Thought of
the week.

This is a very sensitive topic, yet I think it’s really important to discuss, and even more important, to take the needed action. I’m a part of a mental health community striving to help people help themselves, and I believe we have failed miserably when it comes to treating suicide.…

How do you handle situations when you have changed your mind, when you have decided, after sometime, to institute a boundary that you haven’t before? How do you explain to someone that the behavior that you seemed to be okay with for so long, just isn’t okay?  I have found…

God, prayer, spiritual practice, and soul connection are all ideas I think about daily.  I begin each day with gratitude, thanking God for all the good in my life while turning it over and surrendering the uncomfortable.  Even with this practice, it took me a very long time to come…

I’m extremely curious how each individual—regardless of belief—makes sense of the non sensical in this world. How do people process these things? Furthermore, what are we doing here on earth, and lastly, is this it? I was having a conversation with a friend last night and she was saying that…

Music is such an important part of my life. It makes me feel spiritually connected, helps me connect with myself and to God, and lifts my spirits. Music enhances my mood, and it’s the way I feel closest to my creator.  In the Jewish religion, almost all prayer has some…

Great leaders have many qualities, but humility is usually not one of them. With rare exceptions, they tend to be ambitious, with a high measure of self-regard. They expect to be obeyed, honored, respected, even feared. They may wear their superiority effortlessly—Eleanor Roosevelt called this “wearing an invisible crown”—but there…

In the portion of the week, the Torah discusses the idea of commandments which don’t make sense, yet we are still obligated to keep them. The Torah isn’t superfluous or controlling—it’s not looking for ways to play mind games—so why must we do things which don’t make sense?! With modern…

I have been noticing in my personal life that there are certain habits that are so obvious to me—whether they be physical habits like eating and exercise, spiritual practices such as meditation and prayer, or personal commitments to speak kindly and respectfully and not engage in gossip. While these are…

One of my favorite parts of Judaism is that it encourages us to question, to doubt, to grapple, to seek, and to find the deeper meaning.  This doesn’t give us permission to not follow the rules, yet it gives us permission to question them. Judaism challenges us to not just…

Prof. Ronald Heifetz, co-founder and director of the Center for Public Leadership at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University discusses the difference between technical challenges and adaptive challenges. An example of technical challenges are illnesses, where you can go to a doctor who gives you a pill, tells…