Before Kindergarten
I started the blog this week with the following thought: Two year old Eva (Sanders) has come up with some wonderful sayings on her quest to learn the English language. When I typed the word learn I stopped. How does a child learn English or any language? We typically think about learning as a conscious […]
Loving on One Foot
“Are you ready for Rosh Hashanah?” Ready or not it is here. The earliest fall arrival of the Jewish New Year in over 100 years. The Hebrew calendar will calibrate this coming year (with the addition of a leap month) but not until Chanukah is celebrated on Thanksgiving weekend! While Rosh Hashanah is the […]
Compromise without Concession
In English, compromise is defined as two parties that come to agreement by making concessions. The key word is concession. The Hebrew word for compromise is Pesher (Peh-Shin-Reish). When we compare this Hebrew root word with other similar roots the connotation is to create a connection. A bridge in Hebrew is Gesher (Gimmel-Shin-Reish) and a […]
Unbreakable Spirit
We had a beautiful evening celebrating Kabbalah Experience this past Thursday night at the Loup JCC. Many people asked me over the weekend whether I was still floating in the clouds. The decorations were balloons in the shape of clouds, simulating a dreamlike atmosphere for hearing about Dreamwork from our speaker, Rodger Kamenetz. Karen’s […]
Welcome Rodger and Dreamwork to Denver
In the excitement of a day off due to the “storm” I had an extra day to work on the LIST of my procrastinations. Patti Levine suggested that I share an example or two of what I am working on during this year’s counting of the Omer. I have not been procrastinating about it, having […]
Who Is Retiring?
Last night I discovered the mythical missing borough of New York. It did not float off from Manhattan as the father suggests to his son in Jonathan Safran Foer’s Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. It is to be found in Evergreen, Colorado. I was invited to be scholar-in-residence at Beth Evergreen Synagogue and over dinner […]
Of Humans and Angels
The moon was crescent to the south side—a Cheshire like smile illuminating the hidden, yet visible outline of its entirety. She was rising in the west, a guide to last night’s destination—another encounter with the spiritual medium, our speaker on unmasking the self, Rebecca Rosen. Are we human beings on a spiritual journey or […]
Your Next Act
Maimonides in his Code of Jewish Law provides an interesting image of the world teetering on a balance beam of existence–awaiting the very next human act (meaning your very next act) to either plummet it into oblivion or move it forward in its evolution (Laws of Repentance 3:4) A little over 10 years ago, […]
Zohar: A Love Story
This week my awareness of the present moment is being challenged by knowing that once you read this Danny Matt will have come and gone. Who knows what tomorrow will bring forth from this disguised mystic wearing what others often only see as the clothing of an academic scholar? We have had some wonderful […]
Snap, Crackle, Pop
The bullet entered the front window, traced its way through the living room, dining room and exited the back window. Heard, but unnoticed. The boy bowed down in the natural rhythm of bending the knee and then lowering the head and body, in praise of God. Noticed, but unheard. Many of us were […]