I just got home from a wonderful weekend serving as an artist and scholar in residence at Congregation B’nai Israel in Little Rock, Arkansas. Here are some things I learned and/or was reminded about myself, Arkansas, and life in general. 1) It’s good to meet new people. 2) It’s good to see new places. 3) […]
People
Universal blessing
Today marked the first farmer’s market of the season. As is customary with my family, we were there a few minutes before it opened. It was a sunny, cool, breezy morning. The farmer’s market was coming to life with activity. Then something unexpected happened. We were all asked to pause for an opening prayer. In […]
If the thunder don’t get ya…
One of the most interesting Grateful Dead tunes is “The Wheel.” It’s interesting musically and lyrically. It contains the lyric, “If the thunder don’t get ya then the lightning will.” Definitely a worldview expressed in that line! I thought of “The Wheel” last night when my family and I experienced an magnificent thunder storm while […]
Some people
A buddy of mine posted this picture via social media. Louis Armstrong was smart guy and this quote resonates with me. There are some people that if they don’t know, you can’t tell them. To put a positive spin on this we could say that there are some things we can only know through direct experience. Maybe […]
Surprise
I want to take a moment to reflect on something simple and universal– our capacity to surprise. I’m not talking about springing a gift on an unsuspecting friend or colleague, but rather our capacity to surprise in a more profound way. Here’s what I’m thinking: 1) We all have the capacity to surprise ourselves and […]
As Passover approaches…
As a rabbi, I lament the fact that so many Jews feel that Judaism is a stuffy, boring, repetitive tradition. I lament (and sometimes even resent) this because it’s simply NOT true. It’s actually dead wrong. Jewish rituals, Jewish holiday observances, Jewish worship– all of these, in their truest expressions, are the opposite of stuffy, […]