Jewels 2024

On Erev Rosh Hashanah last year, I did something wildly out of character: I messaged a guy I knew many years ago and asked him

I discovered Frieda at the pound. She’d been found in a rough part of town, starving and mangy. She looked like a Beagle with German

As I sit in the quiet of my home, reflecting on my family’s past, these words haunt me: “If not now, when?” My heritage is

I was raised to highly value character and attributes like integrity and veracity. I’ve found that while I tend to be forgiving and open-minded about

I am open and I am willing To be hopeless would seem so strange It dishonors those who go before us So lift me up

If not now, when . . .? One way to answer this question is deeply personal. If not now, when will I express my love

For as long as I can remember I have been an advocate for peace between Israelis and Palestinians. As an Israeli Jew, much of my

There is an old antisemitic lie that goes as follows: Judaism is all about law, not love – it’s harsh, legalistic, nitpicky. But if you

Journal entry: 2 July 2019. Freshfield Pass, 4280 m / 14,040 ft. Rwenzori Mountain Range, Uganda-DRC borderlands. First proper view of Mt. Stanley. Shit. Savoia

Lie in bed, half asleep or half awake. Listen to how the storms rage outside the retreat cabin, the ones you’ve watched drive, spark, and

At age 86, I face the urgency of defining myself beyond the roles and titles that have shaped me for nearly half a century. As

This year, I resolved to let go of the emotions attached to being late. I am an anxious person. Being late has been a source

I think I’m the youngest person writing a Jewel, by a long shot. I’m a freshman at an obscure college near Death Valley. With 25

Time is the great equalizer—no one has more or less, and it can’t be bought. What sets us apart is how we spend our time.

How many times have we had a million dollar Aha moment in the shower, only to watch it go down the drain as we brush

I open an email with the itinerary for today’s flight to London and I am confused. The email was sent months ago, yet it says

As a CEO, I find myself on a dual path—of corporate growth and personal transformation. Leading a company requires strategic thinking, decisive action, and a

“If not now, when?” It’s such a powerful question, especially for someone like me who’s always analyzing risk and making decisions based on it. I

In 2022, I took on the role of board chair for the Jewish Federations of North America. The responsibility was both daunting and clear: to

As a community organizer, I learned that time is our greatest ally and challenge. The core of my work lies in the delicate balance between

When I signed my little blue union card, I didn’t fully understand what I was committing to. I went to graduate school because I wanted

Gayle Kabaker is a freelance illustrator whose illustrations include 10 covers for the New Yorker magazine. www.gkabaker.com For Every Jewel There is a Question: Where’s

Rabbi Hillel’s admonition, “If not now, when,” is one by which I have tried to live my life. So is Rabbi Tarfon’s charge that “you

Sitting with a thought for years, even decades, feels a bit like holding a small ember, carefully tending it so it never quite goes out.

One day in 2004, Nurse Pat Murphy watched as I struggled to insert a large catheter into the neck of a woman who was dying.

In the Torah, God commanded Moses and Aaron to conduct a census of the Jewish people. The rabbis say that the purpose of the census

Years ago, my friend, Reverend Ed Bacon, taught me an important lesson. In every story of our lives, he said, we can be the victim,

Hillel’s question is the eternal one. When? Frustrated, impatient, yearning, we ask “When?” knowing that, as the poet wrote, “Peace comes dropping slow,” the urgency

When I originally conceived the idea for Jewels of Elul, I envisioned writing all the reflections myself. Thankfully, I soon realized that not even my