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Rabbi Amichai Lau-Lavie is the founder and spiritual leader of Lab/Shul in Manhattan.
Rabbi Amichai Lau-Lavie is the founder and spiritual leader of Lab/Shul in Manhattan.
Family dynamics can be some of the most meaningful elements of life, and also, frequently, the most disappointing and damaging. As the youngest of my siblings and most of my cousins, it sometimes feels when I speak with some of them that they still see me as the little bratty kid they first knew me…
How are you from 1-10? This is one of my mother’s check in questions that can infuriate at times but regardless – always helpful. When it comes to relations between us and our parents there’s a lot going on including remorse, regret, and room for repair. Whatever your relation to whomever you identify as your…
Last unofficial day of summer and here in the USA it’s Labor Day, honoring the labor of all the workers and all those whose dedicated work makes sure my life runs as smoothly as possible from morning commute to perfect salad and a hundred other daily blessings I rarely if ever pause to consider, let…
Draw a current family map, a simple drawing. Like little kids bring home from school and you get their version of who’s who in the constellation, who’s absent or surprisingly huge, who is holding hands. On this first day of a new week and last weekend of summer, focus on family, whatever that means to…
I am a sum of my ancestors, combined DNA and cherished beliefs of generations. Bloodline. What of the sins of the fathers upon their sons? What of ancestral wisdoms to continue and which to discard? In this annual re-configuration of who I am and what can I do better I wonder: What of my inherited…
Life lessons from hanging with kids in Disneyland to begin our graceful descent from summer into the fall and a new year of heights and depths and simple pleasures: Test my terrors more often by pushing myself beyond the safety of my comfort zone. Every one of those scary rides is a test of our…
Am I getting enough sleep, and if not, what can I do about it? Plenty keeping us up worried these nights and many forms of sleep disorders rob us of full function. But how much of it is up to me and my discipline? Today I want to love myself better by honestly observing my…
Today I give myself a medal for having successfully committed to one positive practice this past year that has helped me live better, that has nourished my body and soul. Is it bronze, silver, gold, other? I give myself a bronze for finally, just recently, beginning to show up for daily yoga. How can I…
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