Stories

The Baal Shem Tov turned to his host and said, “I have a custom to dance during Shabbat dinner. Is it OK to dance now?”

On the one hand, to only be a child forever is quite limiting. We want to be purposeful, to be productive. And yet, we want to keep the sincerity of the child: her excitement, love and wholehearted ability to move on.

Studies show that gratitude has the highest connection to mental health and happiness than any other personality trait studied.

The father frequently staggered around in public, even collapsing in a drunken heap in the gutter. He became the object of mockery and ridicule.

Years passed, and one day a well-heeled gentleman knocked on the door of the Avtzon home. Taking a wad of cash out of his pocket, he offered it to the rabbi, “This is for you, and I want to beg your forgiveness.”

“I can’t give the evil inclination such a victory,” said Reb Shmaya, “so everyone leave me alone and let me die in peace.”

"How would I obtain oil and wicks in a sealed-off prison cell? And even if I did get them, how would I hide them from the guards?"

No matter how much I tried to forget about my Jewish roots, it kept emerging front and center in my life, sometimes in frightening ways.

The simple folk were shocked at this enormous amount, as the entire community’s donations didn’t even add up to one ruble.

Until quite recently, my knee-jerk reaction to organized religion was resistance. Hundreds of miles from home that I discovered where I truly belong.