A startling discovery about 2024—this year has 53 Mondays, not the standard 52. 2019: 52 Mondays2020: 52 Mondays2021: 52 Mondays2022: 52 Mondays2023: 52 Mondays2024: 53 Mondays2025: 52 Mondays2026: 52 Mondays2027: 52 Mondays2028: 52 Mondays This means the ratio of Monday newsletters (41) to weeks in the year (52) is not 40/52 (77%), but 41/52 (78.8%). […]

A Story of Humanity   I’m the 30-year-old assistant rabbi of Temple Judea — a congregation of a few thousand in Tarzana, California.   It’s my third year running high holy day services.   I’m in the main sanctuary. The senior rabbi is at the satellite location as the sheer number of people who want to

Friday night versus lies of spiritualigious patriarchy       Friday night. A set table. Shabbat Dinner.   The four of us at the living room table intone the centuries-old Hebrew candle blessing. And, I—as it is how my grandmother did it—have my eyes closed and rest my hands gently over my eyelids as we

Beloved reader, As has become a 2024 tradition, the first Monday of the month is written as a journal entry. Me directly addressing you. No story of my children and the dishwasher with some wisdom in it this week. What follows is a collection of 12 Rabbi Brian Wisdom Biscuits—spiritualigious quips and thoughts. Each of

Doubts arise from an absence of surrender. —Ramana Maharshi There is more to life than increasing its speed. —Gandhi Two things fill the mind with ever new and increasing admiration and awe, the oftener and the more steadily we reflect on them: the starry heavens above and the moral law within. —Immanuel Kant The repercussions

I’d call his performance lackluster, but *lackluster* is too high quality a word to describe such poor performance. *Meh* is the right sized word, but it fails to encapsulate the horrible job he did setting the table. He put out no silverware. No beverages. Just three glasses, three plates, and two napkins. “Dad, I did

CLICK FOR NOTICES ABOUT THE BOOK’S AVAILABILITY It’s the first newsletter of the month.   And, as I have been doing, I’m making this, the first one of the month, a diary entry.   (Next week will be a “regular” one. It’s going to be a story about parenting—and yes the dishwasher gets mentioned—and it

CLICK FOR NOTICES ABOUT THE BOOK’S AVAILABILITY CLICK FOR NOTICES ABOUT THE BOOK’S AVAILABILITY Rabbi Brian’s Highly Unorthodox Gospel   A Modern Guide to  Compassion, Kindness, and Love  for others (and self)     It’s done.  The book. It’s done.  And in it is a whole section in it about patience. Which is good—ironic, maybe?—because

Filling the Time: Thawing the Rush for Efficiency As I put ice cubes from the freezer down the narrow neck of my favorite insulated water bottle, I consider that I could have saved time had I started this task differently. While the structure of my waterbottle is not  a dry subject about which to write

This is the first newsletter of February, 2024. Hi. It’s me. rB. Rabbi Brian. Brian. The author of this newsletter. I’m addressing you directly, beloved reader. As though we are having a conversation. You and me. This is because I didn’t want to do a regular newsletter, where I start with an engaging hook, set