Elephant in the Room
Rosh Hashanah is a time of reflection on beginnings, on the birth story of humanity and on our own births. I was born in the winter of 1958 in Atlantic City. My father had received his rabbinic ordination a year before and the small orthodox synagogue in this sleepy beach town offered him his first […]
Eyes Wide Shut
In preparation for next week’s KE fall festival our faculty has been reviewing the teachings of Reb Zalman. He was a prolific writer and speaker (you can listen to some 1400 of his talks by accessing this audio collection http://bit.ly/1lYzXaN). He is not the most “accessible” writer especially around topics, which he gladly engaged […]
Knowing Your Place
Jewish tradition enumerates a 48 fold path to the acquisition of knowledge, one of which is stated simply as “Knowing your place.” The Rabbis interpreted this quality to mean that every person has a unique contribution to make in this world. “The goal,” they say, “is to figure out where you fit into the grand […]
Leap Frog
Who has not heard this one: If you put a frog in boiling water it will jump out, but if you gradually increase the temperature of the water it will let itself be boiled. Happens to not be factual. Frogs indeed jump when the temperature of the water becomes too warm (well before it […]
Life Isn’t for Everybody
I signed off before the summer on my way to Reb Zalman’s funeral. It was Friday July 4th. The Rabbis speaking at the funeral made mention of it being Independence Day. Reb Zalman was an independent–in thought and action. He was also an interdependent—he had a unique way of bringing people together—in life and in […]
Dear KE Community
Dear KE Community; Amidst all the challenging and tragic news it is easy to fall into despair about our human journey. We need to keep at the work we are engaged in—the more aware we are of the absolute necessity for us to evolve spiritually the more chance we have to survive. This is […]
December in July
I am on my way to Reb Zalman’s funeral in Boulder this morning. I have not left yet. I am writing this blog, on my way to Reb Zalman’s funeral. I am looking at the many colored tabs inserted into The December Project, his own version of Tuesdays with Morrie, published this year. I am […]
Unmasking His-Story
I am taking a summeratical. Next week (July 2) will be the last blog until August 20th (the planned resume day). I am taking some time off to finish a book that has been in process for over a year. Summer Kabbalah classes start Monday July 7th with a full line-up of core and […]
Be in Touch
One day, a master asked her disciples the following question: “Why do people yell at each other when they are angry?”’ “We yell because we lose our temper,” said one of them. “But why yell, when the other person is right next to you?” asked the master. “We yell to make […]
They are Connected
I usually start the process of writing this blog by reflecting on what has “crossed my awareness” this past week. This week I was contacted by three people that I have not spoken to or thought about for decades. One is a man I used to run with early mornings in Philadelphia, one was a […]