always asks us for more. Everyone wants more. But what is the ONE thing we all seek and truly need?
This year, the one thing we truly want is to be together. We want to dwell, share, pray and sing. We want to be with each other.
Make Your Blessings Count
His letter came at just the right time: Thursday afternoon, just 2 days ago, when I was struggling with what words I might say to you today...
After reading this letter from my friend and classmate from Schechter who was incarcerated 7 years ago for 45 years, I made a promise to myself: I will never complain about my life again. And if I do, you may hold me to this, please say to me: count your blessings and make your blessings count...
But after Friday's disgusting erasure of transgender civil rights protections in health care, during Pride Month, and on the 4th anniversary of the shooting at Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando where 49 people were murdered and 51 more wounded, it is our LGBTQ friends and allies that I am especially thinking of today...
Just Beyond Yourself
It’s not enough to hold an unopened Bible outside a church. Torah is not a prop. Torah is what propels us to do more.
Thoughts on George Floyd's murder and our responsibility.
How do we achieve peace? We do more. We need it all, the power of community, the voices of dissent, the votes to end the worst error in American history. And, we need every single person.
Towers, Floods, and Leaders (Noach 5780)
We must be the leaders, not because we want some kind of authoritarian control, and not because we’re the best of the not-so-great, but because it’s the right thing to do.
My Last Immersion (For Now)
I love everything about the mikveh – the warm waters, the transitions and transformations, the healing and hope.
Originally published on the Mayyim Hayyim Blog 11/25/2015
Tikvah (Hope) in the Mikveh
While it hasn’t always been easy, I’ve spent most of my married life attending the local mikveh in my small town.
Originally published on the Mayyim Hayyim Blog 11/13/2013
Eating With Intention
Keeping a kosher home can enhance a family’s experience of Judaism; it can become a meaningful expression of eating with intention.
Originally published on Matan Kids 3/30/2016
Will You Love My Son?
I suppose it’s every mother’s dream and nightmare all tied together in one shiny package: that one day someone might love her son (insert “daughter” here if it applies!) enough to capture his heart. We worry that our son might return this person’s affections, loving us a bit less, or a bit differently.
Originally published by The Ruderman Foundation 11/20/2014
5 Ways to Raise a Jew-By-Choice
Remember those peanut butter commercials from the 90’s that told us “choosy moms choose Jif”? What does it mean to be “choosy”? Choice is not just about having options; it’s about exploring, engaging, and eventually committing to something that is meaningful.
Originally published on Kveller 6/10/2016
What Happens When a Rabbi Goes to a Guns N’ Roses Concert
I was 13 when a boy in 7th grade introduced me to the metal band Guns N’ Roses. Before long, my room was plastered with pinups from Heavy Metal magazine and Hit Parader. I was obsessed.
Originally published on Kveller 7/22/2016