I dreamed about my late mother. Just a simple dream. I am walking with my mother. But I can’t keep up. So, she is half a block ahead, waiting for me. My late mother is so precious to me. But, when I was young, she was full of grief. And I still carry the scars.…
Category: Family
Shema: Something old, something new
Shema. Deuteronomy 6:4-9. It’s featured in this week’s Torah reading, and in the daily liturgy. It was inside a gift I gave my father before he died. And in one I gave my daughter as she left home last week. More about that, below. Moses says, Shema! Listen! God is infinite being. Love God with…
Jacob and Joseph: What Does It Take to Heal?
Jacob and Joseph. Biblical heroes, father and son. Two generations in a single story of hurt and healing. A father who feels himself a failure. And places hope in his son. A son who cannot soothe his father. But learns how to heal himself. Imagine yourself in Jacob’s story. You felt bullied by your older…
Graduation! Or: Naso, A Personal Reflection
Graduation. Yes! This week, our daughter graduated from Simon Fraser University. Remember ancient rabbinic astrology? How it draws on the weekly Torah reading? When you celebrate a special event, you receive the blessings of that reading. Woot! This is the week of Parshat Naso. And it’s also the year we focus on its last section. It’s…
Death is Weird. Baruch Dayan Ha'Emet
Death is weird. At least as weird as life, anyway. What can you say when a brother or a brother-in-law dies? Someone younger than you. Full of exuberant love. A carpe-diem, take-charge-of-life kind of guy. A recovering addict, who spent a decade healing his family. But whose body didn’t heal. And, just when he had…
New Citizen of Canada: Time for a Life Review
This week I became a citizen of Canada. But the journey began sixteen years ago. With a Sunday morning dream. I walk through my house with a realtor. Every wall, shelf, and table full of memorabilia. Each one a work of art, recalling an event, project, or value. I know I have to sell it…
Crows Are Nesting in our Backyard
Crows are Nesting in Our Backyard (May 6) Crows are nesting in our backyard! Three paces from the deck. You can’t see them and they like it that way. They are comfortable with Charles and with me. Clearly, we live in their extended family territory. We are longtime neighbours. But they were not too happy…
Isaiah: A Peaceable Kingdom is Within Reach
The prophet Isaiah speaks of a peaceable kingdom. But can life be peaceful? A Mother Grieves The day of my birth was a happy day for my parents. But seven weeks later, my four-year-old brother Freddie died during surgery, in an incident of medical malpractice. Mom was terribly broken by Freddie’s death for a long time.…
Teshuvah: Can it Change the Timeline of Your Past?
Can teshuvah – repentance, renewal, and return to God – change the past? In Parshat Haazinu (Deut. 32:1-32:52) Moses speaks to his spiritual community. You have lived a full life. You have seen God at work. Seen God challenge you, answer you, comfort you, sustain you. And you know a miracle when you see one. But…
Real Love
At our Shabbat gatherings at synagogue, we read from the Torah about the adventures of our ancestors in the wilderness, 3500 years ago. We read and retell these stories so often, they shape our own life stories. In this past Shabbat’s story, Moses says to God. “You told me you would help me lead these people…