A Maddening Parable
by Dr. David Sanders Once an astrologer-king saw in the stars that anyone who would eat of the coming year’s harvest would go mad. He called in his trusted advisor to ask for his counsel. “Sire,” replied the advisor, “you and I shall eat only last year’s harvest, which is untainted. We shall remain sane.” […]
Dealing with Despair
by Dr. David Sanders What sinks me into a state of despair? Is it the blood shed or the numbness I feel? Is it the tears that well up or the pain I cannot absorb? Is it the contemptuous and hate filled words or the normalizing of that language? Is there a rock I can […]
This Accursed Year
by Dr. David Sanders Inside the walled city of Gerona, Spain in the 13th century, Abraham Cantor penned a hopeful prayer which has been added to the Sephardic Rosh Hashanah liturgy since its composition. It is a short song of only nine stanzas and is known by its title “Little Sister.” Its message is repeated […]
We Are the Women
by Dr. David Sanders A prominent theme in Kabbalah over the past 500 years has been the rebalancing of masculine and feminine energies on a communal level. At first this was presented only as a theoretical or as something that might need to wait until messianic times. The ascendency of the male in society was […]
Project 2025
by Dr. David Sanders I have a general rule when it comes to the length of books I am willing to read. I don’t remember how this personal rule started. It may have been the three times I tried to read the entirety of Robert Pirsig’s classic, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance when […]
Second Passover
by Dr. David Sanders Yesterday, I had a sudden urge to cook Matzoh Brei (rhymes with fry). It has been my custom to eat Matzoh on the day that is designated as Second Passover but I was not tracking the date. My mind was preoccupied with the hostages in Gaza. What is Second Passover? […]
(Two Hundred and) Second Day
by Dr. David Sanders Today is the 2nd day in the upward count of 50 days from Passover to Shavuot (the holiday of weeks). It is a yearly meditative ritual count with a primary focus on the awareness practice of living in the present moment. Each day is counted to impress on us how precious […]
Humble Warriors
by Dr. David Sanders To keep months aligned with the earth’s rotation around the sun, an extra day was added in the Gregorian calendar every four years to February, the month with the least number of days. A larger discrepancy between a yearlong calculation of lunar months and the earth’s rotation around the sun necessitated […]
Convicted: Aleksei Navalny
by Dr. David Sanders Both criminals and saints are convicted and both may wind up in prison. The criminal is convicted for their anti-social or illegal behavior. The saint is convicted of their strongly held beliefs. The dissident, Aleksei Navalny will be interred tomorrow. The funeral service is to be held in his hometown […]
The Other Trap
by Dr. David Sanders A response to Rabbi Irwin Kula’s Trapped in Trauma: Transcending the Dragon’s Gaze I have a traveling companion who I have never planned a trip with, let alone visited anywhere with. We have gone places. Our journeys are in the world of thought about preserving and evolving what is the […]