Blogger Sharon Alger responds to Tova Mirvis

I decided that it’s time for some introspection in my life.  Time to step back, time to evaluate where I am going and how I am getting there.  Time to look at where I have been and really, this year, enjoy the peak at which I find myself and savor the view a little. Sometimes […]

Blogger Stacey Z. Robinson Responds to Basya Schechter

I don’t remember my childhood. At least, not in any contiguous pattern, a fluid arc of cause and effect, with beginnings and middles and ends. There is no cosmic projector whirring and spinning through dusty light, flashing a story line – neither love story nor horror film nor some tender coming of age film – […]

Blogger: Lia Mandelbaum – Let There Be Light

As soon as I began reading Michael Santos Jewel, I was reminded of the tremendous insight and humility that can be found in those spending their daily life existing in both an internal and external prison.  They are forced to understand that there is truly nowhere to turn towards but oneself for internal freedom, transcendence […]

Blogger: Marcus J Freed – The Pregnant Man

I once dreamt I was pregnant. My belly was growing and my lower back ached. When I awoke there was a definite feeling of relief as there was absolutely no way I was looking forward to delivering baby. On Rosh Hashannah we remember motherhood. The Torah readings speak of Sarah who gives birth to Isaac […]

Blogger: Marge Eiseman

[Written in response to Anat Hoffman’s Jewel which you can read HERE.] When my son Jon graduated from Brandeis, the New York Times columnist David Brooks was the commencement speaker. He challenged the students to find the question that needed THEM to answer, to passionately pursue this question throughout their lives. Anat Hoffman’s question is […]

Blogger: Lia Mandelbaum

Lia Mandelbaum writes in response to Elka Abrahamson’s Jewel. [Read it here.] About a month ago my brother and I traveled to Alaska to go on an adventure and bond with one another. The trip was a gift he had given me for my 30th birthday and graduation from school. I was hoping that the […]

Blogger: Cantor Rosalie Boxt

Written in response to Eric Garcetti’s Jewel. Read it HERE. The story of the Jewish people is one of going and of coming, of leaving and arriving.  We have fled persecution, as Mayor Garcetti’s family did – and we have sought better lives.  The challenge remains to continuously hold up to the light the backbone […]

Blogger: Lia Mandelbaum

In Rabba Sara Hurwitz’s Jewel titled “Mohini,” [Read it HERE] she manages to gracefully and compassionately touch upon the significance of the internal struggles that can present themselves while aging.  Although I am only 29-years-old, I have gained a unique insight into the depths of the aging process through being on the career path of […]

Blogger: Chaplain DOV Cohen

Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi [Read his Jewel HERE] is widely recognized as one of the world’s most important spiritual teachers; he is the “Father” of Jewish Renewal, who, along with Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach, influenced all modern Jewish movements.  He is considered to be one of the most phenomenal Jewish personalities of modern times; if you meet him, you will […]

Blogger: Anna Nereim

I liked Daniel Callahan’s piece, [click HERE to read it] and I liked how he got me thinking about the war metaphors used with aging and death.  As a Norwegian American, I grew up hearing the myths of my ancestors along with Bible stories at my Grandmother’s knee.  The poem “Beowulf” is central to my work […]

Blogger: Dr. Sara Lederer

(Written in response to Bruce Whizin’s Jewel “From Above” which you can read HERE.) How do we remain grounded, timeless, and hopeful throughout the aging process? Bruce shares with us an inspiring anecdote, and even more than that, somewhat of a map for aging gracefully, in the most spiritual sense.  Aging with ease requires making […]

Blogger: Gregory Metzger

I was moved to read the beautiful piece on aging by the lovely and talented Judith light. [Read it HERE]  Her description of aging as “surrendering” got me thinking about aging, a topic I studiously avoid. As I “grow up”, I realize more and more that “surrender” is not resignation and defeat, but, rather it […]