Forever Young: Living With a Child With Disabilities
Six is a wonderful age; full of curiosity, bravado, and a sense of purpose. Everything is new and worthy of discovery. Even better, that pesky motor control thing that has caused such frustration for the first few years is finally coming under control.
Off to the Races - Or Not!
Why don't Jews do NASCAR? Jews are fans of nearly every sport. We play nearly every sport. Heck, my buddy Scott will even leave his home in Philly for an overnight jaunt to Amarillo to watch professional bull-riding. For the most part, though, Jews aren't fans of NASCAR.
Ki Tisa: The Holiness of Broken Things
I carry my brokenness with me
It is holy--
as holy as my breath,
my heart,
my wholeness.
It is a part of me, these
scattered pieces
of shattered longing
and battered dreams.
My sins.
All of them.
I carry them--
all of them;
All these broken things
Leading a Passover Seder: The Freedom to be Creative!
I do not have enough fingers and toes on which to count the various kinds of Passover seders I have participated in or led. So many have been close to my heart, building and reinforcing my Jewish identity year after year.
A Season to Remember the Hungry
Carton upon carton of matzah greeted me as I entered the grocery store this morning.
Shimon Peres on the Futility of War
After the recent passing of Israeli President Shimon Peres, z"l, I'm remembering the time I sat down with him in a Manhattan midtown hotel in 1994 at the beginning of the Oslo process to discuss the peace process.
Visiting Beit Shemesh, Where Religious Extremism Still Lives
Last month I visited Beit Shemesh, a city less than an hour’s drive from Jerusalem. We had read about some of the most noteworthy incidents there, such as when a young girl was spat on by an ultra-Orthodox extremist on her way to school.
Gun Violence Prevention: Looking Back and Looking Forward
“Don’t stop after beating the swords into ploughshares, don’t stop! Go on beating and make musical instruments out of them. Whoever wants to make war again will have to turn them into ploughshares first.” –Yehuda Amichai
How Living in Switzerland Taught Me About Anti-Jewish Bias
During the height of the recession, I moved to Switzerland. I had already lived in France, Japan, India and Israel, and traveled much of the rest of the world.
"Inside Llewyn Davis" and Judaism: What's the Connection?
"Folk song calls the native back to his roots and prepares him emotionally to dance, worship, work, fight, or make love in ways normal to his place." Alan Lomax, Folk Songs of North America