We just finished the hard part of the year. I think the summer’s heat is an expression of human events, past and present, that happened this season. Summer feels like a period of extremes, fires are brighter and hotter, negative events seem more random and cruel, and memories are somehow keener, sharper. Spring is preparation, Autumn is winding down, winter is a time of reflection and resolution, and summer just “is.” It is no wonder that criminologists have found violent crime rates rise in the summer. That has certainly been true of the crimes committed against Our People through the … Continue reading →

It seems no matter how far ahead I plan, no matter how many late nights I clean and plan, and no matter how early I get up to cook for the seder, I never feel that going into Passover is so smooth. Some years it is easier than others, and certainly it is better to be organized than to be frantic, but there is always that corner that can be cleaned more carefully, the horseradish always seems to have a thicker peel on it, or something unexpected happens, or I need to have another salad. I am beginning to think … Continue reading →

I’m just taking a break from my yearly Pesach cleaning to write a blog about …what else? Pesach cleaning. When people see Jews clean out their homes in the weeks and days before Passover, much of what we do can be mistaken for spring cleaning. But calling all Balabustas (Jewish homemakers) Pesach cleaning is NOT Spring cleaning! Because if you treat Pesach cleaning like spring cleaning, it is just too much! We can’t remove every crumb from the bedroom, nor are we required to. Every year I try to review notes from a very sane lecture on Pesach Cleaning given … Continue reading →

Chanukah is a busy time for our family. The kids are off from school, I am not off from my job at home, but there is plenty for the kids to do, besides just running around the house. When I am freed from my duties at the computer, there are Chanukah parties and get togethers. Not to mention the time spent at home eating homemade latkes and sufganiot (jelly donuts). But as Adam Sandler commented, this holiday is for “Eight Crazy Nights.” By the end of the holiday, I just want to sit in front of the candles and relax. … Continue reading →

I think everyone has heard the expression, “It is always darkest just before dawn.” But how about the more darkness you see the more light you are actually experiencing? Of course, this isn’t true of the sun. We can’t deny that light is light and darkness is darkness when it is daytime. If the sun is out, it is light outside and possible to see and feel warm. But the moon is a bit trickier, and there is no wonder that it reflects the more hidden but no less real world of the soul rather than the physical world which … Continue reading →

I remember when I was a kid and too young to be involved in psychology, pop or otherwise, I saw a TV show describing therapeutic method of the “Primal scream.” The idea is that we all have stressors in our lives. We are sometimes like pressure cookers. And sometimes we need to let out our negative emotions by…well…screaming. To avoid offending neighbors, or for professional supervision, people would gather together in groups and…umm..scream. Many theories have come and gone since then. One view espoused by Australian psychologist and Rabbi Laibl Wolf is that “venting breeds venting.” Giving voice to our … Continue reading →

When I was a kid, I remember watching Schoolhouse Rock. One of my favorite episodes of this fun, 1970s educational musical cartoon was “No More Kings.” I remember an effete foppish George II with a powdered wig and a caustic laugh like a diabolical dandy with absolute power. He sat sucking the shmaltz off his chicken legs as he giggled with glee, taxing the spent colonists into submission. It was so pleasant watching the animated colonists rebel against the heartless monarch, culminating in the mass dumping of tea into the Boston Harbor. In short, from an early age, most of … Continue reading →

Around this time of year, there is a coolness in the air in the Yirushalaim, a longed-for breeze not felt in months. The weather expresses something cosmic; almost exactly to the day we finish mourning the destruction of the Holy Temple on the 9th day of the Hebrew month of Av, a refreshing, merciful breeze sweeps through the hanging laundry and the dry leaves in the evening and then, as the Hebrew month of Elul approaches, it can even be felt in the middle of the afternoon. Who thought the sight of blowing laundry or green grass actually moving can … Continue reading →

Tisha B’av is a day associated with the destruction of the Beit Hamikdash (Holy Temple) in Yirushalaim. Both Temples were destroyed on that day and other dark events, like the Spanish Inquisition, began on Tisha B’Av. However, Tisha B’av is closely connected with the coming of Mashiach. According to one tradition, Mashiach will be born on Tisha B’av. The Lubavitcher Rebbe explains that birthday is the day in which the mazal and the essence of a person is given extra strength. So even though Tisha B’Av is a day often characterized by preoccupation with the exile and mourning, it is … Continue reading →