⅞ Time   “The challenge I’m putting before you is called ⅞ time,” I tell the Zoom screen containing the head and torso of the person with whom I’m doing spiritual direction.   “I don’t know what that is,” comes through my speakers.   “I’m not surprised,” I laugh, “I just made it up this […]

I’m sorry. I hear you.   The child whose day it is to empty the dishwasher did so before going to school today. Hooray. (It doesn’t always happen.) And I decide, before I disappear into ROTB work—in the spirit of everyone putting in a little extra effort—to load the contents of the very crowded sink

May. I have patience? Beloved, It’s May. Which is, pardon the bad pun, A-may-zing. The calendar seems to have flipped from March to May instantly. Time flies like an arrow. (And pardon the dad joke: fruit flies like bananas.) — All minutes (or any other quantity of time) are not the same length. Some time

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