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  We stand on the brink of everything collapsing.   The entire world. It’s unraveling.   The conflict in Ukraine. The ongoing tensions between Hamas and Israel.   Chaos. Bedlam. Disorder. Everywhere.   *** Voltaire had a thought I appreciate: COMPTEZ QUE LE MONDE EST UN GRAND NAUFRAGE, ET QUE LA DEVISE DES HOMMES EST, […]

Until editing this piece and looking for Natalie’s picture, I did not realize I had written about these Twinkies back in 2021. Enjoy the total rewrite! OLD VERSION: https://rotb.org/believed-in/ 💙rB I gesture toward the back, greenish wall—the one adorned with a dozen packing slips taped to it. I walk towards it while still addressing the

Dearest Beloved,💙rB I’m sitting at my computer.  It’s Wednesday morning, and I just finished my bi-weekly planning session with Denise, my project manager. I’m behind on the newsletter. At the latest, I try to get articles to Jenn, my editor, by Monday.  It didn’t happen. As I type right now, I’m hoping for brilliance to

Does something that annoys you on one day not annoy you on another? Often it has to do with our being H.A.L.T.S. (Hungry, Angry, Lonely, Tired, or Sick) But, sometimes it’s something else. -💙rB 36 A rug in the trunk   Today, I was surprised when I saw a rug in the trunk of my

How could I be other than mixed?   Recently, every time I’m asked, “How are you?” I jolt back to the reality that, in fact, I’m not doing well.   And how could I be?   The world seems like it’s on fire.   Again.   My people—and I’m not certain what that means—were slaughtered

A thrilling journey.About me and a Ken doll.(But really, it’s about attachment.) -💙rB Did I mention that Emmett is almost 17-years old and away for a week?  Sitting at a cafeteria table, I find myself captivated by a peculiar desire: an intense yearning for a brand-new, 1995 edition Ken doll dressed as Professor Henry Higgins, complete with

  I had cued up a newsletter for today that was, on its surface, about me getting attached to a particular Ken doll—later revealing that the article was also about how much I’ll miss Emmett when he goes to college (in 1.75 years). I couldn’t put that newsletter here. Not today. There’s too much else

Last week’s article engaged readers from the start with the information that I, a rabbi, sleep in a tent on Yom Kippur and don’t go to the synagogue.   The first line of any piece of writing, the hook, has got to set the tone and draw the reader in.    And it did.   

I’ve removed the bedding from the green-and-tan dome tent that I used last night in my Portland, Oregon backyard. And I’ve just brought my favorite, very-faded, red camping chair into the tent. I’m currently sitting in the 10+-year-old chair, listening to the sounds of rain on the top of the tent, and writing the words

For months since Emmett got his driver’s license, I haven’t understood why he doesn’t just drive. He knows how, after all. This short article will explain it. — Before the pandemic, I bought a French horn and began taking lessons. I wasn’t skilled when I began, but nobody is. It’s not a matter of “you