Why being queer in shul helps me to understand our institutional racism
Our shul has recently embarked upon a course of community-building around anti-racism and diversity. We have employed trained facilitators to guide our conversation. From my perspective as a queer Jew, I offered up a comment in our first session about how the way in which I interact with the shul gives me some insight into how systemic racism may operate in our congregation, not necessarily overtly, but as an institutional problem. A member asked me how I could say that there was a lack of acceptance for me as a queer Jew, when the Rabbi readily agreed to my request…
Harsh Passages in Life:What I Learned from the Yahrzeit of my Mother this Year
When my mother died (May 29, 2014) I was present in the room, both in the hours before and the hour after. She was 89 and had lived a long life, but this death was the result of accident, not old age, not illness. My mom slipped and fell on the floor of the cafeteria in the nursing home where my father was living. At that time his Alzheimer’s was profound, and in combination with Parkinson’s had brought him to a place in life where my mother’s daily ministrations probably did not leave her feeling that she was able to…
Escape to Canada: A Rabbinic Consideration
Headline: Escape plan: How to Move to Canada if the Election Doesn’t Go Your Way A Personal Response with the aid of Rabbinic Tradition Talk about escaping to Canada if one’s preferred candidate does not win the election is plentiful. It has been plentiful before, when George Bush was re-elected, after 9/11 and so on. No doubt escape hatches will be touted again and again. This calls to my mind rabbinic commentary on the story of Elimelech and his wife Naomi. What follows is not a political statement, but a rumination on where the consequences of escape touch upon my…
The Untether Ring
When my mom died 6 months ago, I started wearing one of her rings. It’s a simple ring, flat and silver with some inlay of turquoise – might be Native American or Mexican origin. Not a fancy ring, but very wearable and fit me well. They handed me the ring in a plastic bag in the hospital after she died. It had been on her hand when she fell at my dad’s nursing home, after which, despite major and expert brain surgery, she did not wake up again. I have been wearing that ring every day since then, along with…
Transitions Through Gray (and Desert)
The last few months I walked at lunch down the bike path in Lexington, MA. Many winter days were cold and windy, but the trees looked alive and full – snowy rather than leafy green. Sunlight blazed off the white landscape. A few days ago we had a mild early spring day, about 50. Snow had been melting all week. I noticed when I left my yard how muddy it looked, brown, worn out, and tired. The fall leaves, which I allow to cover my plants to warm them under the snow in the winter, were now naked again, rotting,…
Bible Study Meets Theoretical Physics
Who knew that bible study had something in common with theoretical physics? I have been a student and teacher of Hebrew bible for over 10 years, but long ago was interested in the study of physics. I come from a scientific family. My father is a physicist. My mother took her degree in math after the kids grew up. My daughter flourished as a math student, despite the discouragement of earlier teachers (5th grade teacher to my daughter: “You can’t do advanced math if you haven’t memorized the tables.” (!)) I was a star student in high school: advanced calculus,…
Steve Alexander – the Inspiration
In June 2012, I started a new job. My boss had all the authority, and used it to my detriment. Yet I needed the job, and direct confrontation would not have secured my place. I considered quitting. Steve Alexander, my dear friend, told me he was once in a similar situation and he determined that the boss would not make him quit. How not to quit? Sometimes living by our wits is a better way to survive than what we used to call (maybe still do), “telling truth to power.” I started looking closely at how our ancestors lived by…
Back in the Saddle Again
Looking forward to getting back into regular meetings on the book of Samuel. We have a lot of exciting topics in the coming year.
Good discussion topic
King David amongst the Philistines, or how to trick your way into power when you don’t have authority. Note: men in the bible do this along with women.