Standing on the worn, white linoleum tile of Grandma’s kitchen, I wonder, Who has an all-white kitchen? White formica counter top with little gold flecks in it, white cabinets, a white Frigidaire, and an ancient white stove top. Despite the age of this kitchen, everything is spotless, hospital-room clean. When Grandma says with pride that […]
Archives for September 2017
Book Review: By Light of Hidden Candles
The prose is very easy on the internal ear, the story is just fast-paced enough to keep you reading avidly, and the subject matter—a Jewish girl who almost gets swept up in a romance with an apparently Catholic student, set against the backdrop of a research project exploring Spain’s crypto Jews—is definitely captivating.
Driftwood
I am the driftwood
floating from where I’ve been
to where I long to return
Rosh HaShana Dread
The last few years, I’ve really dreaded Rosh Hashana. Now, before you start jumping up and down and blaming that on the fact that my husband goes to Uman, let’s be clear that the last few years I’ve had massive issues on pretty much every religious holiday, not just Rosh Hashana – and the bloke’s […]
Teshuva and the Release of Nightmares
A subconscious thought becomes explicit when it is articulated in speech. Things unspoken—and unspeakable—may have tremendous influence on one’s outward thoughts and feelings far beyond what we can ever be aware of. Until we can articulate the thought, and bring it into conscious awareness, we have no control over it. So it is with Teshuvah, and so it is with the Geulah.
Rosh HaShanah: A Tale of Two Beginnings
This essay about Rosh HaShanah explores the concepts of din and rachmim, and the interplay between the two. It will also give the reader a new meaning to the word “honeymoon”. Rosh HaShanah (literally, “the Head of the Year”) marks the beginning of the New Year, but also has has another role as the beginning […]
Jewish Encounters in a Non-Jewish Land
Edinburgh, view from the castle It rains on our first day of vacationing in Scotland in August. After spending weeks in Israel where afternoon temperatures measured 105F in the shade on our Jerusalem patio, the drizzle is welcome. That first day we plan to tour the old castle of Edinburgh, which means being outside for […]
Happy is the Eye that Saw the Singers
“How long will you sleep, O Lazybones?” I woke up with a start; it was five in the morning and my cousin Levi was practicing Perek Shira, The Song of the Universe, with the rooster and the dog in our backyard. From the sound of it, Levi had the song all memorized, but the animals […]
Book Musings – The Body of Faith: God in the People Israel by Michael Wyschogrod
What does it mean when we say that human beings were created “in the image of God”. While some of the foremost Jewish philosophers, in particular the Rambam, saw Tselem Elohim as referring to the human capacity of reason, Michael Wyschogrod disagrees. His ideas tally in surprising ways with modern neuroscience.
This Year…Dare to Dream
Any goal fulfilled is the result of a series of steps taken through to the end. Here’s a fun and fantastic way to capture your goals for the New Year. All you need is a pen and paper—and a whole bunch of dreams.