When I was a young teenager I devoured books about people who chose to live as monks in a perfectly spiritual environment. The Trappist’s silence in a day of work, meditation and prayer, away from all distraction was tempting to a young Yeshiva boy. The...
“God, my Lord, I cried out to You and You healed me.”1 The healing described is actually atonement from sins after one has repented.2 This is healing of the soul.3 “I will heal you from your backsliding.”4 “He is the Healer of the broken-hearted, and the One...
There are two basic goals that we must keep in mind when reciting the confessions; One that we are aware of all our sins, and the other that we understand what inside of us allows us to fall in these ways and so often. We...
A crab emerging from the sea was foraging on some beach. A starving fox, when he caught sight of the crab, ran up and seized him. The crab, on the verge of being gobbled up, said, “I deserve my misfortune, because, though a sea creature,...
Missing a kick at the icebox door It closed anyway. "Missing a Kick" from Book of Haikus by Jack Kerouac There is an unspoken thought on many minds as we approach Rosh Hashanah; "will the door close even if my kick is off mark?" How much will my efforts...
Once upon a time, somewhere in the universe very far away from here, lived a tranquil star, which moved tranquilly in the immensity of the sky, surrounded by a crowd of tranquil planets about which we have not a thing to report. This star was...
Once upon a time there was a young and very hungry fox. He loved to kill and eat sheep. He would dart out of the forest a few times each day to visit one farm after another and grab a sheep. The local farmers were...
Let me get this over with: Will each and every one of you please forgive me for anything I may have done to hurt you over the past year? I’ll take that as a yes. Thanks. I feel much better. That wasn’t even too hard! We must...
I wake up when it is still dark outside, so it was easy to notice the squares of light that were floating around the room. They were scenes from Pip’s dreams. There were pictures of bones floating next to much larger pictures of rib steaks,...
People we don't really know offered their home on the ocean to Debbie and me for some quiet time. It's beautiful, spacious, full of personality, and, wow! What a view! (there may be no angels in LA, but there sure are some wonderful people!) I forgot...
When we first turned into this beach community, it seemed like an All-American kind of place. We stopped at a 24 hour store to pick up some basics, and pulled into a United Nations of cars. There were German cars, Italian, English, Korean and Japanese...
I have driven through these suburbs of Copenhagen and I had no idea that there was such a pattern to the streets and homes. I didn’t have the perspective of this aerial photograph, and couldn’t see the broader picture. It’s not much different from the way...
My friend came to visit from Florida, and rented a bright yellow Camaro. He claims that it was the only car available, but we know the truth. Little did I know how much I would benefit from his rental car: A stranger stopped me in...
Checkerboard pieces are indifferent. Dice are indifferent. How do I know in what way they will fall? But once the dice have fallen, to use that cast carefully and skillfully –that is indeed my business. So also in life, the central task is this: distinguish things,...