An Instant In An Eternity

Last week Alan Alda was in town and gave a talk at The Technion. Thanks to a Wellesley friend we heard it was happening and grabbed seats to listen. Having a chance to hear from Hawkeye Pierce in person was pretty amazing. What he had to say as Alan Alda was thought-provoking. He was in town as part of his Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science . He and his team were working with a group of young scientists on how to communicate complicated science to the general public. His talk that evening was more general about communication. He said a few things that I think are well worth considering and internalizing. 1. If you are really listening you'll be open to being changed by the speaker. His point is that if we are really open minded and really listening then we aren't crafting our response or counter argument while the speaker is talking. Therefore we've totally opened and cleared our minds and that allows for us to have our opinion changed as a result of the speake...

As we finished out 2017 an article in The New York Times caught my eye and secured part of my 10 free articles for the month. Anne Patchett wrote about her year of no shopping . This wasn't anything new to me - I've heard about no shopping or reduced shopping efforts before. For some reason, though, this article resonated with me - maybe because we had read one of her works for my book club this past year. Maybe because she is a book store owner, and therefore earns a special place in my heart. I read the piece and then saved it as a PDF to my desktop. The point of the piece is simple. The writing is well done and conveys her experience. What would a year without shopping look like? Even more, what does that even mean? What can I buy? What can't I buy? Why? She writes a compelling piece - no wonder, she's a compelling author. Part of what attracted me was that she first encountered the idea in 2009 and it took her 7 years later in 2016 to engage fully with the li...

A long, long time ago, I can still remember how it used to be...and if you know the start of that song, you're of a certain age either when that song was popular and on the radio, or it was a hit of the oldies in your childhood! Which means you also likely recall life before the internet and websites and blogs (irony not lost here!) and Facebook. I remember getting our first computer, the Apple IIC . I remember the computer lab at school with a limited number of games to introduce us to this newfangled thing a computer. I remember having a computer of my own in high school - that tiny six inch monitor as part of the all in one computer platform - such an advancement! No internet yet, but not far off - just as I went off to college. I remember learning how to use email and connect virtually and remotely with my friends who were spread across the country. I remember my first generation Mac laptop in college. And now, I have one, if not two handheld computers in my purse or near me...

Eight years ago we decided to take the job offer from Intel and make aliyah. It was a one-way move. It took us another half year to get it all organized. We packed up and moved. Then we arrive. Las year was our sabbatical (שבתון in Hebrew) year, our Shmita year. It was a time for us, whether we knew it or not, to take a bit of a rest, a rest from this exhausting and exhilarating process of absorption into Israeli society. I did a bit of a mental relax, not really a check out, more of a check in - an adjustment of expectations. The history of the State of Israel and the stories surrounding her founding are told in epic, mythical proportions in the diaspora. It's hard as a Jewish child not to be engaged by these stories, won over, even. The challenges were massive and daunting. The confidence and enthusiasm were boundless. The pioneers who founded the State of Israel would be successful. We talk about the heroic establishment of Israel, the heroic history of the country, and t...

The subject of women in Judaism, women's place in the synagogue, women's prayer, women's anything frankly in religion is a hot topic - and it's not cooling off. We're certainly making progress, but sometimes that progress is painfully slow. I recently wrote about my thoughts that arose after my son's school performance, making me miss the experience of truly engaging with prayer in a community setting. This past weekend our neighbors celebrated their son turning 13 and his Bar Mitzvah . They had the Shabbat morning service at the Orthodox synagogue down the street from our house. That's the synagogue where we don't go - that's a story for another time. They are our friends, the mom does not come from a religious background, so we made sure to get up and get there on time to celebrate with them. I sat in the women's section - which also happens to be the back - of the synagogue. There is a mechitza , a separation between the men and women wh...

New Orleans' recently removed four monuments to the Confederacy from the city. Mayor Mitch Landrieu gave a moving, thoughtful, and inspiring speech explaining the history, context, and necessity for this action. I came to watch his speech after reading Frank Brunei's column , I recommend you, too, read this column and then watch the video embedded in his column. It's worth the time. And tell others to read and watch it, too. That's what we have to do - we have to tell others to read, watch, listen, read, consider - it's how we'll come together and open our minds to find a way to come back together. Landrieu made a beautiful point, "Indivisibility is our essence", he said about the United States of America. He's right. He's 100% right. The Pledge of Allegiance calls for "one nation, indivisible under god", that's our essence. We must remember that - and to truly be indivisible, we must find a way that we are all part of o...

I grew up in a Reform community. It was the only Jewish community that served not only my city but also the larger county and even parts of the neighboring country. When I was in college, after visits to Israel, I found myself increasing the amount of religious observance in my life. Having been a vegetarian for many years, kashruth was not a concern. Fundamentally I was keeping kosher. Observing Shabbat, marking the end of each week was a new experience for me. That meant both participating more fully in Hillel activities for Friday night and also making my room a Shabbat observance space - walking places, not turning lights on and off, no computer, no phone. It was a good opportunity to recharge during the hectic atmosphere of college. After college I found myself participating in a large, Conservative synagogue and thoroughly finding my place, feeling that what I needed from Judaism, what I needed from prayer was being met. Then I got married (in a Conservative synagogue by a ...