Enchanted Insights

For those who know me well, they know I was a huge fan and a regular watcher of the Oprah Winfrey show. During one of the shows, there was a giant seating chart of the audience on the stage. Oprah took a dart and threw it towards the seating chart. Whichever number it...

Now there is no way that a giant Hebrew letter Shin would ever appear in the sky over the park near my home in Bethesda. But without knowing in advance what we would see in Iceland, I had set aside the time for this trip and my dad had generously bought the tickets....

This spring I bought flowers and grasses for our deck, where my family eats dinner in good weather.  Part of me felt silly for paying money to have these lovelies in our space without planting the seeds and cultivating them myself. But to be honest, I don’t have the...

The Holiness of Sleep “there is some aching that will only heal… in the mosque of sleep.” ― Sanober Khan, Turquoise Silence Sleep is so precious to me that I unabashedly call it holy.  It’s a metaphysical state, in that it looks like the body is doing nothing while,...

Last week at the Soul Center was filled with firsts:  We tried out our first NIA (post-pandemic) and it was fun.  Really fun.  It felt like a spiritual dance party.  Andrea Lieber brought her usual joy and delight (and a killer playlist) as a room full of people...

Have you ever noticed how the rings of a sliced tree trunk are spaced? At the center, when the tree is young, the rings are farther apart.  As it ages, the rings get closer together.  I remember learning in school that trees grow one new ring every year, but I wanted...

In TED’s “How to Be a Better Human” series, Saundra Dalton-Smith posed an interesting question.  She asked, “Have you ever tried to fix an ongoing lack of energy by getting more sleep — only to do so and still feel exhausted?  If that’s you, here’s the secret: Sleep...

MY TULIPS:The tulips are just beginning to bud in my front yard.  There are some other flowers that are poking up, too, and truth be told, I’m not even sure what awaits, but I love seeing their healthy green stems and knowing that soon – something beautiful will...

Anne Lamott is an author whom both Rabbi Saroken and I love very much. Her words are wise and grounded and real. So, when I read her New Year’s post tonight, of course I wanted to share it with you…because she’s pretty much the G.O.A.T. (greatest of all time).  Before...

Honey, I’m tired. We’re staring down a difficult tunnel with Covid. I’m a little rundown and I’m tired of making risk/benefit analyses of every single thing I do. I lightened up a bit on my Covid protocols last week, and now I’m sick. Was my calculus off? Did I put my...

We’re deep into the Joseph story now in the Torah. In this week ahead, we learn about Joseph’s ability to interpret dreams. We also are told that Joseph is the favorite son of his father, Jacob. As I learned from Rabbi Shalva around the firepit the other week, you...

A few weeks ago, I met a new person. I know, in the before-times, this wouldn’t even be newsworthy.  But in the days of the pandemic, meeting someone outside of your normal circles definitely is something to write home about. Anyway, I’ll leave some of the details...

How did our ancestors deal with change? Like Abraham, some took a giant leap and we marvel at their faith. Like Jacob and Esav, they run when presented with conflict and betrayal. Like Rebecca, she comes into a new life with hope and promise, and then is met with...

Ok here’s the thing about autumn. I used to tell myself it was my absolute favorite season. Maybe it actually was my favorite at one point. Having lived in Baltimore now for 16 years, September is still my favorite weather month here for sure. But these days my...

To our dear Soul Center community, I went to a wedding this week. And a bar mitzvah. And I caught the tail end of an outdoor gathering of our morning gratitude community (in real life! we all have legs and bodies outside of our faces in our Zoom box!). Things feel, a...

Yes, the name of this blog post is partially inspired by the lyric from the hit Broadway show “Dear Evan Hansen” (yes, I loved the show. yes, I saw it in NYC. no, I haven’t seen the movie). So, I read a piece on the JTS website this week about this week’s parsha...

I love this part of the holiday season. It’s the joyful part that feels “easy” and easy nowadays feels really nice. It’s funny, but there’s actually a passage in the Talmud that says “I have one easy mitzvah and sukkot is it’s name.” (Avodah Zara) That passage from...

It’s my favorite Jewish holiday this week. I mean, all-time, hands-down favorite. Sukkot. A harvest holiday where we gather with friends and celebrate earth’s bounty. A time when we eat outdoors, (some even sleep outdoors), for 8 days. It’s known in the Torah as...

Friday morning at The Spark with Rabbi Lisa Goldstein we explored the idea of surrendering to God. This idea of completely letting go is hard for me to grapple with. Awe at God’s wonder? Sure. Fear of God’s power? Gotcha. Struggling with God when I see injustice....

This week, Julie and I spent some time cleaning out the closets in the Soul Center. Finding half-used bags of flour from our challah making Braid program, consolidating markers and Sharpies from our Embracing Imperfection classes. It was like the Center was somehow...

One of my favorite books as a child was It Could Always Be Worse. I remember the first time it was read to me. I was probably six or seven years old at Sunday School at Temple Emanuel B’ne Jeshurun in Milwaukee. The synagogue is owned by the university now. I haven’t...

All the world, all of it, is a very narrow bridge. The most important thing – do not be afraid. – Rebbe Nachman of Bratslav  Of course, this is difficult. Our tradition usually asks us to do things – rather than feel things – because we are a materialistically minded...

I spend my summers at a summer camp in the Michigan woods. One of the things that we do here is dance. It is hard to imagine unless you’ve seen it: hundreds of children and teens and young adults (and old folks like me) dancing in lines, spinning, kicking up wood...

It was in what now feels like a faraway universe that our nation and all of our inhabitants were so busy that a movement began – it was called the “opt out movement”. Its goal: To reject the culture of busyness that used to be pervasive. In an interview on “On Being”,...

Here’s one thing you might not know about me. Even though I am a Pisces, I don’t love swimming. However, I’m a sucker for a great water ritual (talk to me about Mikveh any day). Tashlich, the practice of casting our sins symbolically into the water with tiny pieces of...

Believe it or not, we have arrived. These are weeks of preparation, of Zoom links and Shofar blasts, of menus planned and services scheduled. We stand on the precipice of… what exactly? These days, especially, we have no idea. The future is bleak, bright, we dread, we...

It was a while back when I was listening to the radio in my car (back when we were actually going places). I was flipping through the radio stations and there was a talk radio host who was saying to his caller; “you’re either a builder or a destroyer it’s that...

A colleague of mine sent out a beautiful message yesterday. He titled it: Modest Goals for Elul. He began by sharing some thoughts on Elul: “…As we prepare internally for the New Year, we are tasked with the mitzvah of Teshuvah. We are meant to realign our lives with...

I used to love watching the Sunday morning talk shows.  I would eagerly await the Sunday that I had a bit of free time to grab a cup of tea, a bagel, and my remote and listen to the news of the day explored by great thinkers.  Lately though, the news of the day isn’t...

Tell me more.   I recently finished an inspiring, timeless memoir, The Choice: Embrace The Possible by Dr. Edith Eger, a Holocaust survivor and world-reknown therapist, whose message is remarkably relevant for today.  What stands out for me is how she transcends her...

I ended Shabbat to learn of the passing of John Lewis. Zichrono l’vracha, may his memory be for a blessing. John Lewis was a civil rights leader and a member of the United States House of Representatives, representing Georgia’s 5th District. As I write this, I put my...