Her Memory is a Blessing
At the end of October in 1984, I left Birmingham, Alabama after a fabulous, two-month stint working on a bound-for-Broadway musical while staying with my mother who resided there. Mom and I had been estranged for many years. But this visit was a breakthrough!
Galilee Diary: Truth in labeling
Who is the mightiest of the mighty? ...He who turns his enemy into a friend.
-Avot D'Rabbi Natan, version A, chap. 23
Death to the extremists!
-popular Israeli bumper sticker
Galilee Diary: Women's Work
Rabban Shimon ben Gamaliel said: if a man vows that his wife may not work, he must divorce her and pay her ketubah, for idleness leads to boredom.
-Mishnah Ketubot 5:5
Galilee Diary: CSA
Asher's bread shall be rich, and he shall yield royal dainties. -Genesis 49:20
Pray the Music or Pray the Words
by Cantor Kim Harris
Temple Beth-El, Northbrook, Illinois
You Were Only Waiting
For a long time, I carried around with me a very depressing mental image for the Beatles song "Blackbird". I would relate it here, but I've been told by enough people that it ruined their enjoyment of the song so I usually just keep it to myself.
'Security Jews' vs. 'Democracy Jews'
When it comes to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, we generally divide Jews into hawks and doves or right-wingers and left-wingers. But a more accurate division might be "security Jews" vs. "democracy Jews."
Tender Hearts
To touch someone's life, to have one's heart be touched...how often I longed to feel that special spark, to feel touched by God's grace. In my imagination, a spiritual moment would assume the form of Divine intervention.
Conversion: Who is the Gate Keeper
I just had the privilege of representing the Reform movement on a panel "Conversion: Who Is the Gate Keeper of the Jewish Nation" at the Israeli President's Conference in Jerusalem, Facing Tomorrow. These are my opening remarks:
Book Discussion: The Great House
by Peter Shapiro
Read the review of this book in Reform Judaism magazine
See other Significant Jewish Books