This week, from the eve of Tu B’Shevat, late Wednesday into the early hours of the morning on Thursday, until late afternoon in Donna’s Zoom Room, I wrote. Feverishly, in the messiest of script, I wrote blog posts and responses to poetry prompts, filling my journal with fragments of ideas. Only occasionally during this holiday … Read more
There’s no Spiritual Poetry Writing class today. Donna usually takes a week off between workshop series, and who could blame her? She works tirelessly to create a safe and supportive space in the Zoom room for us poets. We pour out our heartache and joy into words, 10 minutes at a time, and then we … Read more
יַֽנְחֵנִי בְמַעְגְּלֵי־צֶדֶק You guide me on circuitous paths… I was at the top of my professional game in the fall of 2018: Serving as the Dean of Jewish Studies and on the Academic Leadership Team at The Weber School, beginning my second decade of teaching other people’s teenagers, engaging in meaningful advocacy work for social … Read more
“It is forbidden to live in a town that has no garden or greenery.” —Talmud Yerushalmi, Kiddushin 4:12 Preparing our final culture unit in Spanish 3 led me to a book on the bottom shelf, one I hadn’t used in a while: Torah and Trails: A Photographic Trail Guide Connecting Judaism with Nature by Margery … Read more
I was in a terrible rush yesterday morning when I was emptying the dishwasher. I had my reasons. I needed to reload it with dirty dishes before taking the dog out, before rushing to school, before…well, you get the idea. I’d spent all week catching up from having been out of town last weekend, and … Read more
When I first joined Tiferet’s Spiritual Poetry Writing class in July 2020, I never expected to find a well-spring of creativity and a source of sustenance in an online community of writers, never imagined I would spend an entire year of Thursday afternoons on Zoom, connecting so deeply with strangers. The class is hosted and … Read more