Rabbi Brian talks about when his daughter urinated on his lap and how wonderful and horrible it felt at the same time.
“I have the honor of sitting with the Rabbi,” Martin says as I find my seat at the reception to celebrate his granddaughter’s Bat Mitzvah. At times like this, I’m not just Brian. I’m Rabbi Brian. A stand-in for God, Judaism, and all religious persons they’ve met in the past. ✧ ✧ ✧ “We pass the Torah from generation to
Shoes.Shoes.Shoes. The long glass wall separates me from a display of more than 100,000 shoes at Auschwitz-Birkenau. Men’s shoes and women’s shoes and children’s shoes and baby shoes. Everyday shoes and work shoes and formal shoes and boots and sandals and slippers and high-heeled shoes and orthopedic shoes. Woven sandals and wooden-soled shoes and leather shoes and cloth shoes. Shoes
Last Tuesday. I’m sitting in an Adirondack chair, my feet resting on a well-weathered log here in Sisters, Oregon. It’s my family’s annual week-long vacation at the same beautiful house we’ve rented for the past four summers. My favorite spot. Just above the little creek. Most of my worries are 153 miles away. ✧✧✧ This Tuesday. I’m sitting in my