Looking for new Jewish ideas
By the time you read this, our big run of fall Jewish High Holidays will be over. However, I’m still gathering up bits and pieces about it. What did I experience? What worked out and what didn’t? This isn’t a…
Op-Ed
Striving and building more
I wanted to share an interesting issue I stumbled into while reading online. It was in a Jewish discussion group. The short version (without violating anyone’s privacy) was that one person would be having surgery in the days before Yom…
Is God’s very good world OK?
(photo from jpl.nasa.gov) Rosh Hashanah commemorates God’s creation of the world. During the 10 days from Rosh Hashanah to Yom Kippur, we evaluate our deeds and do teshuvah (repentance) for cases where we have missed the mark. And, during Sukkot,…
Do you know your priorities?
During the months of Elul and Tishri, when we’re in the midst of the High Holiday season, things are busy. Kids are in (and out) of school and activities, parents are facing the fall rush of activities in their own…
The draft: a dad reflects
February 2015 Collected the mail this morning. A few flyers and bills. And my son’s draft notice. A quick double take. A flashback to my son playing with plastic dinosaurs. Then I texted my wife, “It’s here.” A few hours…
Israel’s assets versus liabilities
Israel’s beauty is a definite asset. (photo by Cynthia Ramsay) During the month of Elul, as we approach Rosh Hashanah, which this year falls on Sept. 9, Jews traditionally practise a kind of spiritual stocktaking. These are days when we…
The miracle that is our body
What do we really know about the marvelous vessel we are fortunate enough to inhabit? Don’t we mostly just take it for granted? We were popped into the world without our say so, but, in return, we inherited millions of…
The benefits from repetition
Repetition is good for us. (I may have said this before!) If you exercise, you’re in touch with “reps” or, if you walk your dog, you’ve been down this block with someone sniffing at the end of the leash before.…
It hurts and it ain’t at all fair
Families sometimes just have a bad run when it comes to health in the household. From December onwards, it seems like somebody has been sick at our house … but, in between, there were brief periods when most of us…
Talmudic advice on life, work
If you listen to lifestyle advice, finding one’s work-life balance has never been harder. Indeed, work obsesses many of us 24 We’re always struggling to find time for family, household and leisure activities. Like every generation, we think we’ve invented…
