Being obligated to pray at a certain time, no matter where I was, such as waiting for a flight to Los Angeles, helped me feel in control of time, and that my day, no matter how mundane, was boxed in by sanctity and God. A person...
There must never be found among you anyone who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, anyone who practices divination, an omen reader, a soothsayer, (or) and a sorcerer. (Deuteronomy 18:10) A single witness may not testify against another person for any trespass or sin...
At 5AM I was at the stop sign at the entrance to my neighborhood. I was on my way to my morning hike and I didn’t expect too much traffic, but this morning it was actually dangerous. A few cars refused to stop. Each time...
The great Renaissance artist Michelangelo was once asked how he created sculptures such as the Pietas or David. He explained that he simply imagined the statue already inside the block of rough marble, then chipped away the excess to reveal what had always been there. The...
My ten-year-old nephew was visiting from Argentina and gave a demonstration of his Tai Kwon Do forms. It was fantastic to watch him go through the complex movements, but something was missing from his performance; he was mechanistically perfect but there was no poetry in...
The Name Without the Reality A student who does not study the appointed themes is not a real student. A mourner who feels no grief when condoling with the bereaved is not a real mourner. An old servant who neither tidies things away nor chatters about family affairs...
“Acquire a friend for yourself (Avot 1:6).” How? Since I first learned this Mishna as a little boy I’ve heard it explained as, ‘even if you have to buy the friendship with gifts.’ It hasn’t worked for me, and I believe that I’ve never seen...
Debbie has an interesting understanding of the borrowed clothing of the Tu B’Av dance: One of the most important stages of marriage is being able to shed certain self-perceptions ingrained from childhood and school, and learn to see ourselves as our spouse sees us, and...
Poor Pip! He has allergies, which are exacerbated by his long hair. All that hair also made the heat much worse for him. Our home looked as it does during the fall; all covered with leaves that he gathers in his hair each time he...
In the Analects, Confucius’ definition of goodness starts with the "golden rule," but he takes his concept further, famously stating that to be good, one must be "resolute and firm, simple and slow in speech." The Master said, 'To be resolute and firm, simple and slow...
“I was friends with one of the crew members on TWA Flight 800. I had called her because she was on my mind. It had been a while since we’d talked and I missed seeing her. I left her a message on her voice mail...
I was walking toward the synagogue I was privileged to lead when I saw a distraught woman storm out and walk directly toward the church a block or so away. I couldn’t catch up to her before she entered the church, so I waited outside...
“Then Moses set aside three cities on the bank of the Jordan toward the rising sun, for a murderer to flee there, who will have killed his fellow without knowledge, but who was not an enemy of his from yesterday and before yesterday.” (Deuteronomy 4:41-42) Three...
“Sadness is a wall between two gardens.” Kahlil Gibran One of my sisters left a copy of Gibran’s “The Prophet” on the living room couch. Gibran was popular in the sixties, but, protected as I was within the walls of my home and Yeshiva, I had...
A man calls the doctor: “Doctor, what should I do? My friend just keeled over and died!” “The first thing is to make sure he’s definitely dead.” “Okay, hold on.” A gunshot sounds. “Now what?” The sense of helplessness in an emergency, the tragic miscommunication between doctor and...
Anne Fadiman recently published a collection of essays entitled Rereadings: Seventeen writers revisit books they love. Ms. Fadiman invited famous writers to reread books that were important to them when they were young. Most of the essayists had not read the assigned books in many...
Simone Weil speaks in Waiting For God as a kind of readiness. The opening sound of the Shema is “Shhhhh” – be quiet – listen – be ready to hear – become someone who is waiting for God. The great Russian poet Anna Akhmatova wrote in...