As I visit preschool classrooms and watch model seders, the prayer, “Dayeinu” is belted out, chanted with fervor and enthusiasm. Over any other Pesach tune, Dayeinu is clearly a childhood favorite. Perhaps it is because of the catchy melody. Perhaps because of the tradition of taking scallions, singing, and tapping the person that you find most annoying. Or perhaps because Dayeinu is the essence of the Passover holiday.
A Bisl Torah
A Stroll Through the Park
This past Wednesday was National Take a Walk in the Park Day. I laughed when I saw the name of the holiday. Why do we possibly need a holiday that celebrates walking through a park? Seems a little mundane to me. However, perhaps it is holier than I initially thought. According to NationalToday.com, researchers explain that those that live in apartment buildings with views of trees tend to be less aggressive than those with no view of nature. Being in and around nature often calms and soothes our nerves. Pausing and seeing God’s creations may remind us that we are part of something bigger than ourselves. A day that encourages less selfishness. A day that encourages more mindfulness.
More Than Enough
Rabbi Jeffrey K. Salkin, spiritual leader of Temple Solel in Hollywood, Florida, recently shared an article about the future of religious leadership. In gleaning insight from the Megillah, he explains that clergy burnout (across faiths and denominations) can be avoided if one remembers to “center yourself on your goals, your ideals and your passions.”
Flip the Script
We recently hosted 50 young adults in our backyard, making hamantaschen. I started the evening giving one of the reasons why we eat this triangular-shaped pastry.
Growing Older, Growing Up
A poem in honor of the Children of Ukraine
Yellow Roses
My Nana insisted on the presence of yellow roses at her funeral. When I asked my aunts, uncle, and dad why she loved yellow roses, the answer wasn’t particularly significant. She liked cheery, vibrant colors. She thought yellow brightened everything around you. And somehow, yellow roses have followed me since the day of her funeral.
Teaching Spontaneity
A friend was describing her experience in chaplaincy. The other chaplains-in-training felt very comfortable formulating their own spontaneous prayer. But she realized that even as a knowledgeable Jew, spontaneous prayer wasn’t something she felt trained in. Give her a siddur, no problem. But to pause in the middle of the day and start offering prayer felt foreign. And as I reflected on our conversation, I wondered if the point of a Jewish ritual structure is to make room for spontaneity.
The Courage to Build
Why would Moses keep the broken tablets?
Deep Breath In
In relationships, most of us are stuck in a typical behavioral pattern: we withdraw, or we pursue. When engaged in conflict, one of us (the pursuer) might push, nudge, prod, and poke until we get a reaction out of our partner. The other person (the withdrawer) proceeds to move inward, grow silent, sometimes choosing to flee, leaving the argument by leaving the room. There are moments where we find two pursuers face to face and other times, tensions rise as two withdrawers can’t bear to open dialogue.
Open This
A friend shared with me a story in which a rabbi was giving a blessing to the bar mitzvah boy in front of the congregation. The senior rabbi gave the child two gifts: a siddur and an umbrella. An assistant rabbi looked at the senior rabbi with confusion. “Why the umbrella?” The senior rabbi looked at the assistant rabbi with a perceptive look, “At least I know the umbrella will get opened!”
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