The full extent of damage to lives and property on the Gulf Coast is unknown, but experts are expressing certainty that in terms of what it will take to repair a significant part of the damage, it is the worst such disaster to afflict the United States. The scenes of people mourning their homes and …
I hate TV commercials, so when I want to watch a program, I usually tape it so as to fast-forward through the ads. Consequently, I’m a little behind in my viewing. There’s a tall stack of gray videotapes by the VCR, each with its little cache of programs I mean to watch as soon as …
When I woke up this morning, my head was swimming with scenes from the news my overworked brain hadn’t been able to process, even with a good night’s sleep: Cindy Sheehan encamped outside President Bush’s ranch, young soldiers in Gaza weeping as they pried desolate families from their homes. If I set out to script …
A story is told about a town that suffered from drought (I heard a version of it from Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, but if you want to transpose it to a priest or a minister or imam, it will work just as well; if you Google the key words, you’ll see others have done likewise). People …
This is my third and final essay about the rich learning I was privileged to share at the ALEPH Kallah, a spiritual retreat at the end of July. In the afternoons, I took a class entitled “Melitz Yosher: On Becoming An Intercessor,” offered by Rabbi Ruth Gan Kagan, she of generous heart and deep learning. …
As I wrote in my last essay, at the end of July I attended a large spiritual retreat, the ALEPH Kallah, where I studied with two wonderful teachers. Today, my hope is convey a few of the insights I gained from Rabbi David A. Cooper, whose class in “Kabbalah, Zen and Dzogchen: Interweaving Contemplative Paths” …
During the last week of July, I never read a newspaper, never heard the radio, never turned on the TV. I recommend an annual respite from our 24/7 broadcast of whatever the editors and pundits think is worth noting, if only to experience the useful instruction that comes when we tune back in and find …