A young student once asked Rabbi Hillel to teach them all of Torah while standing on one foot. Hillel responded plainly: "What is hateful to you, you should not do to another person. The rest is commentary, now go and learn it!" Many religious traditions have interpreted these words as the Golden Rule—do unto others what we would have done to us—when indeed, that is not exactly Rabbi Hillel's interpretation. He suggests instead for us to consider what we would not want done or said to us, a general rule against any acerbity in our interactions with others. I am reminded often of this sweet teaching these days. At seven months pregnant with our second baby, it is impossible to ignore the physical manifestation of blessing that is growing within me. And with this growing gift, many people share with me what are almost always well-meaning remarks about my current state [...]

Two weeks ago, a young woman attended Shabbat services by herself. As I rehearsed music just beforehand, I noticed her looking around to see if there was anyone she might know, and saw her eventually choose a chair far away from where most other folks were seated. While we can never know fully what someone else is feeling, especially without speaking to them, it seemed to me upon first glance that she might be feeling lonely. Just then, I noticed that one of our board members—who comes to Friday night services almost every week—had arrived. Typically she comes with her husband, but that night, for whatever reason, she too was attending services alone. She also quickly noticed that this young woman had arrived by herself, and without missing a beat, she went up to her to make an introduction. I don't know exactly what their interaction was, but one [...]

At the time when one should be joyous, be joyous; when it is time to mourn, mourn(Midrash Genesis Rabbah 2:7)August is a month of highs and lows. For the Jewish people, this month of Av is often associated with the mournfulness of Tisha B’Av, a time when we grieve and remember the many sorrows and injustices of our communal past. It is also a month when it is easy to feel listless in the dry heat of both California and Jerusalem. It is of course also full of back-to-school buzz. In my family, August is a month stacked with back-to-back birthday celebrations. Today, I’m thinking of my Aunt Nancy, who passed away last summer from early-onset dementia, as it would have been her 73rd birthday. Nancy was one of those special people with a genuinely caring, selfless soul. She was a social worker by profession, literally tending to thousands of people [...]