Reflections

As my four grandsons watched wide-eyed, I could feel all the bubbies and zaidies in the room . . .

he knocking persisted. I took the baby out of his bath, wrapping him in a towel, and made my way to the front door. “Who is it?” I looked in the peephole and saw an eleven-year-old from the neighborhood . . .

A curious thing happens when you must be calm, when you don’t have the luxury of expressing your frustration, when what you want to do and what you must do are irreconcilably at odds, and little can be done to alleviate the frustration of a body and mind that want but cannot have...

My old high-school friend Jillian had posted that she was reading a particular book, and I commented that it was not a favorite of mine. I closed the page, went back to work and thought nothing more of it, and I probably wouldn’t have, until the phone rang just an hour later...

In my relationships, particularly with my kids, whatever is painful or dysfunctional seems to eclipse the good, to obliterate it . . .

In a state of shock immediately following the crash, I did not remember being pregnant, having two other children who were in the car, or being married. I felt like I was sixteen, without any responsibility to anyone but myself . . .

Isn’t it interesting that today I decided, perhaps out of necessity, that I needed to establish a spirit and body routine to start the day.

The strength within us, the support that re-grounds us in our uncertainty and insecurity, the part of us competing in this war with the external forces and energies that dare to blind us and steal us away from who we really are . . .

Sometimes I get stuck and I need direction. Sometimes I feel like I am at a crossroads in life. There is a fork in the road and I don’t know whether to go right or left. I sit in the road and wait for some bright neon sign saying, “This way to redemption!” But for some reason it never comes . . .

My mind began reeling in annoyance about how busy I am, about all the things I have to do, and how I have to get to work. And on top of it, how I have to wait and be pulled into the vortex of somebody else’s life...

“Why can’t you just be normal?” As someone who grew up in a secular household and later became more observant, I get this kind of question a lot. And while I’m perfectly comfortable with not being “normal,” I also wonder what’s so special about normality...

This is not a theme I think I’ll ever understand fully. This one of movements and perspectives. The way my movements in physical space are metaphors for the bigger picture, tell a story greater than themselves . . .

Chagai changed my whole attitude towards situations I had previously thought of as limiting. Now, instead of looking at them in terms of 'cannot', I look at them as challenges to conquer. The problem may not necessarily be cured, but it does not have to hold you back...

We want the perfect hair, clothes, body. Society and our culture these days don't do much to help the situation. On the contrary- it's in our faces- plastered on billboards and magazine covers...

We are united by a singular cause: to feel good and look good. People walk in with all types of garb that hides their overweight body parts. But once they change into gym clothes, there is nothing to hide and no one is judging one other. We’re all in the same boat!

Taking some ground meat out of the freezer to defrost, the prospect of the meatloaf that would eventually be served that evening just seemed to compound the ordinariness of her life...

The seniors at the home had amazing stories to tell about their lives and their families. Some were survivors and others were lonely and just wanted a visitor...

What we found out made my heart sink. This man had been coming there for many years. Always sitting in the same place for most of the day. Always hungry. Always needing. Always maintaining his dignity never asking for anything or saying a word to any patrons...

I begin to understand why I’ve made this trip. Now I can see my life from a distance. That must be one of the purposes of an island: an invention that isolates, that brings us away from the things that numb us. An island wakes us up because of the body of water that separates us from all the rest of life…

As a mother of two small children I worry when I hear silence. Whether it's laughing or screaming, to me noise is reassuring. Noise means that everything is okay. Well usually anyways...

Imagine you're in a room full of Jewish addicts. And you're volunteering to lead a group on Tuesday evenings. The group is called "Spirituality." What would you talk about?

It's always been a hard concept for me to wrap my mind around. Not because I'm not willing to work- but because it doesn't seem to make sense, spending most of our lives immersed in the less-than appealing. Unless...

I'm late! Will I make it? I call Noa and let her know where I am. Relax, she tells me, you'll make it. I begin to think about my already full day and feel the tears swell up in my eyes. I'm not going to make it. I just know it...

"Man, I'm so sad." "What are you so sad about?" I asked her, "You just lost a tooth! That's so exciting!" She looked down at the floor, shoulders slumped forward as she plopped down despondently on the couch. "It was so fun wiggling it, and now it's over."

