Thank you to Brain Pickings for posting excerpts from Saul Bellows’ 1976 Prize Acceptance Speech. Here’s a quote that resonates: To find the source of trouble we must look into our own heads. Reading and reflecting on it now, it feels obvious to me. For the most part trouble is something we get ourselves into and out […]
Life Lessons
An Act of Kindness
It was probably 20 years ago that I first heard the cliche, “An act of kindness is a good investment.” Even then, the concept didn’t resonate. I thought, and still think, an act of kindness is an act of kindness. It’s merit isn’t some potential future return, but the act itself. There can never be […]
Life Lessons January 29th, 2016
Another Shabbat approaches, another week has gone by. Part of the beauty of Shabbat is letting go, part of the beauty of life is holding on. In that spirit, here are a few life lessons I’m carrying over from my week and into Shabbat: Every day is somebody’s birthday. Meanings aren’t fixed. Instead, we construct […]
Two affirmations of humanity
This week I had two separate series of experiences that reaffirmed two aspects of our shared humanity that I think are of great value. The first affirmation was an affirmation of the creativity capacity within each person. As human being we want, we yearn, we need to and can’t avoid engaging with our creativity. […]
Life Lessons- NOLA
I’ve just come back from two very special days in New Orleans. I was invited to NOLA by a dear colleague that I’ve known for many years and who is head of the Jewish Community Day School of New Orleans. On Sunday night I had the honor of being the musical guest at the school’s […]
Reading Emerson
How nice to have a few quiet moments on Shabbat afternoon and stumble upon an old volume of Emerson’s collected essays. One entitled, “The Poet,” called to me and in reading it I found this lovely sentiment: We know that the secret of the world is profound, but who or what shall be our interpreter, […]