Productive Counting
We are just over a week away from counting the Omer—a fifty day count from Passover to the holiday of Shavuot—commemorating the journey the Jews traversed from Egyptian slavery to becoming a nation with the Torah as its religious covenant. This year we will again look at the fifty day count as a step program […]
Elevating Your Game
Starting this week there will be 64 and by the following weekend there will only be 2. I am referring to the NCAA Men’s Basketball tournament, fondly called March Madness. For those who love the sport this is its highlight. The elimination process yields our national collegiate basketball champion. One team of players will taste […]
Purim Reflections
Dear Sally (Stich) and Sally (Kurtzman): I wanted to thank you both for conceiving, nurturing, delivering and parenting our Kabbalah Live! speaker series. Last Thursday we were inspired by the 15th speaker you arranged (yes, we are three years old), the Adventure Rabbi, Jamie Korngold. In my study I have a shelf that is now […]
Aligning with Time
Our timing is off. You may not have felt it, but we are not in alignment and so we need an adjustment. Every 4 years in our “solar” calendar calculations we add one day a year—the designated day is February 29th. Why is the day added to February? According to historians, February was the last […]
Sand and Stone
Write your hurts in the sand and carve your blessings in stone One of our students this week used this quote to describe her father’s remarkable attitude to life. He was fourteen when he arrived at Auschwitz. At wars’ end he and his brother were the sole survivors of their family. Next Thursday we welcome […]
The New Year for Trees
You could wait for Friday April 20th. That is when Arbor Day is celebrated in Colorado this year. Arbor Day in the United States is a local custom and it varies greatly. In Jewish tradition the New Year for Trees was designated long ago as falling in the month of Shevat—our current month on the […]
Living in the Present
Today marks a very important moment. It is a day to thank Diana Kaplan for her wonderful service to our organization for the past three years. It is the day she is leaving us for other rewarding endeavors. No matter what, Diana welcomes with a smile. Her warmth and generous spirit will be missed. Thank […]
Blame and Accountability
Blame to hold responsible; find fault with; censure, to place the responsibility for (a fault, error, etc.) (usually followed by on ): I blame the accident on her. Accountable subject to the obligation to report, explain, or justify something; responsible; answerable. ______________ I had an interaction with someone yesterday who said: “Why are you trying […]
Chanukah
Chanukah means dedication—the Macabees who were priests (re)dedicated the Temple and its vessels including the Menorah (the candelabrum). As legend goes the Macabees found one small cruise of oil. Once lit, the Menorah is to be continuously lit. Lighting it, though they assumed the oil would run out, is the basis of the miracle of […]
Kabbalah & Tim Tebow
Tebow did it again. Whether he and the Broncos win or lose from here on, I want to share what I experienced in the ending moment of last week’s game. It contained so many basic teachings from the Kabbalah.