I mentioned the other day that my colleague, Rabbi Dr. Michael Shire, and I co-led a session entitled, “Igniting the Spark: Adolescent Spirituality” at the recent NFTY Conference Youth Summit in Atlanta. The session title was inspired by the work of Peter Benson (of blessed memory). Here’s his TED Talk. It’s worth watching if you’re […]
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Waking up with “wow”
Today our little guy (15 months) woke up around 5am as he typically does. And the first word that we heard echoing through the speaker of the baby monitor was, “Wow!” What if we all woke up with “wow” on our lips and in our hearts? The memory and the thought of it has kept […]
When a Mentor Becomes a Colleague
This week I had the honor of leading a session for the NFTY Convention’s Youth Summit which took place in Atlanta. The session was titled, “Igniting the Spark: Adolescent Spirituality” and it was lead by me and my colleague, Rabbi Dr. Michael Shire, dean of the Shoolman Graduate School of Jewish Education at Hebrew College. […]
10 Words for Joy
A recent Facebook thread among Reform rabbis caught my eye. One of my colleagues asked if any of us knew the citation for a Jewish text that teaches 10 different terms for “rejoicing.” Another colleague quickly posted the text. Here it is (Avot de Rabbi Natan 34 or Shir Hashirim Rabbah 1:4): “Rejoicing is designated […]
The Gospel of Music: A Rabbi Goes to Church
Today I had the unique joy and honor of participating in an interfaith prayer service at the Historic Ebenezer Baptist church. I participated not only as a parishioner, but as a guest member of the house band, a composer of spiritual music, and a creator of interfaith liturgy. A number of years ago I wrote […]
Trendy Breakfast Spots
They don’t open until your kids have been awake and kicking for 3 hours. They make you wait outside in the cold. They don’t know how to seat parties correctly. The service stinks. The music is too loud and a bit too eclectic. When the wait staff stands next to one another their arms look […]