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, […]
Sandersize and other Eponyms
I woke this morning with the word “ferberize” on my mind and then a string of associations to words such as sanitize, fantasize, compartmentalize and a whole string of words ending in “ize.” I then returned to ferberize and realized that what was intriguing me was that a word, in common English usage, was […]
Jyoti’s Light
I looked at those faces of young boys in India holding up placards No Rape and wondering what they understand about rape. As a boy I was introduced to the existence of rape rather early on—the bible has a number of stories about rape and to my teachers’ credit these stories were not glossed […]
Life of Pi
I don’t get out much and felt it a great holiday treat to go to a theater to watch The Life of Pi, based on the book I read many years ago that remained in my memory. It took director Ang Lee 4 years to make the film—perhaps this helps explain why other directors passed […]
If you dream it
“I am asleep but my heart is awake.” This verse from the Song of Songs is the message of the Hebrew month of Kislev (Chanukah begins on the 25th of Kislev falling this year on December 8). In the earliest text of Kabbalah, Sefer Yetzirah, each month of the year is designated to a […]
Live and Unlearn
I first came across this gem in Joseph Campbell’s the Power of Myth. It is a penetrating story about unlearning— a phrase I reacquainted myself with this weekend when reading an author describe himself as a “slow unleaner.” Aren’t we all? Here is the story about the god Indra: There was a terrible […]
The Doors on the Bus Go Shut and Open
The doors on the bus closed as he answered my question, “Come to see me on Sunday at 10 a.m.” I have told this story many times about Reb Yossel, a chassidic Rebbe in Jerusalem who I was privileged to know when I was studying in Israel at age 17. The bus incident occurred when […]
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 […]