But let’s talk about goals differently and think about our goals in life. (more…)
You’re walking home from school.
You’re coming home from work.
You’ve lived here since the day you were born.
This is where you grew up.
This is your community.
This is your home.
As you’re walking home, suddenly, you hear a siren. (more…)
I drink a lot. I don’t drink alcohol of any kind, but I try to drink more water than ever. And every day, I drink coffee. I have long days and coffee really helps. Recently, I’ve even learned to distinguish good coffee from not so good coffee. (more…)
I bet a lot of you have never seen Frozen II, the hit sequel to the Disney animated movie about two sisters, Elsa and Anna. But I have three granddaughters and I have seen the film and listened to the score many, many times.
Towards the end of the movie, Anna is desperate with grief: She thinks that her beloved sister Elsa is dead and now her best friend Olaf the Snowman has literally melted away in her arms. She curls up in a cave and almost succumbs to the grief and sadness she feels over the deaths of her two loved ones. It is the darkest moment of the movie. (more…)
Have you ever heard of Benjamin Kubelsky? If not, you may have heard of him by his show business name, Jack Benny. He was one of the most famous comedians of the 20th century.
In the most famous skit he ever did, a robber threatens him:
“This is a stickup: Your money or your life!”
Benny is silent.
“Look Bud, I said, “Your money or your life.””
Benny says, “I’m thinking it over.” (more…)
I want to talk today about expectations. You may find that the first part of what I say expresses some things about your life that you do not even admit to yourself. Some of you will find the second part of what I say, about expectations of our country and our leaders, very controversial. But it’s Yom Kippur, and if we’re not honest on Yom Kippur, we never will be. (more…)
I try to read a couple of bestsellers every year, trying to understand America’s mood by reading what everyone else is reading. One of the books I read this year was The Dutch House by Ann Patchett. I want to talk about this novel tonight as a way to get into how we think about our lives, how we think about our Judaism and the way we think about the people in our families. (more…)
Let’s be very basic: What is ritual? Ritual provides a model of reality, showing how to interpret the world as is, as well as a model for reality, clarifying how life ideally should be.
Ritual brings these two aspects – the “model of” and the “model for” – together.
Ritual is about order and sameness. There is comfort and security in knowing that ritual stays the same, no matter what. (more…)
There is a controversy that has been raging in Jewish thought, in our civil affairs, and even in everyone’s personal lives for millennia.
People are simply reluctant to accept new things. So often a new thing has to wait for just the right moment in history until it finally gains acceptance. Still today, some people still refuse on principle to get connected to the Internet and use e-mail. For these folks, the Covid-19 outbreak has been particularly challenging and isolating. (more…)