Holy socks

  Free will? Really? Do we have it and what does it really mean?   Through our recent Daily Dvar readings and as exquisitely expanded upon by last Shabbat’s sermon, we have been hearing of Pharaoh’s choices when it came to letting our people leave Egypt. And we’ve seen...
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Integrity – Part 2

  Recently we mused on the subject of integrity. The question we were struggling with was whether it’s okay to ever lie, even if motivated by good intent – not wanting to hurt the feelings of another, not to make another feel like he or she is imposing, not wanting another...
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Love and separation

  I woke up this morning with memories of Janet Nichol’s shiva on my mind. It was such an amazing experience. Gathered via Zoom were 30-plus members of our greater Messianic Jewish community from all over the country. So many caring faces.   Other than Rabbi Rich’s...
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Integrity

  Last week I was in several conversations on the topic of integrity. It came up in the context of relationships and how we converse with each other. Especially with close family and friends, sometimes we are challenged in our ability to say how we really feel about...
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Sweet Symphony

But the Pentatonix are not about solos. Their true beauty is that even though each of them has a soloist’s caliber voice, when they sing together, the perfect harmonies are as a single full chord. No one person is heard above the others. Each singer’s gift amplifies...
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Let there be light!

  There is magic to the Hanukkah candle lights. The first night, the single flame standing so alone, the soft flicker, helped to bring forth its beauty by the shamash, the helper candle, suggestive to me of Yeshua. Just as with each candle, He is our helper in the deepest...
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Time to charge up!

  What a busy time of year!! I don’t need to remind you of the non-seasonal stressors, let alone the additional time consuming, even if kind and worthy, tasks, activities, and expectations that are part of our lives, especially this month.   Awhile back when I was asked...
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Let me bug you (well, not technically)

  It finally happened. My first tick! Ugh and Yuck! And a deer tick at that! It’s actually amazing that I’ve never experienced a tick before now, especially given my love of the outdoors and our living in New England. I guess all those snuggles with my adorable mixed terrier...
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The Chosen

    My recent rewatching of “The Chosen” mini-series and first two episodes of the third season at the theater this week has further reinforced my understanding of the miraculous, not just its presence in the Bible, but its existence in the here and now in each of our...
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Thanksgiving happy

  Hoping you all had a meaningful Thanksgiving and are still basking in His and the holiday spirit.   In that vein, below is my Shabbat encouragement from a couple years ago that is perhaps even more meaningful as we can continue to be even more thankful for what we...
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Tapestry – Part 4 – Forgiveness

  I recently rewatched the episode of “The Chosen” when Mary Magdalene, after having been redeemed and now a follower of Yeshua, falls back into her old ways. Her life is so representative of each of ours, perhaps not to the depths of her sins, but our sins are all on the...
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Tapestry – Part 2 and Part 3

  Last week we noodled on how everything seems to be connected, as a fine tapestry, how as we open the divine portals to Him by our choices, more connections to the divine are seen, and experienced. We begin to feel His Presence in so many ways. We experience the intimacy of...
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Tapestry

  Sometimes we are in times of our lives that are so busy, so demanding, that we can barely think about Shabbat. Or it’s combined with that wonderful feeling, “ Finally, the weekend!” Or sometimes we feel like we’re going 24/7 even then, so Shabbat just gets swept along with...
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The Joy of the Lord

  Last week I shared with you my huffing and puffing experience as I jogged for the first time in awhile. It was such a disappointment since those times are typically my most uplifting of the day as I listen to Messianic Jewish worship music, share my deepest thoughts with...
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Got any small change?

  As this new year begins, we are once again given an opportunity to make meaningful changes in our lives, another opportunity to take better care of our health, our finances, our relationships, especially the one we have with God.   So much travel this past season. I...
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To every season

  It’s been awhile since I’ve been able to jog along the path near my sister’s house in Westford. So much change since the last time, which really wasn’t that long ago, maybe a couple weeks.   Last time I had my precious morning time with HaShem in nature, the leaves...
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These Days of Awe

  These are the Days of Awe, the days of repentance and renewal between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. This week that term has revealed itself in yet another way.   My most treasured client that has been so for almost 20 years historically holds its annual meeting in mid...
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Oh Deer!

  Last Thursday evening I had a traumatic experience. On my way home I hit a deer with my car. I had never before hit an animal while driving. It literally came out of nowhere, just broadsided right in front of me. After the collision I frantically looked for a place to turn...
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Just show up – Part 3

  This week I couldn’t help but continue to ponder the abandoned stereo cabinet in the woods. I showed my sister and Sid who so often walk that path with me. They, too, were amazed none of us had noticed it before given its location and the countless times we’d passed that...
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Just show up – Part 2

  Last week I shared with you Sid’s and my most recent adventures in the Mitzvah Mobile and I ended with some simple examples of ways we all can serve others – by sharing a meal, checking in with a phone call, offering to drive. How I didn’t know at the time the deeper...
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Just show up!

  I guess we’re fully embracing the concept of our Winnebago, initially named the Pugabego since bought at the time we had three pugs, now becoming the Mitzvah Mobile. Just as it’s taken almost 15 years for our vehicle to grow into its intended name, so too, Sid and I are...
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Count your blessings – Retake

  Well, it’s not Christmas in July but I’ve been running behind most of this year so August is close enough.   Just as we did last December as referenced in the message below, Sid and I are making a one day trip up to Maine today and coming back tomorrow. We haven’t been to...
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Shine bright the Mitzvah Mobile

  Earlier this summer I shared with you our journey home from Florida in our 2008 Winnebago, affectionately called the “Pugabego” in honor of our three pug fur babies we had at the time of its purchase fourteen years ago. In that writing I mused how we had talked  of our RV...
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Shine bright

Sid and I were blessed last week to attend the UMJC summer conference which is the first time it has been held since 2019 due to Covid. It was an amazing experience not only to finally be able to get together after so much time had passed, but the long time coming brought with it...
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A bicycle built for two – you and Him

  This Shabbat encouragement is dedicated to Jerry Holbert, a blessed memory, who left our earthly home this week, a man of great love of others who knew how to bring fun, joy, humor, and love to us all, much like Lee Urban, the man who also inspired this message....
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Breaking bad habits

  There are many ways to experience these times that make up our lives today. There is the approach of the monk figuratively sitting on the mountaintop meditating (tempting at times), or shielding ourselves from bad influences, especially necessary to a large extent for our...
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Camp kvelling

  Camp has ended but it is only the beginning of the impact it has had on those whose lives it touched. This coming Shabbat some camp leaders will be sharing this year’s highlights with our Ruach community, so I don’t want to give too much away in this writing. I’ll try to...
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I hear You

  Week 2 of Camp Or L’Dor. Words can’t describe the blessings, challenges, new experiences, complex interactions, hurdles, victories, above all, the presence of HaShem. These two weeks in a way represent a microcosm of life’s joys and sorrows, yet with Yeshua at the center,...
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Made in His Image

  Given the state of our day-to-day lives, especially within such a divided American society, we often can feel that this is the worst time ever of mankind’s history. Despite the tragedies we read about in history, we find it difficult to believe that any peoples or...
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His circle of love

    It seems that each week we just can’t escape more news that drives our society apart. We go from war to gun violence to legislation and opinions to hearings and more opinions that divide us rather than bring us together. We surely are living in chaotic times.  ...
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