Rushing down your future
Rushing down your future Washing away your past Washing away your memories You’re rushing down too fast You’re washing away your hopes and dreams You’re washing away everything You’re rushing down river faster than it flows You’re rushing down the ocean You’re rushing down, you’re rushing down, you’re rushing down Too Fast This poem, […]
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 […]
Summer Clouds
Last week’s blog about memory generated a good deal of commentary. Memories continue to be a focus for me as I clear out closets and go through boxes, especially those in the garage, as we prepare for our move to a new home. I want to thank Amy Karpas who forwarded this week Jonathan Safran […]
Bowing to Memory
There is a story about a young boy in Denver who, this past year, fell from his skateboard and banged his head so severely that he became amnestic for a period of months. He did not recognize any of his family members. One day during prayers in synagogue he bowed down at the customary […]
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 […]
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 […]
Face Uplift
This final week of the count of the Omer (the sefirah of Malchut) asks of us: “Now that you have faced the truth (about yourself) what are you doing about it?” Kierkegaard put it this way: “Face the facts of being what you are, for that is what changes what you are.” In our […]
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 […]