My appointment was running late so I set out for 5 minutes of mindful walking. It’s a crisp and grey day. First I noticed the trees. Some are completely barren. Others still have leaves. Then I noticed the sound of different birds. They were singing from the woods. Then I noticed a tiny bird, must’ve been […]
Daily Life
Pause
Between breathing in and breathing out. Between this sentence and the next. Between thought and expression. Between hearing and listening. Between doing and doing. Between being and being. Between now and now. Between is and was. Between is and is now. A pause. — Between experience and meaning. Between meaning and memory. Between memory […]
Walk in Delight
Beyond measure, I am blessed. In ways disguised and manifest. In ways I can appreciate and ways I cannot. In ways deserved but in more ways graced. In ways that touch my daily existence and ways that don’t. Beyond measure, I am blessed. In ways that delight and ways that overwhelm. — Among these […]
Be a Blessing
“Be a blessing.” That’s God’s instruction to Abram in Genesis 12. Whenever I read these words or think of this teaching, I think of Rabbi Alvin Sugarman. Many years ago he and I were part of a rabbinic panel at The Temple. Rabbi David Baylinson joined us as well. Each of us was asked to […]
Holiday-Free Judaism
For the next month and change there won’t be any major Jewish holidays. That leaves some Jews wondering how to engage “Jewishly” since the holidays provide both an occasion and a script for Jewish experiences. The truth is actually quite simple: Judaism without holidays is, in many ways, much more engaging and fulfilling than Judaism […]
What’s it like to be a rabbi?
I have a cherished colleague. Her name is Dr. M. Cathy Harmon-Christian. She teaches in the theology department at Marist. Among other things, she and I have a chavruta, a study-based friendship. It’s a lot of fun. An offshoot of that chavruta is that every so often she’ll send along a question asked by her students. “What’s […]