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  It’s a beautiful spring morning. Our home in Maine is by the sea and in view of the working waterfront. Watching the lobsterman (now only one since the winter storm last year wiped out the majority of the lobster pound wharfs) loading his traps brought a poignant sadness... Read More →

    For the past few weeks we’ve been pondering antisemitism, grief, loss, acts of hatred as we process the difficult world events teeming with such actualities. There is no lack of such suffering even as we reel again this past week from the antisemitic violent attack... Read More →

  How do we find hope in these times? So many places in Scripture describe days just as we have experienced and give us this answer for we know our God is with us and there will be days ahead when suffering will stop. We are to forgive too but it is so hard when not only... Read More →

I had just finished writing this week’s Shabbat Encouragement when I heard the horrific news of the murder of young Israeli embassy staffers Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Lynn Milgrim outside the Capitol Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C. last evening. No words can describe the flood... Read More →

  It was the Nova festival in Israel, the date October 7, 2023. She heard gunfire and took refuge in a concrete bomb shelter at the side of a road with 50 or more people crammed in, lying on top of each other. There was no escape as she heard uncountable gunshots being fired... Read More →

  I have been grateful over the last several years to have developed a wonderful working relationship with Hal Slifer, host of Chagigah on WERS every Sunday morning. This is a show dedicated to three hours of playing Jewish American, Israeli, and Yiddish music, Jewish humor,... Read More →

  I know illness, suffering, and death are real.  That is the reality of life in this realm. Yet within this realm we are also given the opportunity to witness and experience the healing power of God’s Love. I capitalize the word “Love” for it is of a divine nature that is... Read More →

  We’ve been noodling the holiness of these days, the beauty of the “synchronicity” of Holy Week for Christians with the 8 days of Passover for Jews this year, the unmistakable multitude of examples of God’s Presence. These have been days of sorrow – adversity, illness,... Read More →

  Last fall during the High Holy Days of Awe between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, the time felt more special than usual. It seemed that spiritually uplifting experiences happened daily, even unusual dreams. These days of Passover are turning into a similar experience.... Read More →

  “Passover” – the word brings to mind the amazing saving of our people as the Angel of Death passed over the first born of the Israelites, not sparing those of the Egyptians. It was a seminal moment for our people, so defining, that we are to relive it annually, viscerally,... Read More →

  Oh how God uses our mistakes . . .   Last September Sid’s daughter and I were on the phone discussing her recent pre-natal doctor visit. Although now we know that our youngest grandson is fine, back then in the sixth month of her pregnancy there was an issue that was... Read More →

  This past weekend and the days leading up to it were so much fun. This community has a Spring Festival in which I participate through various singing, line dancing, and clogging opportunities. The days are filled with pie eating contests, crab races, Singo (musical version... Read More →

  For the past several weeks these Shabbat encouragements have been dancing around a very sensitive topic, our world view differences that if we are not careful can destroy relationships and inhibit our own spiritual growth. Perhaps it is in these most basic differences that... Read More →

  Some of you know that Sid and I have enjoyed “glamping” in our Winnebago View for almost 20 years now. We originally bought it partly because it was a dream of mine since high school to travel the U.S. in one, but also, so we wouldn’t have to leave behind our precious... Read More →

  This is not intended as a political writing. It is our extreme political opinions that inhibit our, and America’s, abilities to see past those perspectives and so often prevent us from being able to keep learning how to follow Yeshua’s teachings. Let’s read this with this... Read More →

  We have often noodled the both/and – the cognitive dissonance we feel when we must process difficult experiences in the same moments as joyful ones. Examples are feeling happy about something in our personal life while hearing news of a terrible situation occurring... Read More →

  These are hard times. No matter your age, race, religion, or politics, each day’s events sometimes on all levels are beyond challenging. Simply getting out of bed or being able to stay warm or even being able to get to work on a  non-slippery road cannot be taken for... Read More →

  Last Shabbat I experienced so many emotions in such a short time frame that it gave me pause, prompting me to reflect on how this is even possible. As I did so I deeply understood the impact of prioritizing our relationship with God and the need to seek Him with intention,... Read More →

  I had written the Shabbat encouragement below before the passing of our incredibly beautiful Jacob Halzel yesterday. With the permission of his parents, I want to preface this week’s message with a few personal thoughts:   I remember Jacob as a small child in a... Read More →

  Sid and I are settling into our Florida routines. We’ll be here for the next several months as we see what each day brings.   It was never on my plan to spend winters in Florida, but it was on Sid’s. The irony is that where we live when here is actually in the... Read More →

  As an Ohio State Buckeye I celebrated Monday night the victory of OSU winning the college football national championship. I was moved by the Ohio State players who thanked God for the victory. I was also moved by the interview with the coach of the defeated Notre Dame team... Read More →

  We recently noodled the idea of how to serve others and in so doing serve our Creator. We looked at the inspiring lives of Jimmy Carter and Christopher Reeve and saw how their triumphs and hardships served others without intention by either of these men at the time. We so... Read More →

  In reading about the very full life of President Jimmy Carter who died this week at the age of 100 I was reminded of an important irony. We so often in our desire to serve presume we know how to do so. The beautiful enigma of our relationship with God is living the mystery... Read More →

  How many times have we done something and wished we had another chance to try it again? Or if presented with the same set of facts or opportunity, we wish we would have made a different decision, or taken a different path than the one we first chose?   Looking back at... Read More →

  As my fifth grandchild is hours old 😊 I once again am reflecting with wonder the arrival of another precious life.   Babies are a gift from God. There is no doubt. However, what HaShem is teaching us through those little bundles of joy is much more than just that... Read More →

  So many insights seem to occur in the shower for many of us. Today was no exception.   As I immersed in the flowing water from above I was reminded of our ability to be reborn each morning, anew, a fresh start to try again to be more in His likeness. As I had this... Read More →

to feel stressed! Yes, it’s unavoidable. No matter how much we pray, study Scripture, talk with God, we are only human, and in those alone times when we think about all that there is to do, we can feel overwhelmed. I awoke this morning  after having spent just one day in... Read More →

  Last week we wrestled with the reality of our living in a predominantly secular world. We took note of the blessing of being part of a faith filled community and cherished even more deeply our relationship with God through the intimacy, the closeness of Yeshua in our... Read More →

  In these days it’s not easy having conversations with others for a variety of reasons. Of course we avoid politics, sometimes even with those who are like minded on other topics, since we can feel frustrated. Such is the lot of a divided society where we can feel... Read More →

  It is undeniable that these are difficult times, micro and macro. I can’t say they’re the worst since our individual lives have their highs and lows, and the cycles of history since the beginning have surely demonstrated this concept to be true. I can say in my not short... Read More →