Having this conversation is going to save a life — and likely more than one. Nearly 100,000 people died from a drug overdose in the United States last year, a dramatic increase from 2019. While the stress of the pandemic likely drove many to despair, it’s also a fact, proven over and over again, that…
In the Passover seder we are asked by the haggadah to treat ourselves “as if” we came out of Egypt — not just to tell the story but also to to experience the journey from slavery to freedom ourselves. We think that the hard part is sitting through many hours of storytelling (with family!), but…
If you were at the Guggenheim Museum on Saturday you could have caught a free new exhibit, created by Jewish artist Nan Goldin and her group “PAIN” (Prescription Addiction Intervention Now.) Around 6:30pm, flurries of fake scripts fell from the ceiling of the iconic building, proscribing Solomon R. Guggenheim 80 mg of OcyContin, to be…
“What drives a person to stick a needle in their arm?” This was a question posed by a professor in one of my university classes. The question came after a fellow student told the story of her brother who grew up in a three-sibling, functional, middle-class family. All three children were exposed to the same…
Adina wanted to run, to fly, to get lost in the motion of the horse. I wanted to help her get there. After weeks of teaching her techniques and building her confidence, I felt she was ready. We reviewed the appropriate motions — hands, feet, voice. She nodded. I nodded back, giving her the green…
“EVERYTHING IS HORRIBLE AND WONDERFUL” By Stephanie Wittels Wach Sourcebooks, 288 pages, $25.99 Death in general is sad — this we all know to be true. The death of a loved one can be paralyzing. A loss like that cuts so deep that one might justifiably wonder how those left behind remain standing. And for…
I served as a congregational rabbi for 35 years. My wife and I raised two children who are now adults. We provided them with a good Jewish education, Jewish camp and a kosher, observant home. Both our children, in large part, have not embraced Judaism. Is it our fault? Some might say we should have…
Years ago, when my brother married a Jewish woman, I began to look into my family’s own history with Judaism. As a gay man it was just another aspect of my identity I would investigate. This quest took me to my grandmother’s mother, Jenny Grossman. Jenny was the daughter of Jewish parents who emigrated from…
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