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Last Sunday Sid and I spent Easter with my son, his wife, and our adorable grandbaby. My son’s wife is Christian so they observe both Jewish and Christian traditions. Of course Sid and I were immersed in Passover seders and observances. Yet the opportunity arose to spend... Read More →

When I look at states like Arizona, deserts, I have a hard time seeing life in the vegetation. I know it’s there and beautiful in its different way. But I’m just a Midwest girl now living in New England and used to lots of green trees and bushes, not to mention... Read More →

Recently I returned from Girly Weekend. This is a few days each year that my sister and her friends have included me in a getaway, so far to Florida. Each time I’ve grown closer to the four other travelers besides my sister, as we learn to accommodate our individualities.... Read More →

Last weekend, our own Cheryl (Chaya) Holbert, founder of Nomad Bakery, challah baker extraordinaire, shared with me videos of her most recent challah creation. These are not just delicious festive breads for Shabbat and holidays. They have become works of art, complete with... Read More →

Last week at Ruach we experienced an event beyond description. Mike Evans and his associate Derek brought three days of healing prayer training, an event open to the wider community, as well as led three evenings of healing services. Truly miraculous healings occurred which... Read More →

As many of you know, Sid and I spend a lot of time driving back and forth between our home in Maine and our apartment in Billerica. (Yes, we’re a bit crazy!) We do this in large part due to our love of our Ruach community and our prioritization of Shabbat worship at Ruach.... Read More →

I have been practicing ERISA law for 42 years. It’s hard to believe, actually. It’s a very challenging area of practice that regulates pension and 401(k) plans and is jointly adminstered by the Internal Revenue Service and the Department of Labor. Needless to say,... Read More →

Vikings Disease – “an ancient affliction of unknown origin introduced by the Vikings.”. Who would have thought a nice Jewish girl with all Jewish grandparents entering America through Ellis Island could have a condition that medically is traced back to coming... Read More →

After a couple months of deeply feeling the loss of our dear pug Dodi, we have adopted a rescue puppy from Arkansas, an adorable 3 pound, 3 month old toy fox terrier/chihuahua mix. I hadn’t realized how much my heart was still hurting from the loss of Dodi until I... Read More →

Maybe it’s me, but it seems there are a lot of unusual challenges afoot. So many friends seem to be experiencing an inordinate number of difficulties, whether emotional, relational, physical. Thankfully the end results are working out. But it’s taking work. We love... Read More →

Sid and I were so blessed to celebrate Sid’s cousin’s bar mitzvah in Denver last Shabbat, including Sid having the honor of doing the first aliyah at the Chasidic Orthodox service. A special joy for me was that my son Joel who lives in Denver wanted to attend the... Read More →

I have gone through different phases of expression over the years that focussed on Him through creative personal endeavors. There was a time I wrote songs in Yiddish with Messianic Jewish themes that were shared on Friday nights at Ruach. I’ve gone through spurts of... Read More →

Unlike my usual Shabbat encouragements, this one I am merely passing on – the continuation of a story I shared with you several weeks ago about Rob Berkowitz’s journey into a very special past and the revelations it has brought. . . In case some of you didn’t see the... Read More →

It’s the morning after I had to say good-bye to Dodi, our 13 year old pug who was diagnosed with liver cancer last February. Last week I mentioned her as being kept alive by love. Yesterday I had to prove the depth of that love. She really was eating great and seemed to be... Read More →

When we think of love, we most often consider it as a strong emotion, relational, volitional, a mystery. All of that is true, and yet it is so much more. Recently Sid and I watched a great movie “Florence Foster Jenkins” starring Merryl Streep (how can it be bad?!) as... Read More →

In a recent Shabbat encouragement about Bob Dylan, I brought to your attention our own Rob Berkowitz’s accomplishment as winner of a piano competition this summer in San Diego, as a result of which he will be playing a Felix Mendelssohn piece with the California Chamber... Read More →

This time of year brings with it many contradictions. Outside the walls of our cozy homes the blustery wind blows the snow’s beautiful flakes. The giggles of children making snow angels or the swishing of cross country skies delight, while some slip and fall on the icy... Read More →

I recently attended a talk on the spiritual journey of Bob Dylan given by a well respected Jewish expert on the life of this famous singer/songwriter. The goal of the talk was to demonstrate that Dylan is Jewish despite his seemingly public non commitment to being a member of the... Read More →

Working in downtown Boston definitely has its moments. On a recent lunch break as I walked in the Commons, I was confronted by a very vocal street pastor vociferously preaching the perils of not believing in Jesus and bemoaning our sinful ways. I found it interesting that though... Read More →

Last week we marveled over the many allusions to Yeshua in Leonard Cohen’s song lyrics, so many more than those I referenced from his last album (check out “Suzanne”). Since his passing I have been amazed at the way Jewish mainstream spokesmen have described... Read More →

Unlike Bob Dylan who at some time in his life was a believer in Yeshua, I am not aware that Leonard Cohen at any time believed in Jesus. And I in no way want to suggest that he did. In fact, he was a Buddhist monk for a number of years, and perhaps retained those beliefs... Read More →

A walk on the beach on Election Day couldn’t help but ease the underlying anxiety of what the day may bring. And as it turned out, the need was real. Although it was a stunningly beautiful warm day for November, there were only a few of us on the sandy shore, part of the... Read More →

Last week we mused over Bob Dylan’s recent receipt of the Nobel Peace prize and were excited that knowledge of a celebrity Jewish believer in Yeshua, at least for a part of his life, may help Jewish people to see that there may be more Messianic Jews around than one would... Read More →

The recent announcement of Bob Dylan as the recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize for literature shook our sensibilities at many levels, and in good ways, perhaps not the least of which was that a singer/songwriter rather than an author had been chosen. The judges were able to think... Read More →

Sid and I don’t have cable so we watch several channels that show old movies and retro TV shows. One of our favorites is GET TV which this week aired a 1967 Merv Griffin (Show) interview of Richard Nixon before he announced his candidacy for president. I was too young at... Read More →

At Yom Kippur services this week I was intrigued by a phrase we say often, but now spoke to me in a new way. In the Machsor Amidah translation, we praise HaShem with the expressions “Shield of Abraham and Visitor to Sarah”. Sarah who I think was near ninety when she... Read More →

Recently when looking at one of HaShem’s created beauties though binoculars, I thought about how this device amazingly allows me to feel so close to something so very far away. Although the creature under view didn’t move toward me, through the hidden mechanism of the... Read More →

This week a friend and I had plans to speak by phone about a challenging situation. I decided it should be a three-way, so I drove to the local beach and climbed to one of my favorite places, revealing HaShem’s beautiful vista from the shore. I felt that with our Abba on... Read More →

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son . . . This passage and song lyric have always gripped me to the core. So when I heard it last Shabbat at services, as the punctuation of the thoughts I’d been pondering during the week, the picture became... Read More →

This month of Elul before the High Holy days is a time of preparation to address the ways we can be better creations, a time to address our failings and transgressions, a time to return to Him more centered as the new year begins. As I was immersing in those thoughts while... Read More →