If not now, when?

Has there been a day, or night, this week that our thoughts have not dwelt on the situation in Israel and Gaza? What will tomorrow bring as the hatred pours outward across the globe into our individual communities? Where can anyone be safe, especially we Jews?   Life has its...
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An early encouragement

Given the horror in Israel, I couldn’t wait until Thursday evening to share some thoughts and feelings. I hope they are helpful.   I, like many of you, awoke Shabbat morning to the terrifying headlines of war in Israel. It was an unprecedented surprise attack by Hamas and...
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What time is it?

  This past Sunday I had the opportunity through a ukulele group I’m in to provide music at an Episcopal church. Our group led several songs (“This Little Light of Mine”, Amazing Grace”, and “Simple Gifts”), the rest of the music from the traditional hymn book. It was a...
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These Days of Awe – Part 2

  Last week I shared our experiences at Ruach Israel of first day Rosh Hashanah services as a springboard to recognizing the uncountable ways God is in our lives. As if to punctuate the point, our Yom Kippur services were a truly larger than life example of that reality, not...
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These Days of Awe

  Hard to believe we can noodle on Spotify song selections for three weeks straight, but . . .   How is it that the recent selections under the search on Spotify for Messianic Jewish music now include Paul Wilbur songs as well as those of Israeli mainstream musical...
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These Holy Days

  One of the pitfalls of travel is the difficulty in maintaining my regular jog time, i.e. my special time with God. Our home in Maine is conducive to these times offering multiple picturesque options to immerse in His grandeur. This past week has been exceptionally a...
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Which way do I run?

  Today’s jog brought a new view of a neighborhood that I’ve seen hundreds of times, and yet, never “seen”. At one place on the route to my right is a pristine forest. Its beauty is in its silent majesty, vernal ponds, streaming sunlight through shaded overhanging branches,...
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What’s Missing – Part 2

Last week I shared with you our experience in Alaska, so breathtakingly beautiful, and yet also my feeling that something was missing. As I was away from my spiritual routines, so too, I did not feel God’s Presence as I otherwise so often do.   One of my readers reminded me...
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What’s missing?

  As most of you who know me know, I love to live life fully. Sid teases me that my motto is “Why live one life when you can live two?” Actually it often feels like many more than that, and it is by choice. I am blessed to be part of so many worthy initiatives and...
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Oh say can you see?

  As many of you know, Sid and I live in Maine. Our home is situated on a cove at the bottom of Casco Bay so we have a lovely view of water, both the ocean and the river that empties into the ocean at their juncture near our home. Since our area is completely rural, a small...
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Barbie, you’re some doll

  This week I had the opportunity to see the movie “Barbie”. I actually have a special attachment to the Barbie doll since I was just the right age to play with dolls when the original Barbie was introduced in 1959. I still have my original Barbie from that year, complete...
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Watch what you discard – and keep seeing

  Recently, my sister redecorated and no longer needed some furniture. Sid and I have a room at her house so I claimed one of the discarded chairs to try in our space. At first it looked really out of place. Put by the door as you walk in, it overwhelmed the room. It was way...
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Oh, the Places You’ll Go! – Dr. Seuss

  Sid and I truly enjoyed life as Jewish gypsies in the Pugabego n/k/a Mitzvah Mobile for the month of July, culminating in the UMJC conference in Columbus, Ohio, my old stomping ground. Beth Messiah was my home during my first years as a new believer in Yeshua, now over 20...
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Another year of camp – Part 2

  This year’s Camp Or L’Dor, our 15th year (!), did not disappoint. Rabbi Nathan and Raina’s incredible work before camp even started, not to mention once there, Mary’s medical support, Cheryl’s amazing Challah and child care, Ken’s driving the trailer, Sid’s multi shleps...
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Silence

It has been an exceptionally busy week, not just volunteering at camp, but also, attending a work meeting in NYC while the campers were on their overnite camping trip for three days. As a result I did not have time to write a Shabbat encouragement. Instead, below is one I wrote...
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Another year of camp

