I’ve been thinking a lot about teachers lately. In Pirkei Avot, the Ethics of Our Fathers: Chapter 1, Mishna 6, “Rabbi Yehoshua Ben Perachya says, ‘Make for yourself a teacher and acquire for yourself a friend, and judge each person favorably.” Leaving the latter part of this teaching for another time, I’ll focus on the first […]
The Importance of Making for Yourself a Teacher Read More »
The first question, and also the shortest question, God ask in the Torah has just one word. “Ayeka?” In English, this means “Where are you?” For an all-knowing God, this seems a silly question, but the query has little to do with physical location. And it’s a question not asked to locate someone physically but
Ayeka? Where are you? Read More »
Most people don’t realize that through its choice of words, the Old Testament places emphasis on goal setting. In fact, it seems that God expects us to set targets for ourselves and at least to try to hit them. In other words, we are supposed to take the time to come up with resolutions or
Put Jewish Ideas to Use on the Secular New Year Read More »
I’ve spent an enormous amount of time over the last week throwing away all sorts of stuff. Primarily, however, I’ve thrown away accumulated papers. I can’t believe how many papers I seem to save and collect. I have piles and files filled with papers of all sorts. Most of these papers I must have thought
Making Room for Change Read More »
On Christmas Eve, I’m once again, like every year, struck by the wonderful example Jesus provides all people – Jew and non-Jew alike – of a human being who achieved full spiritual and human potential. (I wrote a short piece about this earlier today in my Examiner.com column, but I wanted to expand upon the
Jesus Provides Model for Achievement of Spiritual and Human Potential Read More »
The other day I met with a friend. He told me that 90 percent of the time when he met with me he had a great time; the other 10 percent of the time it broke his heart. He hated seeing his friend not doing the things she loved and not being the person she
Seeing Myself Through Someone Else's Eyes Read More »
Today I was reading a blog about this week’s parshah and came upon a teaching from Rav Kook, the former chief rabbi of Israel. He said the moment you were born is the exact moment that God decided the world could no longer function without you. So, your moment of conception had to be predestined and,
You Were Born When God Decided the World Couldn't Function Without You Read More »
Today, President Barak Obama accepted his Nobel Peace Prize in Oslow, Norway, as the world debates whether or not he deserves the award. I’ve been asked if I think President Obama deserves a Nobel Peace Prize… I don’t think I’m one to judge. I tend to not be very politically minded. I do, however, have some
Do We Live Up to Our Own Expectations for Ourselves? Read More »
Have you ever felt inspired? Has someone ever inspired you? Last night I took my son, who aspires to become a professional dancer, to see Rasta Thomas dance. Rasta Thomas has been his “idol” for some time now. He wants to dance like him…Rasta inspires him to be a great dancer. However, seeing Rasta on
The Value of Inspiration Read More »
My recent trip back to home, as well as to Syracuse University, where I earned my degree in magazine journalism, Westchester County, where I took my first two jobs right after college, and New York City, where I worked prior to leaving New York State for good, left me thinking about the path I have
What Would You Do Differently If You Could? Read More »
As I sat on my wind trainer today trying to get my post-ACL surgery knee to simply bend a little more than yesterday, I contemplated my back and forth motion. (A wind trainer, by the way, is a contraption upon which you can place a regular bike so you can “ride” it inside.) I had
What Constitutes Progress in Your Life? Read More »
Ever wonder why you keep turning over a new leaf-the same leaf-year after year? Ever wonder why you keep asking for forgiveness-for the same sins-year after year? Ever wonder why your targets never change even though you keep resetting them and trying harder to hit a bull’s eye-the same bull’s eye-year after year? On the
Ninth Day of Awe: Payoffs Read More »
JUST RELEASED!
Change the World One Book at a Time: How to Make a Positive and Meaningful Difference with Your Words, will teach those who want to write for change how to produce books that serve as potent tools for transformation.
Free Soul-Alignment Session
Do you:
Let's chat about how to get you from where you are to where you want to go.
Sign up for a 15-minute session below.