I’m quite fond of Rabbi Raffi Asher of B’nai Tikvah in Walnut Creek. I have known him a long time. He is very tall and always seems to bend slightly forward to come closer to short people like me. I like what he wrote about the High Holiday experience – I’m a fan of the film…
Read More »A meaningful life
9-11
Dear Chevreh, Rabbi Menachem Creditor shared these memories and thoughts on that Sept. 11, eight years ago. I remember leaving class at JTS that Tuesday morning and going downstairs to move my car. A friend was in the elevator when I got in and asked, “did you hear about the planes that flew into the World…
Read More »Making the Most of Summer
What can you do to increase your enjoyment of SUMMER? Making the most of summer There are two things I propose you do this summer. The first is – spend meaningful time with your loved ones. We have gorgeous weather, long days and lots of natural beauty. The parks are open, the pools are open,…
Read More »Call it what you will, you need a community
My daughter calls me “Mama” when she’s feeling especially affectionate or especially upset. So when I picked up the phone at 6am on a Sunday morning and heard, “Mama?” I knew things were not OK. Elly is in Israel on a Birthright* trip and her credit card had been frozen. Despite my calls to the…
Read More »Give yourself the gift of Time
A New Year’s Resolution Time – our most precious possession A friend of mine has a new baby. Everyone says to her, “treasure this time, it goes so fast.” My twenty-one year old daughter looks at a picture of her “little” brother as a six year old and says, “Oh, mom, look how cute he…
Read More »Find Your Place
This has been a week filled with wonderful moments. On Friday night a friend of mine had his adult bar mitzvah. My friend is gay and specifically chose Achrai Mot/Kiddushim as his Torah portion so he could speak on those very difficult passages in Leviticus. He was magnificent! But it was not just his chanting…
Read More »