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I teach high school and have a lot of students whom I look after. As it happens, some kids don’t fit the college-prep modality. Some

Recently, an acquaintance told us that a long-time friend of hers discovered her husband had been living a double life! This guy used to fly

When we were young, my sister and I used a carafe for our milk. This small black and white ceramic decanter was a souvenir my

Give yourself permission to not be yourself. What do I mean by this? Each of us operates based on a whole algorithm of qualities that

This is one of my favorite jokes: One day, Bernie hears a voice. The voice says to him, “Tomorrow, don’t park your car where you

Reb Zusya was one of the pioneers in the Hasidic Jewish movement (This movement began as an alternative, hip-Judaism – a breakaway, renegade way of

Here’s a phrase most of us know – if life gives you lemons, make lemonade. “If life gives you lemons, make lemonade” means, “Do your

My friend Bobby asked me one day, “Brian, why are the people in power assholes?” I thought this was a great question. I was honored

From time to time, I get emails back from people who read this newsletter. Sometimes they say, “That’s a great idea, Rabbi Brian. I love

(I have written on this quote before. But it’s worth revisiting.) In my classroom on the wall, there is what seems at first like an

Vermiculite is the lightest rock on the planet. In fact, you can easily crush it; it feels like a chick of balsa wood. And because

I have a somewhat strange spiritual-religious exercise for you. Doing (or not doing) it can offer learning in the following three areas: 1. Following direction

Sören Kierkegaard wrote: Belief is not so much a conclusion, but a resolution…belief is not a form of knowledge, but a free act, an expression

I like to ask door-to-door religious salespersons, “What percentage of people are rude to you?” The answer is always above 75%. I am told that