Rabbi Malka Drucker: A Different Four Questions My father wasn’t a religious man. I don’t know what he believed, only what he behaved. Along with suggesting that I not take everything so seriously, he advised, “What happens, honey, isn’t important; it’s how you deal with it. When I had a heart attack at 54, it [...]
Susan Rakov: Getting Ready for the High Holy Days at Home One year, I was sick in bed during Yom Kippur. I didn’t try to watch a whole day of services on my computer, but I did tune in for the livestream of Kol Nidre. I could see the bimah, the rabbis and the cantor, [...]
I’ve been thinking recently about CBB’s Mission Statement: “a diverse, inclusive community of individuals and families building together a warm and vibrant house of living Judaism.” I like the mission statement but when I read it closely, I see many words – ‘community, building, house’ – which imply a physical space. How, in this time of Covid and social [...]
Shortly after lockdown I started thinking about Carlos Slim. Until recently he was the richest person in the world (and is currently fifth richest). He was asked to explain why he built gigantic supermarkets all over Mexico that put thousands of small shop owners out of business, and then devoted large amounts of the resulting [...]
Judy Karin: But the zucchini, of course, will be fine. Lately my attention span, never particularly long, has shrunk to roughly the same length as that of a puppy. Whether I can blame this on the stress of the pandemic or not, I can’t say for sure. I just finished jigsaw puzzle #16. The first [...]
Amy Katz: On the Front Lines in Portland I was shot last week. I was shot in the early morning on July 29, while walking in a single file line with about 10 other journalists: our hands in the air waving our press passes, which was highly redundant since we all had PRESS or NEWS [...]
Barbara Greenleaf: The Fifth Commandment in the Age of Covid While gathering information for my new book, Parents of Adult Children: You Are Not Alone, I found that while most of the older generation takes the fifth commandment, “Honor thy father and mother,” quite literally, the younger generation puts a different and much more casual [...]
Michael Singer: Fear I have been sitting in the energy of what people believe, write, and share adamantly on social media. People share what they resonate with and what they believe to be THE truth. I wonder though, why they have to do that? Yes, I know that they do it because it is their [...]
Susan Rakov: Covid Wanderings That first week, the moment I break down is when I get the email that CBB is closing its doors. I was involved in a painful decision a few days before to close down 50 offices and cancel thousands of summer jobs, but the emotional impact hits when I read that [...]
Evely Laser Shlensky: The Miracle of Denmark Creating a sometimes tolerable, occasionally rich life during the pandemic has been an ongoing challenge. While many opportunities are presented daily for online learning, for me the more interesting encounter at times has been with my past. With too much time on my hands during the lockdown, I [...]