Life Lessons

The park was empty save for a young woman pushing a child on our favorite swing. I could not see the child as he was blocked by the green plastic bucket seat perfect for older babies. I did, however, see the woman, and my nose crinkled...

Moments later, oxygen masks dropped from the overhead compartment, and the pilot announced that all in-flight personnel must return to their seats and put on their masks. They raced past us shouting "Put your masks on! Now!"

And that is when I lost it. I felt my anger contracting my soul in order to make more room in my body to hold it...

Whatever mood I find myself in, there is one aspect of this ritual that remains consistent: There is always a glaring life lesson reflected back to me from those crisp, cool waters. When I am receptive enough to allow that lesson to penetrate, then those are the mornings when a good swim changes my whole life...

For my son, there was one teacher who stands out. He was a new teacher, fresh out of rabbinical school and trying his hand at education...

With each long stretch of uninhabited, barren land we passed, interrupted only by an occasional primitive Bedouin village or a lone, wandering donkey or sheep, I was feeling that in every sense of the phrase, I had gone too far...

So here I am, alone this hour, looking at you, Dad. I smile. You smile back. I stroke your hand, running my fingers over your big blue veins, and feel the gift that you are to me- more than ever...

At first I couldn't imagine how I could take in a child at that moment, but I couldn't say no to a Jewish child who needed a home...

Every time the phone rang for the past two weeks, my whole body tensed. But not any more. The call has already come early this morning...

As I realized that all along I have had the wrong definition for accomplishment, the darkness began to fade...

I knew then that even if by some miracle I could talk my way out of not having a Gentile document... I could never explain the latkes and doughnuts in my bundle.

In the comfort of the bus, G‑d sent me my own miracle- and made me realize that everyday brings its own causes for celebration...

Please believe me when I tell you that, to me, your daughter is an angel. She is on my shoulders; she is like a butterfly in my garden. She is the most beautiful person I have never known, and I carry her within me. Every day...

I would always see her behavior as unkind, insensitive and truly narcissistic, and she would even admit to this and say that she can't change. So, round and round we'd go...

Sometimes, all I really want is for the other to recognize that I was wronged. And more often than not, a simple apology will make everything alright...

My greatest fear for years had been to be dependant on someone and not be able to look after myself. My fear became my reality...

He released his wife's hand, tapped my wrist as though to say, look, and pulled back his jacket sleeve just enough to show me that tattooed on his veiny, wrinkled skin were the numbers almost every living Jew recognizes...

He made of each Chasid a "rebbe," made each Chasid feel that responsibility and love for every Jew, made each Jew sense her or his own greatness and holiness.

That night the girls pleaded to sleep on the couch-bed in the living room in order to stand vigil lest an eagle swoop down from the sky and try to eat the poor pigeon. They would protect her. So, I felt I had no choice but to allow the stakeout. Plus, I saw something that they didn't see. The pigeon was dying...

As I gaze out into the front yard I notice the new, tiny buds peeking out from the soil below. Why didn't I notice them before? I hear a wisp of a voice within me: This is a wake-up call. Don't go back to sleep...