One can only know- if the other feels safe to reveal, and if one is receptive to it....

I am in the front row of a theater, waiting for the play to begin. The lights are dimmed and I am awestruck by the spectacular decorations of the stage, creating a bright paradise in the midst of the darkness...

Part of being an educator is being an eternal optimist I suppose, though the question still lingered in my mind: "Did Sammy hear anything we talked about tonight?"

The sacrifices are truly mind-numbing, definitely extraordinary. But, the other day, I discovered that heroism lies in the lap of the ordinary, too...

It is impossible to turn on the TV or open a newspaper without being bombarded with tragic news. But the miracles, they are a little harder to notice...

True to her word, when Bubby came to Canada there was always delicious kosher food for anyone who visited her home. Despite long hours of toiling in a sweatshop, she always managed to turn flour, potatoes and other simple ingredients into delicacies...

Knowledge can be snobbish, leaving me feeling inadequate in the shadow of abstractions that remain separate from me. Experience, on the other hand, gives confidence and grace to my next step...

The little boy was so excited—his face shone, he laughed, and then he began to dance: jumping and skipping, lifting his legs all about the room...

Being that my job requires me to work on a computer, it's naturally assumed by my family members and friends that I'm an all around computer maven, one that will certainly be able to save them from any PC related bug or disaster...

The thought of endless hours in the evening without internet access is actually not a relaxing thought. It makes me nervous. It means I will need to be present, completely present, in my life and not my virtual life. And that is scary to me.

It is a tradition in my family. The women have always been obsessed with hair. They learned this from their mothers, who learned it from their mothers and on it went—sometimes skipping a generation until someone was lucky enough to be born with "good hair"...

I am struck by the stark contrast between my view of G‑d when I was younger and the close and intimate relationship I feel with G‑d today...

There are three passengers standing just a few inches away from me. They're rolling their eyes and spewing frustrated comments at this man's audacity...

There is something extraordinary about the figures that actually live in your life. They are the heroes and heroines in the things that go unnoticed...

I'm not interested in looking back over my life and wondering where the time went, slapping myself in the head saying, "time really flew...". I want to look back and account for all my years with a feeling of completion...

So am I eccentric? Too extreme? Maybe, but I have learned to value things and my children have learned to value things, too...

A few years into the "mothering thing" my enthusiasm for these homey projects was on the wane. I opted for the clean and easy way to do the mitzvah of Shalach Manot: a trip to the kosher bakery for store-bought hamantashen...

I remember thinking, "Is this what it was like, when the Jews were walking through the desert and their only food was the manna that fell from the sky each night?" Waiting and looking for your daily ration is a humbling experience...

Through his example—
his sincerity, his devotion to G‑d, incomparable wit,
and unassuming ways
Tatte has taught me many important lessons...

Over the years, Wendy and I have learned, over the years, a couple of works on the Torah portion of the week as well as several other books, and we have shared many hours of the best kind of joy...

Is that a relationship? I ask, He answers. He gives, I take. Seems somewhat one sided. What am I giving back? What is G‑d gaining out of all of this?

Sometimes, the real way to live in the moment, to accomplish something, is to do nothing...

But nothing could stop my body from progressing on its natural path of womanhood – nothing. After crying for two days straight, I realized I was in perimenopause...

Once upon a time, a baby girl was born to a man who came from the world of the earth, and a woman who came from the world of the skies. They wandered the earth in search of their happiness and dreams...

Tell me. Who are you on the playground?

Instead of going about my day automatically flicking on switches that would give energy to my actions, I was left to find alternative tasks to occupy my attention. I floundered in a feeling of desperation at this possibility, for such is my reliance...

Since there are so many things I like to do on my special day, I now give myself two days to celebrate. n my actual birthday, an auspicious time when my good fortune is dominant, I concentrate on connecting to my Creator. The day after, I take time out to do fun things...

It is like a battle between conceit and humility that is happening in my soul. I think in one way, only to recognize the absolute delusion of my estimation....

The student is frustrated. She has been going in circles for forty-five minutes trying to figure out one line. And the tutor, she is at a loss. Part of her knows that feeding a student her thesis is not what she is there for, but is also not to the advantage of the student...

It had been eight long months of running between my parent's house and the hospital. Eight long months of not knowing what new challenges awaited us day in and day out...

