Learning through the Seasons of Our Lives There’s a movement in the souls Some will come and some will go To a place that no one knows and this cycle never slows And we’re all somewhere in the middle as these doors keep spinning ’round We show up knowing nothing about this world of ours…

They say it takes a village to raise a child Hand over hand Foot over foot Children grow into human beings, human doings They become whole.  The villagers, old and young, grasp miniature fingers and toes  Guiding them into the abyss of the world.  They say it takes a village to raise a child A…

At the rising sun and at its going down; We remember them. At the blowing of the wind and in the chill of winter; We remember them. At the opening of the buds and in the rebirth of spring; We remember them. At the blueness of the skies and in the warmth of summer; We…

    The first time I met you, Ben, I knew we would really enjoy learning together. At that first meeting, at your parents house, before we could sit down and get to work, you had to figure out the best snack to go with studying Torah-apples with lemon juice. Between mouthfuls of “healthy sour patch kids”…

The following pair of poems reflect my experiences while visiting to major sites in Israel; the Western Wall and the Temple Mount/Dome of the Rock. My words are not meant to be inflammatory, however they are inherently political and religiously charged based on my context and on my actual experiences at these places. In the…

“In a small village in Poland, excitement was growing. The town had only one rabbi, the rabbi only had one son, and the only son of the only rabbi was going to be married to a beautiful young woman of the village. Everyone was looking forward to the wedding, and in honor of the upcoming…

Today, we hope will bring with it the last snow of winter, even though spring officially began last month. With snow and ice on the trees and the ground, we can’t help but wonder if spring will ever really come? We’ve had hints of it, but it hasn’t fully revealed itself. And so it is…

My Israel story is… It’s early in the morning when I arrive in Baka for my first interview of the summer with Nina Tokayer. Carrying her baby girl, Ashira on her hip, she welcomes me into her childhood home. She quickly settles down Ashira before we sit down for our interview. She is the first…

Time, illusive and effervescent ebbs and flows intertwining and twisting amid molecules and miracles. Stops, pauses, rewind, fast forward Time, the enemy of all, never enough, never enough— Time.   Time is my beloved friend, my loathsome enemy. It keeps me awake at night with its lackluster promise of productivity and connection. It stops my…

“Rise up! When you’re living on your knees, you rise up Tell your brother that he’s gotta rise up Tell your sister that she’s gotta rise up” The words of Hamilton echo in my ears, amidst shouts for justice, for Syria, for immigrants, for people of color, for the poor and huddled masses. Our forefathers,…