Jewels 2005

The first Shabbat in Elul, two weeks after my father’s death, my family gathered around the Shabbat table. Everyone was home from summer camp and

Midrash tells us that our name, Yisrael, when vocalized differently, can become “Yashir Eil” – “God will sing.” We are God’s song in this world.

The instructor filled an empty jar with rocks. “Is it full?” Then he poured a pitcher of pebbles into the jar. “Full now?” Next he

Take some time out each day to cast away the business of being busy. Find a quiet moment to reflect, or go for a walk

We approach the holidays in reflection upon our lives, who we are, whom and what we treasure, what matters for our hearts, our souls, our

As a teenager in a family of very modest means, I had many dreams-ideas about what I wanted to achieve. So I got an after-school

I remember the first time Sarabeth came to meet me. Depressed and angry she told me that her husband had taken their money and left

With a daughter now old enough for sleep away camp and the variety of summer vacations we take, summer is a time when our family

On a beautiful summer Shabbat afternoon at a Jewish camp in New England, a legend was born. For the first time in thirty years, the

I was 18 years old with a dream summer internship, living in dorms packed with socially and politically savvy college students from around the country.

“I wear prayers like shoes. Pull them on each morning to take me through uncertainty.” writes Ruth Forman, contemporary poet, in a work called I

Why does Rosh Hashanah come before Yom Kippur? Surely it should be the other way around! First we should cleanse ourselves, purge our sins, and

Many years ago, my husband had a conversation with a Benedictine monk whose selflessness haunts me.“It wasn’t that he was thinking too much of himself

One winter day when I was six or seven, my brother and I went out for a walk with our Great-Uncle Sydney near his apartment

When the Hasidic master, Reb Yitzchak Yakov, the Seer of Lublin, died, his disciples divided his worldly goods. One got his books, one his kiddush

The seasonal call for personal introspection is a prerequisite for world transformation. Through it we learn to critique lovingly. We learn that we can create

I’m good at making resolutions, God, but I’m not very good at keeping them. There are so many goals I’d like to achieve, so many

According to the Rosh Hashanah ritual of tashlich, we toss scraps of bread into a living body of water, symbolizing the casting away of transgressions

Elul is the time when we begin to prepare ourselves for the deep moral and religious assessment that takes place on the High Holy Days.

In the summer of 2000 I was walking in the streets of Tel Aviv when I was stopped by a middle-aged man and asked directions

Because we find ourselves surrounded by believers in Messianic fundamentalism, we should, as Jews, examine – or re-examine – our own attitudes toward Messianic faith.

One of life’s most profound lessons came to me when I was a boy. My parents separated, and my father brought a new puppy into

Barchu is a prayer we can say only in a minyan. There is great wisdom in starting our service by praising God together, because all

here are times when a simple expression of appreciation can change the course of another’s life. My own life has been filled with a treasure

Rosh Hashanah is “Head (rosh) Changing (shenah) Day.” You can’t have a new year with an old head. So if you want a new year,

A driving rain has turned the waves and the sky into one darkness. The coastal road is empty, traffic lights signal to each other in

Diamond is the hardest of gems. It can leave its mark on all the others, but nothing can mar its surface. It can survive great

It always struck me as a bit odd that the month of Elul, coming right before the High Holidays, should be an acronym for such

A rabbi hears his little daughter crying, and finally finds her hiding in the closet. When he asks the child why she is crying, she

When is the right moment to sit and contemplate the difficult times we encounter? Why don’t I just get in touch with those things that