In two days, the month of Elul will end. As I wrote on the first day, when the period of self-assessment begins, we are 30 days into the 40 day period of determining how we can make our lives- and the lives of others- better. (You can also search for Elul in the index to the left and see more of my thoughts on this “resolution-making” period.)
Continue reading Rosh Hashana- and something else
Moshe (you know him as Moses) is considered to be the greatest prophet ever. He is revered as the person who stood up to Pharaoh at the age of 40- when he killed an overseer mistreating a Jewish slave. But, then, Moshe fears for his life and takes for the hills (literally- the hills of Midyan).
Continue reading Take Me To The Promised Land
I can’t believe it’s already the first Monday in September. Which means that today is Labor Day. And, since 1882, when folks first celebrated the event in New York City, it has grown to become a national holiday. (No- New York State was not the first state to make it a holiday; they dawdled passing the bill, which gave Oregon the shot at earning the honor.)
Continue reading First Monday in September
Listen… Do you want to know a secret?
No, I am not channeling one of my favorites songs from the Beatles. Today is the birthday of my eldest. Of course, we use the time a baby breathes its first, but Shoshana took way more than a day from the time her mother’s water broke to enter into the world.
Continue reading What a special day. No zero’s here yet.
I have decided to interrupt my queue, my discussion of millennials and their issues. To join in with several hundreds of others for today’s discussions, as proposed by the Boston Globe.
Continue reading Definitely NOT Stop the Presses
Tomorrow is the 9th day of Av. And, at the very end of this Hebrew month is the day my mother died and the day my oldest daughter was born. All auspicious moments.
Continue reading Tomorrow is Tisha B’Av
So, we celebrate today as our Independence Day. Despite the fact that the Declaration was issued a few days earlier than this some 242 years ago. And, as was true for Israel when it declared its independence in 1948, the neighbors weren’t so sure we were independent. OK. Not the neighbors- Brittain. Sure , it decided to pull out of the States, but the War of 1812 was really the end of our long battle(s) for independence from Brittain.
Continue reading 3 cheers for the Red, White, and Blue…
Having lived in Charlottesville for more than a decade (and Ann Arbor and Cambridge before that), I had become used to not donning a suit or sport jacket when going to shul (synagogue). As a matter of fact, in Charlottesville, where about 1/3 of the congregants were native Israeli’s going to UVA, many folks going to shul didn’t even wear “nice clothes”- jeans (not torn, of course) and slacks for women were de rigeur.
So, eight years ago, after a few fits and starts (cerebrations.biz was the fourth blog system employed- but the first to be based upon WordPress) I began routinely blogging. Not once in a while as I had with the other starts (and stops).
Continue reading Happy birthday to…
Darn it! Another “if it’s Monday, we need a holiday” version. I grew up in the days when “Decoration Day” was always the 30th of May. Now, for our convenience, we’ve moved Memorial Day to be the last Monday in May.
Continue reading A time to honor…