I can't believe I find myself in the same position, doing the same task: packing. Again, we're moving. We've moved five times in seven years...

She seemed to always have it together while I was always falling apart. And so it was no wonder that I felt a twinge of satisfaction upon hearing that something was going wrong for her...

I was always so busy saying "yes" that I forgot to ever ask myself if I wanted to be the chair of a committee, if I had the time to become a "taxi" service, if I was able to volunteer for another fundraiser...

I thought redemption was really here — now. A single tear escapes, and a little bit of my heart breaks. I can't help it. It was such a good dream...

Have you ever stood on the edge of time and beheld the wonders that could only be found in you?

After Twenty Questions, the toy tries to guess the word that you had in mind. No one is looking, and I take this piece in my hand and think of a word. I choose, "G - D"...

I am here in my own bed but at the same time, I am standing on a distant mountain side. Bushes growing wildly all around, a place deserted and ever so still...

That night, my grandmother slept fitfully, distressed and uncertain about what to do. How could she compromise the values with which she had been raised?

Don’t you feel it deep within the spaces of your soul? Awaken and come forth for I have called you back once more to reveal a message of life and love...

Some days I feel as though I'm carrying years on my back. I never thought about it much before; you see, I believed it was my duty...

Toward the end, the candles were as if souls returning to the Creator with their last breath. No longer reaching upwards in a dance between heaven and earth, they were a fragment of their former selves, returning to their grounding wick...

A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up. She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as one problem was solved a new one arose...

He asked me how much I was owed, and then started to take $8 out of his wallet. It still hadn’t sunk into my thick skull when he said, “For $8 you were screaming at an old man?

I read how Lot is saved and his wife turns into a pillar of salt. And I search to see my life in these words. I'd rather not see it, of course, as the connection is too intense, too real, too true

It begins with desire. A desire to know more. A desire to be more. Surely I can do something on my own is what I would say. Surely my life is worth something just for me being me. It is then that the door begins to open...

How was I going to stop doing these things when at this very moment of remorse, I was also filled with anger, toward myself and towards others who had harmed me?

In Lebanon our soldiers, some of the best young men of our generation, are being hunted and slaughtered like animals. And here I am, inspecting lemons as though nothing is going on?

As women, we share a collective identity. We often struggle to overcome the same mountains, and we find peace in cool streams of the same valleys. We seek our identity in the piercing bareness of the same wind...

It was his first day of retirement. Suddenly, after all the financial planning and ‎midnight talks with Behira, his wife of forty years, he had no plans...

These are the faces of a nation, comprised of opinions and moods, attitudes and deep feelings. Each person is absorbed in the narrative of his own life, yet somehow, in some omnipotent way, I attempt to find myself in their story, to recognize our similar struggles...

I can only imagine that from the ants’ perspective, having a human hand descend upon it is a horror of unspeakable proportion...

Life is like a book. Flipping through its pages, yellow with age, we are transported to different places all over the world...

We walked up to the house. On the patio, we saw a poster. "Answers to the Questions I Know You Are Asking" was the headline. The first answer was a simple one."50,000 bulbs," it read. The second answer was...

It is a name that until a few days ago held no meaning to me. He was a complete stranger, about whom I had never heard and whom I had never met...

My father, of blessed memory, had been in one of the first American battalions to enter Auschwitz during WWII. What he saw there seemed to haunt him for the rest of his years...

The truth is that joy usually has both a sad and glad component. Many times, it's the sad part that provides the treasure that conceals the glad part, just waiting to be revealed and experienced...

A young girl's bat mitzvah is a milestone in her life. A milestone that should be imbued with a message that will escort her into her future. This was the goal tonight...

I lost my father when I was ten-- his only child, his only daughter. It is only in recent times that I have pondered the importance of having a father...

I began thinking about what we as individuals need in our lives to stay buoyant and keep ourselves protected from the dangerous and harmful "rocks" of life. I know that there was a time when I lived my life at low tide...

I knew very little about their past. I was told bits and pieces of their stories. I knew that my little Bubbie had escaped from death's door and had been a Partisan fighter in the forest...

Every year Rosh HaShana comes at me like a speeding train. I wasn't ready and I didn't see it coming. Suddenly I am jumping and running alongside, trying to get aboard...