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Last week as I was writing about the many messages from HaShem during a glorious jog on the beach, I was not unaware that writing this during the winter for many of my readers in New England could feel very unrelatable, not to mention during a week of horrific headlines from... Read More →

Perhaps nowhere other than in the sanctuary do I feel closer to HaShem than when I am near the ocean. My gaze is unending every day in Maine when I awake and look out the window at the ocean. I can do this for hours on end, praying, meditating, writing, expressing gratitude.... Read More →

The parent/child stories of challenge seem everywhere. I do not know any families in my immediate circle who are having easy times with children, whether at home, grown up, or at home and grown up! As parents we learn how to handle the truth that we have no control over this... Read More →

Although I have written on this subject numerous times already, we can never get enough reminders to be grateful. Today I realized what an amazing tool this is, one which always works. As many of you know, Sid and I have been planning to leave for Florida for the past several... Read More →

This Shabbat encouragement, in large part, was written several years ago. I found the message timely given so many I know with plates overflowing with challenges, that a reminder about the importance of gratitude is always welcome. When we are dealing with unusual challenge... Read More →

Regardless of our politics, this week’s quiet yet uplifting inauguration ceremony helped each of our psyches. Just as in the days of the Civil War, we may have differing opinions, very diverse ones at that. Yet a leader who is pledged to be a peacemaker may be just what we need... Read More →

It seems for quite some time now that even the simple things aren’t simple. Coincidental with the onset of Covid, or perhaps stealthily sneaking in even before then, life for so many of us has been more challenging than usual. I know I’ve talked about seasons in our lives, the... Read More →

As a new year starts, it brings a fresh opportunity to evaluate so many aspects of our lives. We start with hope of leaving behind that which holds us back – unhealthy eating, judgmental thinking, entrenched opinions, unhealthy lifestyle choices, and perhaps the one most... Read More →

As 2020 comes to an end, at least for me, it is going out with a bang! We’ve shouldered together a year of challenges ranging from the quite personal to global. As we’ve processed together we’ve marveled at the universality of our experiences, be they history repeating itself or... Read More →

I doubt anyone can disagree with the statement that this has been an unusual year in so many ways. I do not want to put to words the many challenges, all of which made almost unbearable living in the grip of COVID-19. On the other hand (as Tevye would say), perhaps we are ending... Read More →

This Shabbat encouragement was written a year ago and is as timely now as then as our first Nor’Easter of this season hits just as last year’s did at this time. Surprisingly also, this week’s headlines, though slightly different from last year’s, still cry with the challenges we... Read More →

Last week we reveled at Joshua Nelson’s ability to cross racial, religious, and cultural boundaries by his personage and music style which blend Jewish and gospel traditions. In our present day divisive world, the ability to embrace and yet unite diversity in such an uplifting... Read More →

This week on Emerson College’s Chagigah Sunday morning radio program there was a discussion of Joshua Nelson whose nickname is “the prince of kosher gospel”. In introducing one of Nelson’s works, the host of the show gave his listeners some interesting background about this... Read More →

I recently saw an interview of Michael J. Fox, of “Back to the Future” and other fame. He was being interviewed about his upcoming fourth memoir entitled No Time Like the Future. As you may know, he has had Parkinson’s Disease for the past 30 years and a couple years ago had... Read More →

This week as I was watching the long range forecast on the local TV weather report, I was struck by an interchange. I must say, we have been blessed with an amazingly mild fall (well, until this week). We’ve enjoyed many days of 60s and sunny. When looking at the forecast,... Read More →

Last week we looked at the importance of good leadership in bringing together diverse opinions. We used the metaphor of a parent and children in thinking about leaders and the important role they play in creating a world in which people can live together in harmony despite their... Read More →

As I watched the election returns, the divisiveness of our country so vividly displayed by the red and blue state blocks, I thought about our times. It was enlightening to listen to various commentators analogize these days to the polarization after the Civil War, or the economic... Read More →

On today’s jog a small snake slithered across my path. I’m not a snake person, so my initial reaction was “Ewww. . . “ Objectively, it was rather pretty with a bold yellow stripe down its back and rather graceful in its slither. Yet for me, just not one of my favorite things, one... Read More →

Recently I encouraged us to fight for our sense of well being, that special place of shalom with HaShem, that place of no fear for we have given our feelings of anxiety and stress over to Him. We also fight for just causes, a lifelong passion for me, a reason for my choice of... Read More →

This morning Sid asked me if I wrote a Shabbat encouragement this week. I said “no”. My feeling on these has always been that if one comes during the week, I will share it. If not, not. I do know, however, through the feedback I receive that some of you have come to look for them... Read More →

We have been in a rather prolonged season of challenge, not only societally, but for many of us, personally as well. I know many of you have walked with me as I have shared some of my own hardships over the last several months. The purpose of sharing those, and the few more I’m... Read More →

This year’s Days of Awe were like none other during my life. This unusually special time was in line with this year being one of intensity, focus, drawing us to Him even more closely as we sever the ties of what separates us from Him. I, and so many others, have experienced... Read More →

What more can I say than has already been said? In law there is a phrase “res ipsa loquitur”, the thing speaks for itself. Such was her life. What a woman, what a person, what a visionary, what a blessing, what a legacy. No words are needed to describe her for her life by how she... Read More →

The following Shabbat encouragement is one I have sent before during this time of year. It has been so well received, and its message as relevant today as when first sent, that I am sharing it with you again as a reminder to some, and as this week’s encouragement for those new to... Read More →

In keeping with my new knowledge of the artistry of Chadwick Boseman, Sid and I watched “42” this week, based on the story of Jackie Robinson, the first black athlete to play Major League baseball. What a story. . . As more accurate portrayals of the lives of our black brothers... Read More →

Last week we were saddened by the untimely passing of Chadwick Boseman, the star of the recent Marvel adventure film “Black Panther”. I have to admit, I had not watched the movie until Sunday evening when it was shown on ABC, followed by a tribute to the late star. Such an... Read More →

Last week we thought about the effect Covid has had on spectator sports and the arts. We pondered how such developments may have occurred in ancient time only after our earliest ancestors may have first tamed their environment enough to survive. Similarly, the last six months... Read More →

This week I was reading about Broadway and the possible plans to start ticket sales in January for the 2021 season. Broadway being blacked out since March is so incomprehensible. So many impacted by this reality. Not to mention the countless musicians, singers, artists, museums,... Read More →

I must thank my Shabbat encouragement community for the many responses of love and support. Encouraging the encourager is an unanticipated blessing beyond my words. I recognize it deeply as HaShem’s “angels” in the flesh working through each of you, and even through my knowing... Read More →

As I jogged after services last Shabbat, I recognized that there is a pattern to these times I spend with HaShem. I always start out smiling, praising, singing, overwhelmingly loving my Abba, joyous in Him. This goes on for quite awhile. Then I tend to be very quiet in my head... Read More →