How Brokenness Manifests Wholeness
by Melanie Gruenwald The other day, my husband, Salomon, asked me to pick up some new drinking glasses for our kitchen. Somehow our collection from the past 22 years of marriage has diminished due to lots of “oops moments,” and my 16- year-old son’s habit of hoarding glasses in his bedroom. I bought […]
Held Hostage
by Dr. David Sanders “Every day I think about what you said to me that day on the bridge. I tried to live my life the best that I could. I hope that was enough. I hope that, at least in your eyes, I’ve earned what all of you have done for me.” These […]
All Endings are Also Beginnings
by Melanie Gruenwald A Primer on Holding Opposites Today we concluded our Kabbalah of Mitch Albom class with a teaching he shares in both The Five People You’ll Meet in Heaven and The Next Person You’ll Meet in Heaven. All endings are also beginnings. We just don’t know it at the time. ~ Mitch […]
Clear as Kristallnacht
by Dr. David Sanders The world I knew, the one I counted on, turned upside down in the aftermath of the genocidal attack on Jews who were residents or just visiting near the Israel-Gaza border on Saturday, 7 October. My older sister, who lives in Israel, told me the next day that it was […]
This is the Order of the World
The Sages taught: On the day that Adam the first man was created, when the sun set upon him he said: Woe is me, as because I sinned, the world is becoming dark around me, and the world will return to the primordial state of chaos and disorder. And this is the death that was […]
October Lamentation
by Dr. David Sanders For these things do I weep, My eyes, my eyes, flow with tears Far from me is any comforter Who might revive my spirit My children are forlorn, For the foe has prevailed. This lamentation I have read privately and publicly so many times to the haunting tune of the […]
Pay Attention!
by Melanie Gruenwald This semester, I am teaching the Base Awareness and Kabbalah of Mitch Albom classes for Kabbalah Experience. I always love to see how classes overlap. (Paying attention to what’s showing up definitely helps inspire blog posts!!) In Base Awareness, we’re working our way up the tree of life- starting with Malchut. […]
In the Image of the Cosmos
by Dr. David Sanders A story is told of King Ptolemy of Alexandria (second century BCE) summoning many learned Jewish scholars to translate the Torah from Hebrew to Greek. He placed them in separate rooms to check on the veracity of their translations. When they came to the verse “Let us make the human being […]
Creativity in the Tree of Life
by Melanie Gruenwald This summer, I created and facilitated a course called Isha al Achota, As a Woman Faces her Sister. It has been a wonderful process of discovery– exploring primary texts and contemporary voices, which bring alive the spirit and the energy of women in our tradition. I am particularly struck by Rabbi Tirzah […]
Ken, Barbie, and the Tree of Life
by Dr. David Sanders On the insistence of my wife and daughters, I went to see Barbie. Barbie? Why? I knew more about that doll than them. My sister had Barbie dolls and at some point a Ken doll. Barbie was not part of the culture my wife grew up in and our daughters never […]