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Sep 20, 2026, 4:57 PM

A Year of Firsts

I have no one to bless me this year. That thought had been stuck in my head since Rosh Hashanah. In my family, my father didn’t bless us every Friday night. Some families do. It wasn’t our minhag. But Erev Yom...

Sep 18, 2026, 1:10 AM

Walking in God’s Ways: Restoring Dignity to Aging

For over one thousand years, Jewish communities have repeated a powerful plea in our prayers leading up to and throughout Yom Kippur: Hear our voices, Shema koleinu… Do not cast us away in our old age; when our strength...

Isaac Steven Herschkopf

Sep 17, 2026, 10:51 PM

The White Coat: In Life and Death

"God sat there, His coat as white as snow." -Daniel, VII, 9 Until the 20th century, physicians traditionally wore black. To evoke antiseptic cleanliness, the white coat was born and worn. (Original white scrubs however, were soon replaced by blue/green...

Jennifer Handel

Sep 13, 2026, 12:59 PM

Why Is This Rosh Hashanah Different From All Others?

I know. Wrong holiday. But as I sit here on the first full day of being 41, trying to make sense of the last 48 hours, it's the question that keeps coming back to me. Why is this Rosh Hashanah different...

Sep 10, 2026, 10:44 PM

Of Memories We Grieve, As Life Chooses To Continue

Israeli kalanit (כלנית) flower, beautiful symbol of pain and remembrance
Photo by Zachi Evenor Anemone-coronaria-2016-Zachi-EvenorCropped for aspect ratio by z r nur CC BY-SA 4.0

"Not Dead Yet," the caption above a black cat on a sticker I saw recently proclaims. Lately that has taken on greater and greater meaning. The end of the secular 2012 began an era in my life where I grieved...

Rebeca Permuth de Sabbagh

Sep 10, 2026, 9:42 PM

After Shiva: Declutter. Repurpose

(ChatGPT)

I am just days away from reciting Yizkor, the prayer of Remembrance, on Yom Kippur for the first time for both of my parents. Losing my Dad a few weeks ago marked the end of an era. As long...

Steven C. Wernick

Sep 4, 2026, 6:54 PM

We Do Not Abandon the Dying

Last week, the Vaad HaRabbanim of Toronto circulated a letter to the Jewish community. It declared that Orthodox rabbis will not officiate at funerals for patients who choose MAiD. Burial plots in their synagogues’ sections will be refused. The...

Sep 3, 2026, 5:25 AM

Swaying and Bouncing with the Ostrova Biale Rebbe

"Dude, I know this is going to sound crazy, but I need to leave and head back to New York to drive my Rebbe from the airport to his apartment" My 26 year old brain didn't understand, did our President's...

Adam S. Ferziger

Aug 28, 2026, 3:38 PM

Rising from shiva for Ally: The math teacher who never counted anyone out

As the traditional seven days of shiva came to an end, our family — our close mishpahah — rise from the low chairs. In the wake of a sudden and incomprehensible tragedy, the natural human instinct is to fixate...

Andy Blumenthal

Aug 22, 2026, 11:37 AM

The Work of Living After October 7

ALS scares me. So does terrorism. Both force us to confront how suddenly life can change. I did not come to Tuesdays with Morrie as someone revisiting an old favorite. I came to it after October 7, carrying questions I...

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