Pre-Tending
by Dr. David Sanders In her article, Many Masks, Many Selves, Professor Wendy Doniger relates the following: “When Ronald Reagan auditioned for the role of the President of the United States in the 1960 Broadway production of Gore Vidal’s play, The Best Man, about the presidential election, Vidal turned him down because he didn’t think […]
Original Skin: The Human Masquerade (an excerpt)
by Dr. David Sanders “Your epidermis is showing!” My initial reaction to that childhood tease was embarrassment and a quick survey of my clothes. Once the secret was revealed, the sting of the taunt had little effect. Later in childhood I learned that skin was another surprise answer, this time to the question: “What is […]
Concealing and Revealing, a Purim Reflection
by Melanie Gruenwald Today we mark the Jewish holiday of Purim. Purim is a story of many layers. One of the main characters of the story is Esther, a commoner who enters into a beauty contest to become the next queen of Persia. Esther hides her Jewish identity, puts on the mask of “beauty queen”, […]
The Masks of Simone Biles
by Melanie Gruenwald Simone Biles, the 24- year old GOAT (Greatest of All Time) world-champion gymnast, withdrew from the Olympics this past week. After concerns about a physical injury, we were curious to learn more when we heard she withdrew due to mental health concerns. In Transformative Kabbalah, we study ‘masks’ as those we are […]
Camera Shy
The word “umble” itself has no dictionary definition yet there appears to be a root meaning that connects the following 10 words: Bumble. Crumble. Fumble. Grumble. Humble. Jumble. Mumble. Rumble. Stumble. Tumble. Umbling in one form or another connotes a humbling experience—one you have to lift yourself up from—from thoughts that are a jumble, to […]