One can write shelves of books about preparing for Pesach and cooking and organizing delicious meals, especially if one hosts many times during just one week of the “holiday of our freedom.” A lady in my office just proposed that Jews are not smart because of hundreds of years learning Talmud, but because of even more…
Tag: life
From the End to the Beginning
It may be strangely fitting that the first Parshah of the Book of Exodus (Shmot) is coming on the last Shabbat of the calendar year this time. Thinking about it, I was struck by this phrase: כד וַיִּשְׁמַע אֱלֹהִים, אֶת-נַאֲקָתָם; וַיִּזְכֹּר אֱלֹהִים אֶת-בְּרִיתוֹ, אֶת-אַבְרָהָם אֶת-יִצְחָק וְאֶת-יַעֲקֹב. 24 And God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant…
End of the Calendar Year is Near
I haven’t written in a while here. Not for the lack of events in my life. In fact, the last three months were full of the new things, mostly amazingly pleasant, BH! I guess, I am so not used to good things happening in my life, that I don’t even know how to process them…
Of Life and Death
Any Holiday Shabbat is hard for me. Shabbat during Yamim Noraim is harder. This is the time when I think of my life many years ago, the mistakes I made, the wrong decisions, and finally, my assumptions that these somehow paved the way to the death of the person I loved the most. By now,…
Still Thinking about Pardes?!
Just some ranting: This year’s program was a bit different. Firstly, it was bigger than the ones I attended before. It was also much more diverse. People came, of course, from the States and England as they always come, but this year there was a relatively large group of youngsters from France, one lady from…
A Few Verses on a Cold Night
Rain, wind and cold Coming down on me again Penetrating my body, crawling down my very soul Threatening my existence Sweet smell of flowers slowly fading away if forever Am I losing this battle again?! All alone Thinking of you on a night like this unable to sleep Longing for your warm eyes,…
Happy Birthday … Wherever You Are
Today, you would have turned 65. According to current American standards, a young man. Standing at your matzeva מצבה this morning with your very grown-up, smart and beautiful daughter, I was thinking about the time when you were her age, a father in love with his child, a husband in love with his wife, a man…
Songs that I Love
Being at Limmud FSU reminded me again that Jews come in all colors, speak different languages, have diverse backgrounds and like a variety of things. Music is probably the one thing that brings us together regardless of what specific kind of music we love. At the conference, we heard the very talented singer from Israel, Ninet. We…
Freedom!?!
Freedom! I don’t really want you I don’t really need you Yet, I’ve chosen you. Freedom from the pain Freedom from the sadness Freedom from the doubt Freedom from illusion Freedom from the mockery of LOVE. Free to make decisions Free to go or stay Free to cry whenever Free to die or not. I…
Parshat ha Shavuah Verses – Vayikra
Having missed two full weeks due to an enormous amount of new work that poured on me because some people cannot resist trying to do anything they can to disrupt the life of the Jews, I am back discussing the holy texts. This book, Leviticus – וַיִּקְרָא is, possibly, the one that serves as the reason…
Back to the Darkness … Again?!!
These days are not like one another. G-d! I try! I try hard. I succeed … sometimes. I wake up. I smile. I even sing. And then I dance – the dance of a shot-down swan… Music is supposed to lift a person up. Not me. For me, it brings back tears. My love, my…
Lost in Winter
It’s one of these days when I feel I am lost again. Lost without the people in my life gone forever. Lost without the main man in my life, my dad whose birthday is coming up in two days. Lost without my sister who was the epitome of the things a true woman possesses. Lost…
Noshing Across the Nation 