**JACK** I’m walking, excitedly, from the Hall of Philosophy, past Chautauqua’s 3,000 person amphitheater, holding my cell-phone next to my ear talking to Larry, my BFF. “I’m very jealous of you,” Larry tells me. “You should be,” I tell him. We both laugh. I follow Morris Avenue in this “model train village come to life” …
**A Groovy Sabbath Practice** “Harrison. Emily. I want you to hold hands and look at each other,” I say to the excited-to-be-getting-married couple on the other side of my computer screen. I ask, “You know the song, by the Romantics, _What I like about you_?” They nod. “Harrison, I’m going to ask you to look …
I had to go for a jog this morning. I hate jogging. I’ve never experienced a runner’s high. But I know that I need to force myself to jog at times. Especially when I need, as my therapist has advised me, “to get back into my body.” I’m up in my head a lot. And …
Greeting Cards. I’d like to manufacture a line of greeting cards: “Congratulations on your Child’s Conversion!” There ought to be demand; there is a marked uptick in religious conversion numbers during uncertain times. I can imagine the card’s cover would have a picture of an arrow. Bold text floats above the graphic: Extraordinary! Wonderful. The …
Rabbi Brian interviewed on The Fascination Podcast Podcast Notes Take a walk with me down Fascination Street as I get to know Rabbi Brian. Rabbi Brian is; you guessed it, a Rabbi. In this episode, we chat about what made him decide to leave behind teaching math in high school, why he went to Rabbinical …
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In what used to be the sisters’ laundry building, I sit in a standard-issue, burgundy, vinyl, wingback chair. Marylhurst University’s conference center. Lake Oswego, Oregon. At the time, I am the only rabbi in the world teaching mathematics in a Catholic high school. Both non-teaching staff and us with more direct youth interface are making …
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**My Mourning Neighbor** I walk home in the early evening light from using my friend Dave’s chop saw. I’ll later assemble the parts I’m carrying into a base for an abstract, stained-glass lamp I’ve been working on. Across the street from our Hamilton-blue Dutch Colonial, I see Nancy descend the flight of steps in front …
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Rabbi Brian interviewed on The Homance Chronicles Podcast Notes The Homance Chronicles is a storyteller podcast hosted by Nicole Bonneville and Sarah Andonian. They have a ‘homance,’ the female equivalent of a bromance. They’ve been friends for a decade and have gone through some crazy times. They share their unbelievably entertaining and slightly embarrassing, yet …
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I’m sorry; I seem to have had a revelation. Revelations 101 I’m not 100% certain how to deliver these messages that I have—or if you are one of the people who is supposed to heed my words. I mean, who, other than a pompous ass, tells people they had a revelation and asks …
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Photo of me on the Union College Campus. I couldn’t think of what better image to put along with this article. The Music by Hafiz Many people don’t know it is my friend’s words on the bumper sticker, “Even after all this time the Sun never says to the Earth, ‘You owe me.’ …
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