Tisha B’Av, the saddest day in the Jewish calendar, begins tonight. The Mishna says that five disasters occurred on this date, including the destruction of the First and Second Temples. The Rabbis who lived during the time of the destruction of the Second Temple were, understandably, preoccupied with the causes of these calamities. In one well-known source they tell …
Using Tisha B'Av as Inspiration to Become a Change Agent Read More »
I was leaving an event the other night when I noticed someone with a T-shirt I thought was quite funny. It said: “The best revenge is living long enough to annoy your children.” I laughed at the time. The next day I got on a bus and went to visit my elderly mother. After I …
Lessons Learned from Aging Parents: Annoying or Not Read More »
Are you living your dream or dreaming your life? While Law of Attraction proponents would say that dreaming your life will create it, you might spend a lot of time dreaming — visualizing and combining thought and feeling — and never actually living your life — taking action and doing what you want to do. …
Are You Living Your Dream or Dreaming Your Life? Read More »
Today I’d like to share a teaching of Rebbe Nachman of Breslov’s that truly speaks to me, especially since I do go out and teach. In fact, Rabbi Nachman’s wisdom, in this case, gave me permission to go out and teach what I knew. He taught me that everyone is a teacher, and we should …
I’ve been in New York City for just about six weeks now. Although I was born in Manhattan, I grew up at the base of the Catskill Mountains. With the exception of this summer, I live in the Santa Cruz Mountains in California. In fact, I’ve lived most of my life in the suburbs or in …
The Sound of Silence…or at Least Something Close to Silence Read More »
The kabbalists, or Jewish mystics, teach that every action has the same “dimension.” In other words, one action isn’t greater than another or bigger than another or better than another. An action we consider as quite meaningful or important, might actually be meaningless and unimportant in the greater scheme of things — in God’s perspective. …
Are you taking advantage of opportunities that come your way? Or are you ignoring them? Or, are you, like me, negating them? Lately, I’ve been finding ways to negate opportunities that come my way by finding excuses for not taking advantage of them. I say, “I shouldn’t do that,” or “It wouldn’t be appropriate to …
Take Advantage of Opportunities that Come Your Way Read More »
I talk and write about gratitude a lot. I say that gratitude constitutes the most powerful prayer. I stress that only through an attitude of gratitude do we open ourselves to receiving the things we desire. However, today someone I know shared something with me that proves that gratitude is also good for you – …
I’m so struck today by the fact that worry constitutes just another form of negative thinking. In this current economy, many of us are stuck worrying – and thinking negatively. Thus, we create just what we don’t want. Worry places us in the future, only it does so in a negative manner. It places our …
Worry Constitutes Just Another Form of Negative Thinking Read More »
Today, the 17th of Tammuz on the Jewish calendar, marks the anniversary of many terribly events. The first of these came when Moses smashed the first set of tablets he obtained atop Mt. Sinai after he found the Israelites worshiping the Golden Calf. Then, on the same date, the Babylonians entered Jerusalem in 586 B.C.E. The …
In more than one mystical tradition, we are told that we know everything there is to know prior to being born into a physical body. We even know it while in utero. Then, once our little bodies make their way down through the birth canal and into the world, we forget all that knowledge and …
Why is Life about Remembering What We Have Forgotten? Read More »
While I was at the Aleph Kallah I had the opportunity to participate in a Red Heifer ritual led by Rabbi Shefa Gold. This ritual is not one normally performed…at least not that I know of, and it likely has not been performed since the days of the temple. We, of course, in Jewish renewal …
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