Please join me for six weeks of meaningful study on the themes of the High Holidays
On Shabbat anger lines are suspended and estranged parents bless children together We are a village again – Raising each other’s children; Praising each other’s achievements; Laughing together We leave our baggage at the door – All of our petty and legitimately painful histories; All of our irritations, grievances and jealousies; We pretend For the […]
Accept that this year probably won’t go as expected; that your family won’t suddenly be less dysfunctional; that true change – t’shuva requires hard work and not just best intentions. Accept that you cannot go back; that you don’t get a re-do; that you can only move forward and hope that you might do better
This year I’m a little resentful of Elul It shows up demanding spiritual discipline Drop everything! Begin T’shuva! it declares But I am not ready I am very, very not ready I am exhausted. Relaxing summers are for children and the retired (and I suppose, the wealthy) There are sermons to write and laundry to
Breathe in. A new beginning is on the horizon, fast approaching, ready or not. Breathe out. It is okay to be anxious. There is much that is unknown. It is okay to question: Will you make it through? Breathe in. Elul tells us it’s time to prepare; brace yourself; pace yourself; steady and ready yourself;
In a park in Jerusalem I sit on a bench Stone at my back It is cool spring Light jacket No socks and the grass is so green Patches of sunlight, warm Purple dripping from the trees Beneath the canopy of green I smell them The scent heavy beneath from what hangs above from what
This is Like Prayer Read More »
You think you know me but you don’t. I am Miriam. The famous Prophetess. The leader of women singing and dancing on the shores of the Reed Sea. I am Miriam. Famous sister of the arguably more famous Moses and Aaron. Miriam, whose name is sometimes used – always in relation to them, never standing
Miriam & Tzipporah Read More »
(a response to Merle Feld’s “Let my people go that we may serve You”) I don’t remember girdles but I remember the anger we’re not supposed to show. I’ve always been counted and I’ve also been dismissed too often and too easily I’ve positioned myself so as to be impossible to be seen as invisible,
Let Me Go That I May Serve You Read More »
“We are breathed in-to” she says, and tears spring to my softly closed eyelids We are breathed in-to. God breathes into me Enters me And I breathe back Out Into God We are One We are breathed in-to I am safe and I am loved and I can be whole Sitting between two beloved dear
Clarity Comes with the Dawn Read More »
We learn what it means to be the people of Israel: that at any moment as we wander we carry with us two aronot – two sacred burdens. The aron-meitim: The coffin, filled with Joseph’s bones and The aron-kodesh: The Holy Ark, which holds the Commandments; God’s words inscribed in stone. In one hand, our
I am not slow of speech My tongue is sharp and quick Too quick I need to learn to hold it but rarely manage It lashes out when I am anxious or hurt with words that should be used for healing praying teaching loving but sometimes I weave a shrewish shield or else my heart
These Words of Mine (for Vaera) Read More »