When faced with a particularly weighty problem, the Baal Shem Tov would go to a particular place in the woods,…
Category: Love
Fourteen Prayers for Peace
In 2009, President Obama accepted the Nobel Peace Prize, with a simple, moving speech. He spoke of the challenge of…
The Simple Judge
So I’m driving along Commercial Drive, and I’ve stopped at a pedestrian-controlled crosswalk. A young man starts to cross the…
Unveiling
What is unveiled at an unveiling? My brother Dave, my husband Chas, my two young adult children Hillary and Eli,…
From Tisha B'Av With Love
Tisha B’Av is the day of my mother’s Yahrzeit. On that day, she let go of her life with gentle, purposeful…
God, Our Parent
When I was about twelve years old, I opened my younger brother’s textbook, just out of curiosity. This textbook from…
Circumcision: Whose Initiation?
You may know the contemporary arguments for and against a brit milah, ritual circumcision of infant Jewish boys. For: It’s traditional. It affirms…
Helicopter Parents: A Fairy Tale
According to urbandictionary.com, a helicopter parent is – a parent who hovers and flaps his wings while the kid lives…
Super Psalm 23
Psalms: spiritual poems set to music. Music, says the Torah, was invented by the world’s creatures. After the Garden of…