Our entire world continues to search for ways to counteract the rapid, destructive, and deadly spread of this malicious coronavirus. Recognizing that self-isolation is the best weapon in our arsenal, the vast majority of us are hibernating in our homes in ways that we’ve never experienced before. What makes all this particularly bizarre is that while regions of the world have faced a variety of cataclysmic disasters, we’ve never been in a situation where every single corner of the entire world is facing the same exact disaster. Our experience of reality has been dramatically and overwhelmingly upended. And, at the very time that we need the presence of others we are cut off from them. We’ve read stories of loved ones separated by panes of glass, of parents who worry about caring for their children should they contract the disease, of families decimated by an unseen perpetrator. And yet, astoundingly, [...]

Once there was a country that selected its rulers with a special bird. Whenever it was time to choose a ruler the bird would be released from its cage and allowed to fly around the room. The fortunate (or unfortunate) individual upon whose head the bird landed became the monarch. Once, the bird landed on the head of the palace jester—in those days she was a slave. All gasped, but the bird was never wrong. The jester didn’t skip a beat and accepted the role. However, she had a small, simple shack constructed next to the palace and in that shack she placed the simple trappings she had as a slave. Her straw bed, the court jester’s outfit she was once forced to wear, her one wooden chair. Once a day she’d enter the shack, sit in the chair, and take in the simple surroundings. She’d also take off her [...]

Get rid of your Maxwell House Haggadah! I thought I was finished reminding folks that the Maxwell House Haggadah was a thing better left in the past, but only recently someone told me that their family is still using it. We are creatures of habit and it’s hard to let go of the things that give us so much comfort or are easily familiar. However, when it comes to Passover, innovation and renewal have been at the center since the Biblical origins. The story we tell on Passover is clearly ancient. It’s been told for thousands of years and its origins as an oral story antedate the Torah itself. A careful reading of the Torah actually reveals that there was a time when there were separate holidays devoted to matzah (simple unleavened bread) and Pesach (the ancient animal sacrifice). Over time, these two holidays of spring became one and the [...]

With her permission, I’d like to share a portion of an email I received from Wise member Adena Frank as her family is sheltering at home: We have fallen into a rhythm and are adjusting to our “new normal”...not sure if we will ever completely get back to where we were just a month ago, but I do see a friendlier and kinder community going forward. I have lived in my neighborhood since 1986 and am meeting neighbors I have not ever seen before. Everyone says hello instead of just looking down or nodding. People have been so courteous when we do venture out to the grocery store or pick up at restaurants. A stranger in the market alerted me that they just stocked the shelves on the next aisle with a few essential goods.  My neighbors baked me the most delicious challah and left it at our doorstep last [...]

In January of 1975, the virtuoso jazz pianist Keith Jarrett was scheduled to give a concert in Köln, Germany. The young and unseasoned concert promoter believed that she had secured the concert grand piano that Jarrett required for his concert but on the day of the concert, the crew had installed a rather poor quality and far smaller practice piano. Attempts to secure the concert grand were thwarted by poor weather that would have damaged the fine instrument. A piano tuner was called in to do what he could to prepare the piano. Jarrett arrived late after an exhausting travel schedule and difficult journey from his previous performance. A meal had been arranged at a nearby restaurant but the restaurant suffered its own disasters and Jarrett barely had time to eat. He was also in such back pain that he required a brace to sit on the instrument’s bench. When [...]