This is the story of a man who took no responsibility for his mistakes or misdeeds or breaking the law. In a life strung together by bankruptcy, cheating, lying, and illegal practices he was surrounded by people who fixed things to allow him to come out unscathed. The man could rely on those who were willing, for a price, to make sure that he would never have to take responsibility for bankruptcies, sexual assaults, racist practices, breaking contracts and engaging in a range of shady dealings. read more

“If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, may my right hand forget its skill!” –Psalm 137:5

There’s just something about Judaism. We’re fully Abrahamic, but don’t ideologically enforce doctrines as specific as Jesus’ divinity or even Muhammad’s prophethood. We’ve survived for thousands of years carrying traditions from each place we’ve been. We’re in so many other countries, but not quite of those countries. We’re an introspective culture with an ancient, powerful tradition of thoughtful dissent. Perhaps this is what gave us the mindset to beat at the heart of the Islamic Golden Age, the European Enlightenment, and now the American technological revolution. read more

I heard Speaker Pelosi say that she has been praying for President Trump. She mentioned it shortly after she took political action to investigate Trump’s Ukraine affair. As a person of faith I understand the idea of praying for others. I pray for people I love and care about. Yet, I had a hard time thinking of a praying for someone who has brought enormous destruction to our democracy, to the rule of law, and the ideals that we hold sacred.

The Speaker, a distinguished seasoned Democratic leader, did not just resort to prayers. She took bold action this week and launched a House inquiry into Trump’s extortion of the newly elected president of the Ukraine, a country invaded/threatened by the ruthless Putin. Trump’s turning the screws on a president of a country dependent on the United States to survive, is of course not the first of Trump’s lawless behavior. Speaker Pelosi clearly understood that this transgression is just one in a long line of Trump’s reckless acts that have become a daily shocking presidency. She decided that the Ukraine affair was the right moment to stand up to Trump, who until this week felt emboldened by the Mueller Report and the unwavering support of Republicans in the House and the Senate. The Speaker called the House inquiry a sad day for our nation. read more

The creation of the world is about to be celebrated in our annual readings from the first book of the Torah, beginning with “In the beginning, God created…” It is a time to reflect, to consider the awesome beauty of the world as well as our own efforts to live up to a divine image. It is also a time that reminds us of oneness, as we recite yet again the Shema, “Hear Oh Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One.” The oneness of God was considered to be a revolutionary step in the spiritual development of mankind. Oneness has been imagined and reimagined over the generations, and I leave it to theologians to define it in more profound ways than I possibly can. For me, oneness has taken on very local meaning, thanks to a recent interest I have developed in the Great Lakes and the water of our region. read more

It is always melancholy after the passing of a great writer, like that, last week, of Toni Morrison. But it is also a message to read or re-read their works, and I have been doing so this week. I’m sort of a non-fiction guy, and will get around to re-reading Beloved, promise. But I just finished one of her last volumes, The Origin of Others, a group of lectures published in 2017. Already the stench of the person occupying the highest office in the land was pervading our conversations, and, despite our best efforts to ward him off, infiltrating and (dare I use the word?) invading our thoughts. Let me quote Morrison, describing the contents of a novel, not one of hers: read more

It has been years since I last saw Joe. On Wednesday I saw him vividly on the street in Mississippi, sitting with heartbroken weeping children whose parents were brutally locked up.

I met Joe when he was a successful young engineer. He was married. Had three children whom he adored. People often remarked on his devotion to his kids. He would announce at work without a shred of apology that he could not attend a meeting because one of his children needed him. I met him in a playground in Jerusalem where he often was the only father among a throng of mothers. read more

It is the first of the Hebrew month of Av. The month where we recall the two destructions of the Holy Temple. The ninth of Av is the day the sages determined that the Temples were destroyed. As the ninth of Av approaches, we enter deeper into despair, we turn off the music, let our hair grow unkempt, weddings are postponed. Meat and wine are avoided. This is a somber time. On the ninth of Av, we reenact the devastation of Jerusalem.   Sitting on the synagogue floor, we read the Book of Lamentations. The language is graphic: “The tongue of the suckling cleaves to its palate for thirst” (Lamentations 4:4), “More fortunate were the victims of the sword than the victims of famine…Hands of compassionate women have boiled their own children; they became food when the daughter of my people was shattered.” Lamentations 4:9-10). This book is not for the fainthearted. read more

As you have probably heard, there was a spat the other week at the Democratic presidential debate between Sen. Kamala Harris and former Vice-President Joe Biden. Biden was first elected to the US Senate in 1972 as a moderate Democrat from the state of Delaware, the northernmost southern state. (Delaware was a so-called “border state” during the Civil War, a state in which slavery was legal in 1860 but chose to remain in the United States.) He was an opponent of what was called at the time, “forced busing,” court-mandated plans to address discriminatory patterns in primary and secondary schools. Sen. Harris rightly called him on his opposition to busing, which he called at the time an “asinine concept” and “liberal train wreck.” She talked about her own educational experiences at the time, bussed in Berkeley, California as an elementary school student. Biden was defensive, clearly annoyed that anyone would question his civil rights credentials, adding that he was never opposed to busing per se, just mandatory busing. read more

A water fountain in my garden has become a favorite drinking/bathing spot for birds from near and far, all kinds of birds that I could not name. I have never been good at remembering names. I am not the typical bird-watcher who knows every name of every bird by color, shape, or sound. I do, however, watch my birds. I can confidently report that they, like us humans, come in all sizes and colors and shapes. Birds began coming to my garden after a cold spring in upstate NY.

When it was warm enough and the soil was not soggy, I have worked in my garden. It took years to get to know the soil because my yard used to be covered by a demanding lawn. I had to convince the ground that my planned poly-garden would give it life. Lawns are bad for the environment; they require too much water and need fertilizers to be free of weeds, which are a natural biodiversity. It took reducing the size of the lawn, followed by cycles of planting perennials of different sizes, shapes and colors mixed with annuals and vegetables to get rid of layers of chemicals. Now, tomatoes and roses and honeysuckle flourish, support and nurture each other. read more