How can it be that this is the 15th session of Camp Or L’Dor? The concept of a Messianic Jewish teen camp with a challenging outdoor adventure component was just a dream to Sid until Rabbi Nathan came to Ruach those many years ago. The two of them joined forces, with a couple...
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The error of Ariel

  This past week Sid and I were blessed to have our 4 year old granddaughter from Denver stay with us while my son and daughter-in-law vacationed at Bar Harbor and visited spots along the Maine coastline. It’s purely magical to see the world through the eyes of a child,...
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Our lives need not be in jeopardy

  The TV show “Jeopardy” is known for having contestants who are exceptionally smart. The show’s questions range from less hard to harder in different categories, the choice of question chosen by the players. Recently on that show there was a surprising missed answer.  ...
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Butterflies on the beach – Part 2

Recently we marveled together at this blessed life we have been given, bathing our thoughts in gratitude, feeling His Love of us. Some additional inspirations later sprang from that for us to noodle further together.   Here is a paragraph from that week’s Shabbat...
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How did I get myself into this??!!

  This week I had a new experience. I can’t say it was on my bucket list. As a matter of fact, it was an activity that was w-a-a-a-y-y-y outside of my comfort zone. Perhaps that is the point.   A month or so ago my favorite radio show Chagigah Radio on Sunday morning...
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What a party!

  We often hear claims that God is not real. The positions range from those who may consider He was at some point during the days of our early ancestors but surely not today, to those who do not entertain the possibility at all. Some may feel He is around but doesn’t make...
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Butterflies on the beach

  Tuesday morning I woke up and said to Sid, “I don’t have an encouragement for this week.” We had just arrived at midnight on Saturday night to our home in Maine after being gone from here since mid December since we left for Florida from my sister Wendy’s house in...
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A special Mother’s Day

  I was blessed to be at the Ruach Israel Shabbaton last weekend, the climax being a very special Mother’s Day breakfast on Sunday when the men in our community treated us literally as queens for the day. I have been at many retreats over my life, and yet, this one was so...
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Emotions

  What a day it was!!! Our last day in Florida jam packed with plans. We had been spending the past several days getting ready to leave after being here for almost four months. It’s not just about getting everything out of the house. It’s also trying to figure out what to...
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Transparency – 2023

  I had another Shabbat encouragement ready to go when I learned of the terribly sad news of Quintina Martinez’s passing. No matter what age, or circumstance, or even place in one’s faith walk, losing a daughter, as was the case for our dear Gloria, is a heart breaking loss....
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Not just another jog on the beach

  It is our last week in Florida before we work our way back home in just a few days visiting family and friends along the way. I have so enjoyed my jogs on the beach with our Abba, feeling Yeshua’s presence so palpably, hearing from Him, sharing my prayers and thoughts. So...
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There is a season

  What a glorious day – 80 degrees, sunny, light breeze. I can share this comfortably now since most of you also are experiencing the beauty of spring. My sister recently visited and while she was here we rediscovered the joy of crocheting together, a craft our grandmother...
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All to His Glory – Part 2

  What a glorious Passover/Easter season this has been, one beautifully showing me the intertwining of our Jewish and Christian cultures, a time of healing and bridge building.   On Sunday morning as I was listening to Chagigah radio, one of the rabbi guests shared his...
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All to His Glory

  As I’ve shared with you previously, I’m a fan of the series “The Chosen”, a production of Angel Studios. I understand that some artistic liberties would need to be taken as a series about Yeshua and the apostles, and yet, the show’s ability to help us see them as real...
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“Wake up!!”

  Could this week’s headlines be any more disturbing? Another week of “atmospheric river” weather patterns setting records in California for devastating flooding, mudslides, snow, sweeping across the country as epic tornados destroying thousands of homes, killing so many,...
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