Becoming Free To know the calling of each moment, we need to connect with our vision for the future and work backwards. This lecture explores the personal application of the verse, “He will rule from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth,” shining a light on how we can…
I never really got my Lamaze breathing down pat. When it came to the labor of my daughter, I preferred to gaze intently at a mandala and say psalm twenty up to three times. That’s about how long it took for my belly to bend inwards in her effort to get the new life out….
Or is the Claim Fake News? Throughout history, skeptics have questioned whether G-d gave the Torah at Sinai. With the entire notion of “fact” and “truth” in ambivalent fluidity as never before, that question rings louder than ever. Counter-intuitively the glut of Fake News sheds light on the Giving of the Torah! In the podcast below,…
An Interview with The Jewish Latin Princess
A New Translation of a Seasoned Prayer for One’s Children to be Said on the Eve of the New Moon of Sivan This prayer was composed by the Shelah Hakadosh to express the prayers of parents on behalf of their children. The Shelah said the optimal time for parents to recite this prayer is on…
The African image that most captured my imagination in school was the repeated theme of a body with a head at either end of the torso. It’s really a sculpture of a woman giving birth as the baby’s head emerges. In some ways, the two-headed torso is the exact opposite of the more Eastern…
The Mystical Counting of the Omer, Part VI The Kabbalah of Head and Heart Stereotypically, men are often described as physical beings detached from heart and soul. Maybe that’s born of the fact that while they certainly have intense feelings and emotions, when it comes to intimacy, men seem to be able to separate their…
Last week I spoke on the topic of forgiveness at the Manhattan JCC. The Q&A followed an interactive exercise and my thoughts on two Secrets of Forgiveness. A woman in the back raised her hand. “Do we have to forgive terrorists?” she asked. As I began my response, a mutual friend nudged her. “Tell her…
A Not-Your-Mother’s-Day Reflection 1: Let go of insisting on perfection About a year ago I spoke to a group of women in Pittsburgh. The topic was, “Will the Real Jewish Woman Please Stand Up?” The energy was already upbeat and intimate by the time I made reference to the famous text, “Woman of Strength” which…
Waiting for G-dot On a sand road that snaked away from the Drakensburg Mountains, I once saw an African thorn tree. The branches spread open like an umbrella. Its blackened thorns poked angry exclamation marks into the sky! To my childhood eyes, it seemed the tree was waiting. But whether for rain to give life…
