Last night, I went to a powerful shiur about the shofar. What, she asked, do you think about when the shofar blasts on Rosh Hashanah? Are you focused on your hopes and dreams for the year ahead? Do you hear it like a foreboding blast, representing Gd’s judgement of our behavior for the past year?… Read More A Song for the Year Ahead
I have cried so many more tears than I have put words to paper in the past two years. Where is my voice? The letters have been replaced by wet, silent tears; the words replaced by sobs. Sometimes, particularly when I am at shul silently crying, I wonder how we are all standing; how we… Read More Finding the Space for Words in the Year Ahead
What was a woman who doesn’t drink doing with 52 bottles of wine in the back of her car? Yes, it was close to Rosh Hashanah, but that certainly wasn’t the full answer. No, she hadn’t suddenly become a wine distributor in her free time….well, not really. So what was she doing? The answer was… Read More Raise a Glass in Memory
My feet are firmly planted on Israeli soil. And yet, I have found over the years that we’ve been here, that there are certain choices that I make in order to feel more comfortable. And they aren’t always the most “Israeli” choices. Saving money matters – but so does saving my sanity and saving my… Read More Only Those with Carts Need Apply
Rosh Hashanah is right around the corner, and I always start to feel like I haven’t prepared myself for the holiday ahead. I don’t go to shul in the morning every day like Josh does; I don’t say slichot; I don’t learn every day like many people I know; I don’t have (or make?) the… Read More Cultivating the Spirit
