Another Reason to Turn Off the Television
The New York Times once featured an article about the commuter train from Long Island into New York City. Amongst the dozens of cars on the train is an odd one. In it is a group of people studying the massive set of Jewish legal books known as the Talmud. Every weekday morning men and women gathe

posted 5:47:44pm May. 19, 2013 | read full post »

The Unhappy Mother's Day
At my previous synagogue, I became friendly with an older woman. She told me all the time about her amazing son. My wife and I even had dinner with her, her son and his family to celebrated her 80th birthday. A few weeks later I got a call at my office. The caller said she’d like to set up a me

posted 6:43:38pm May. 09, 2013 | read full post »

Are You Making Each Day Count?
"Don't count the days, make the days count." --Muhammad Ali Recall a great scene from the film LA Story: The weatherman, played by Steve Martin, is delivering his typical forecast. As he throws little yellow magnets on the map, he yells “Sun! Sun! Sun! Sun!” He seems exasperated that warm and s

posted 5:22:02pm May. 08, 2013 | read full post »

What My Dad Learned in Prison
A nineteenth century rabbi used to spend time each afternoon looking out of his window. Every day he saw a member of his synagogue rushing down the street. One day he stopped him and said, "Why are you always in a hurry?" The man replied, "I'm running to make a living." The rabbi answered, "How d

posted 2:42:04pm May. 04, 2013 | read full post »

How to (Re) Discover Our Purpose
The great 19th century psychologist William James had trouble getting out of bed one morning. Describing his struggle he wrote, The warm couch feels too delicious, the cold outside too cruel, and resolution faints away and postpones itself again and again just as it seemed on the verge of bursting

posted 4:34:59pm Apr. 28, 2013 | read full post »