Image by Tumisu, please consider ☕ Thank you! 🤗 from Pixabay This past Shabbat, I finally corrected an omission in my reading - I spent my time with Judith Plaskow’s Standing Again At Sinai. This book came out in 1990, so I really don’t know what has taken me so long. While it is written … Continue reading What is Community?

Image by Pexels from Pixabay This week was Father’s Day in North America and some other countries. It has an interesting history - while Mother’s Day apparently caught on very quickly, people were reluctant to honour fathers in the same way. To quote history.com: Many men, however, continued to disdain the day. As one historian … Continue reading About Fatherhood

Image credit: Image by photosforyou from Pixabay So, it has been quite the few weeks recently around here. I finished my 11 months of kaddish for my Dad, with his first yahrzeit (anniversary of death) coming up next month. My middle kid moved out into their own apartment, graduated university and has started doing job … Continue reading Navigating Change

Mount Sinai. Image by 현섭 김 from Pixabay This week we celebrated the holiday of Shavu’ot, the Feast of Weeks. In Christian tradition it is often called Pentecost, the holiday of the 50th Day. It is the second of the three pilgrimage festivals ordained in the Torah, tied to the first (Passover) by the ritual … Continue reading These and These

Image by 愚木混株 Cdd20 from Pixabay I very nearly titled this piece “Do You Feel Invisible?”, because so many of us tiptoe through life feeling that way - as though we are a ghost or an observer in our own lives. We seem a little surprised when anyone notices that we are there. We are … Continue reading Do You Feel Seen?

Image credit: Pixabay This week was Victoria Day here in Canada. While the first long weekend of summer has become the day’s primary reason for celebration for most people, it’s a good opportunity for me to reflect on the concept of royalty, and queens in particular. Postmodern spirituality can be a struggle between our desire … Continue reading No More Queens?

Image by Laura Otýpková from Pixabay If you have followed me for any length of time, you know that I love to listen to audiobooks while running, and then sharing some of what I’ve learned with you. I’m currently listening to a book by Brené Brown, called Braving the Wilderness. It’s from 2019, and it … Continue reading Talking About Belonging

Image credit: Pixabay This past Sunday was Mother’s Day in North America, and it is a particularly fraught one this year, given the struggle for reproductive rights going on in our neighbour to the south. It really made me think about what it means to be a person with a uterus, a person who potentially … Continue reading Talking About Motherhood

Schlisl challah Last week was the first Shabbat after Passover, and my child and I tried our hand at a custom we had never observed before - baking schlisl challah, or key challah. I think we didn’t do too badly for a first try.  Growing up in Israel, I had never heard of this Ashkenazic … Continue reading No More Manna

Image credit: Pixabay The mind is a slippery thing - any time we get complacent and think we’ve got a good handle on our behaviour and our character, it will find some way to puncture our balloon. This happened to me the other day, and I’d like to share it with you, in the hope … Continue reading About Pride