Jewels 2015

Think ought. Not what is a Jew, but what ought a Jew to be. Not what is a synagogue, but what ought a synagogue to be. Not what prayer is, but what prayer ought to

The seeking of spiritual light is gained through having faith and trust in God. Prayer provides the path, leading to inner strength and pushing us toward

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.

There is an enormous, untouched potential inside every one of us. It is hope. And hope’s incredible power enables us to survive. Hope contains spectacular power, a

For a long time, I thought that things – people, experiences, relationships, myself – could be fixed. I’ve since come to believe that while improvement,

I have gained perspective on the art of aging over the last decade of my 74 years. The gift of perspective is, in a word,

“The smoothest path is full of stones.” Yiddish Proverb One day my daughter, Noa, who has physical disabilities, asked me if she could have a

I used to think that every person on the street held a secret, every storefront a story now I drive past them without wondering what

“There is a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in.” Leonard Cohen Once again Moses is wearing himself out carrying the burden of

Write a letter. Address it to those you love – your spouse, your children and grandchildren, your friends. Put into this letter everything life has

It was early September. My husband and I went on a high-speed car chase around the valleys and mountains of the Grand Tetons to capture

The great thing about the world of the spirit is that gravity doesn’t apply. Inertia can be overcome.   Our secular culture teaches us to

As someone who fell in love with God and Torah as a collegian, I dreamed I would have a child with whom I would share

I learned in bodybuilding that the best way to gain strength was to take my muscles to their absolute limit – to the point of

As the new year approaches, I resolve to focus on joy. This has been my kavannah every year since September 11th. It isn’t easy for

Imagine riding in a speedboat on a lake with an automatic pilot set to go east. If you decide to reverse and head west, you

Last summer, I met a group of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) Jewish teens at a Shabbaton for LGBTQ youth. Each teen described

The l6th of January, 2009, is the day when my three precious daughters and niece were killed by Israeli shells. I do not want anyone

Where can we who walk in darkness find brighter light? I suggest we look no further than to the preacher/poet, John Newton. He was a former

1978-2014. My younger self awaits me in that old home. He stares at the future that would be me; I ponder the past that was

What makes us different from or better than God’s other creatures? A cheetah is faster, a butterfly more beautiful, and a lion mightier by far.

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,

Poppy is four years old. The only shelf in the cabinet she can reach is the one with the plastic Tupperware. She has started filling

There is much I have learned in a journey that has taken me from Beverly Hills all the way to the Beverly Hills Post Office

Recently I had a conversation with someone who said to me, “You wrote a very beautiful book; it’s very uplifting and encouraging. However, isn’t there

As we age, our brains are hardwired to reject change. We are conditioned to resist new challenges and remain within our comfort zones. However, growing

Judaism is all about life – love of life, reverence for life, building new life. But life also brings death. The pessimist says, “You begin

My mother-in-law’s mind is full of holes. She spends most of the day in a placid fog, a place where there’s nothing left to do

I was young and earnest with a dream summer internship at the Justice Department, living in dorms crowded with college kids from around the country.

We think of self-examination during the month of Elul as a path to repentance. But it is more fundamental than a step toward something else:

How do you measure 10 years of life? 10 years is a fifth of my adult life, a third of my marriage. 10 years is