Be ever mindful of your memory, it can deceive, even you. Sometimes in leaving a Shiva, almost any Shiva, I hear people say to one another: "we should meet, 'af simches' " . . . . which can be understood as: "we should meet at good times" -- and I wonder if this is based on a memory of 'good … [Read more...]

Fear not . . . As Rabbi Nachman of Bratslav once said: "The Whole world is a very narrow bridge, the main point is not to be afraid" -- "Kol ha'olam kulo, gesher tsar me'od, ha'ickar he, lo lifa'chaid clal" To be frozen in fear only traps us and allows us nothing. It has never helped, nor will … [Read more...]

Lest we forget our final departure from Spanish shores ... or perhaps for many, the blood-burning auto de fe pyres highlighting a certain people's ecstasy, finally returned? Cyclical or just plain sick. Flames are murderous and meant to terrorize - words are often just as 'incendiary' . . . and … [Read more...]

Rosh Chodesh Sivan -- Reminding us of something we are losing sight of . . . Lest we forget what has happened in the Torah and on the Calendar -- on this day. It is reasonable to assume that the world, as we know it, would prefer for the Jews to forget what once happened during the Exodus, on this … [Read more...]

A time in which Memorial Day (a Day of Memory) and Jerusalem Day converge -- along with the murder of young Jews in our Nation's Capital. The world has no memory, we do not have that luxury. Psalm 137:5 If I forget thee, Oh Jerusalem . . . אִם-אֶשְׁכָּחֵךְ יְרוּשָׁלִָם This photograph … [Read more...]