Out of Touch
One area of learning has been around our capacity for empathy. Thirty years ago when I worked with children diagnosed as autistic the understanding was that in addition to extreme sensitivity to sensory stimulation, autistic children were “out of touch.” They could not connect to others, would not want physical connection and could not […]
Donkey Library
A question this week from someone who came to an introductory Kabbalah class four years ago: David, I have a “very simple” question for you that came up in a discussion with one of my friends. Is the expansion of consciousness (by that I mean coming to a higher level of awareness of […]
Holding Opposites
This past year I was privileged to develop and teach a new year-long class with Lili Zohar—designed for third year students-we call it Holding Opposites. It has received mixed reviews—for some it is the “best Kabbalah learning so far” and for some it is “not so easy to follow.” Even the feedback for this class […]
Island Time
Island time is sacred. City time is profane. Call it Courage was the first novel I read; a 1941 story by Armstrong Sperry of a boy who survives by himself on a deserted island. I have returned to the theme of living in isolation many times through our studies of Kabbalah, especially in coming […]
Possibilian
Perhaps creativity is a function of how little we know. There is this guy who keeps popping up on my radar—name David Eagleman. We share an interest in time. I credit a physician for giving me the metaphor of what we don’t know we don’t know by once saying in passing, “A fish will be […]
Are We There Yet?
People were thrilled this week on Monday and Tuesday. It did not snow. May 1st today, Wednesday, it is snowing. Imagine the trees questioning, “Are we there yet?” Whether it is a long car ride, or awaiting spring, “Are we there yet?” implies that we were ready to “be there” a long time ago. […]
Surrender Your Dogma
The sefirah of Hod (the sefirah of this week’s Omer count) feels misunderstood. Yet she is too humble to make a big deal about it. There are those who translate her as a false face, others as the ecstasy of a ride in a Ferrari and still others as the delight in the variety of […]
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 […]
The Container Within
This week of the counting of the Omer focuses on the energy of Gevurah—setting limits and establishing firm boundaries. There are a myriad of concepts contained in Gevurah—including that it itself is a container. Today, the 9th day of the count is Gevurah in Gevurah. So what is a container within a container? The image […]