• Winter blessings to a medieval carol tune

    Updated: 2012-11-30 12:00:00
    Several years ago, Ethan and I saw Richard Thompson and his merry band (the acoustic version thereof) perform a 1000 Years of Popular Music show at the Iron Horse. One of my favorite tracks from that night was a medieval...

  • Second step

    Updated: 2012-11-30 00:41:33
    When we first greet one another, it's clear that we're both trying a little bit too hard. We trade one too many "how are you"s. Conversation stutters and starts. But soon we settle into a rhythm. He received the bedtime...

  • Three gratitudes

    Updated: 2012-11-27 13:46:27
    I'm grateful this morning for colleagues who pause our phone calls to make the blessing for Torah study, mindful that the words we're going to exchange are themselves Torah; who remind me to pay attention to the movements and signals...

  • Three responses to this week's Torah portion

    Updated: 2012-11-26 13:38:34
    As we enter into parashat Vayishlach, I wanted to share links to a few of the divrei Torah I've posted over the years which arise out of this week's portion: Encounter, 2008, a Torah poem. "When Esau saw him he...

  • Rodger Kamenetz's the lowercase jew

    Updated: 2012-11-25 12:00:00
    A book of poems nine years old still deserves to be written about and to be read. This is true as a general statement, I think, though I'm saying it now with a specific title in mind: Rodger Kamenetz's the...

  • Another one from the archives: Kol Nidre poem

    Updated: 2012-11-23 12:00:00
    This poem was first published in What Stays, my second chapbook of poems (Bennington Writing Seminars Alumni Chapbook Series, 2002.) It has been used in congregations and independent minyanim during Kol Nidre services. KOL NIDRE I. My people break our...

  • A Blessing for the Thanksgiving Meal

    Updated: 2012-11-21 16:33:50
    American Thanksgiving is almost upon us! The Thanksgiving category on this blog features a variety of Thanksgiving prayers and poems I've posted over the years, from the one by Reb Zalman (always a favorite of mine) to others by contemporary...

  • Prayer for the Children of Abraham / Ibrahim

    Updated: 2012-11-20 16:31:36
    For every aspiring ballerina huddled scared in a basement bomb shelter For every toddler in his mother's arms behind rubble of concrete and rebar For every child who's learned to distinguish "our" bombs from "their" bombs by sound For everyone...

  • One from the archives: morning blessings poem cycle

    Updated: 2012-11-20 12:00:00
    Around 2002-2004 I worked on a series of variations on some of the traditional morning blessings. These were among my first experiments with creative work meant to be experienced both as prayers and as poems. This poem cycle includes the...

  • On preparing a nondenominational funeral

    Updated: 2012-11-19 14:23:51
    It was a challenge I had not sufficiently pondered: how to create a meaningful nondenominational (read: non-Jewish) funeral service which would serve its ritual purpose, bring comfort to the mourners, and use language familiar and accessible to those assembled, without...

  • One from the archives: Preparations, a Shabbat poem

    Updated: 2012-11-16 12:00:00
    Here's one from the archives, written in 2001. Shabbat shalom to all! PREPARATIONS Breathe deep, from the belly, as if for singing. Notice your vertebrae, the curve where spine tilts to pelvis, and inhale everything into place. Blanket the mind...

  • What I cherish about shiva

    Updated: 2012-11-13 00:03:26
    Is it strange to say that I cherish shiva minyans? Of course, a shiva minyan means that people are grieving. In that sense, I can't say that I look forward to them. But loss and death are a natural part...

  • Nice interview in the North Adams Transcript

    Updated: 2012-11-10 12:18:34
    The editors at The North Adams Transcript asked their religion writer, Seth Brown, whether he would write something about me and my blog. Seth and I had a lovely interview earlier this week, and the article is online this morning....

  • Shared hope

    Updated: 2012-11-07 13:18:13
    Democracy in a nation of 300 million can be noisy and messy and complicated. We have our own opinions. Each of us has deeply held beliefs. And when we go through tough times, when we make big decisions as a...

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