What if the National Day of Prayer meant we actually came together as a country, despite our differences and prayed together? What if we lived in a country where a kid like me wasn't bullied for trying to participate with the Christian kids in the National Day of Prayer... because I think jesus was a nice Jewish kid who was misunderstood? Read more
I think my seventh grade history teacher must have been Jewish. On the first day of class, she had written on the chalk-board (large enough to take up most of it) the following: “Those who do not learn from the past, are doomed to repeat it in the future” At the time, it seemed slightly contrite, but over the years I have truly come to appreciate the truth behind this statement. It is often quoted in many different forms with... Read more
I really love the Omer... okay, rather, I have a love hate relationship with counting the Omer. I love the spiritual lift I get, but I sometimes get annoyed at one more thing to do before sleep... hence why I need to count the Omer nightly. Read more
I really wanted to go to the counter-protests, I was jazzed. Until G-d started directing me to the more productive path... Read more
The Counting of the Omer originated in a deep, loving relationship to the earth. For us, it has become process of re-creation, re-birth and re-newal of a sacred bond that grounds our hearts to the earth and lifts our souls to the heavens. The 49 day period is counted in days and weeks. The 7 days of each of the 7 weeks constitutes the 49 days. Each week is represented by a specific sacred attribute, called Sefirah from the mystical... Read more
Mikvah* is becoming quite a hot topic lately in the Jewish blogosphere, and I am proud to be a part of that. The comments to my recent post, spurred other posts, and eventually greater awareness and involvement of the trials women face in observing this great mitzvah. In fact, a prominent Jewish Tweeter commented today that is seemed to be “Mikvah Month” – my response – Great! Its about time! The blog posts, comments, and tweets which have abounded on this... Read more
With all of the talk regarding 2nd amendment rights and the militias on the right, I began to feel, as a political lefty, left out. I spoke with my friend Mary about my conundrum. She responded that I should not feel dismay, this May, because she had created a militia for lefties. It is called, appropriately enough, Left’s American Militia. For short it is L.A.M. Read more
One of the things I like best about my Rabbi is that every so often, he likes to just call to check up on me. No agenda, no plan, just “hey, how are you doing?”. That happened today. You see, a year and a half ago, my father died. Suddenly and without warning (and 1500 miles away), I grieved hard and heavy and I felt lost. When I returned home after shiva I went to see my Rabbi. Having lost... Read more
There is such a beauty in balance, in being balanced. When we look around our world and find things in balance we feel comforted, at ease, all is well and all because of balance. Tiferet symbolizes that comforting balance, that feeling that all is well that all is beautiful. And yet real balance is dynamic, not static like when we take a walk. Read more
In the beginning, I was in 7th grade, and through my class on World War II, I realized how what had happened in my family was connected to the greater picture of the Holocaust. Read more
Modern Midrash
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