Hidden Blessings in Difficult Times

We just completed a period of mourning in the Jewish calendar last week, the three weeks leading up to Tisha B'Av.  Usually, we'd wrap up that period with an intense day of mourning, most of it spent at the Synagogue mourning the destruction of the Temples along with many other calamities that have befallen the …

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The Calm Before the Storm

On the farm, you could see storms coming from far off, the wide, flat horizon offering a good view of storm clouds gathering miles away.  More than that, though, you could just tell when a storm was coming.  Birds would quiet and the air would still, feeling heavy.  Before a big summer storm, it would …

Chanukah, Light, and Happiness Amidst Adversity

It's Chanukah, but we never got the decorations up.  I have quite a collection of Chanukah decorations, most of them delightfully cheesy, like the string of menorah lights.  Most years, I put them up before Chanukah with the kids and it makes the house a little more cheerful amid the winter gloom.  This year, I …

Yosef’s Dreams and the Faith Clinic

In this week's Parsha, Yosef has dreams that he will be the greatest of his brothers and yet, he finds himself thrown into a pit and then wrongfully imprisoned on his way to greatness.  There had to be times, in the pit or in the jail cell, that Yosef's dreams had to seem very far …

And Leah’s Eyes Grew Dim

I know we've moved on from the epic story of Jacob and Leah in the parsha.  This week, we're talking about Joseph and his dreams and how he wound up sold into slavery.  However, in my own life, this morning, the idea of Leah's eyes came to me. It's often said that Leah's eyes were …

Vayeitzei, Cancer, and the Power of Laughter

In this weeks parsha, poor Jacob goes through a lot of trials.  First, he has to flee his home under threat of violence from his brother.  Then, he sleeps on a rock and wrestles with an angel, earning him the name Israel and a wound he carries the rest of his life.  When he does …

Asher Yotzar and Watching Him Sleep

When my children were babies, I used to catch myself staying awake even though I was exhausted just to watch them sleeping.  I'd marvel at their perfection and I would have this feeling of not wanting to miss a single moment.  I wanted to make time stand still and memorize every feature of them. Since …

Cancer

It's a word that cuts through all other noise, that stops one story and begins a new page.  It's the word I was struggling to process this last Wednesday, as Mr. Safek lay drowsy in front of me.  We'd come in for a colonoscopy to explain some symptoms he'd been having and we were leaving …

The Ups and Downs of Elul

I always have the best of intentions and plans for Elul.  Really I do.  I usually plan a new class or book to read on it.  I look forward to the month anticipating all the wonderful deep spiritual work I'm going to do. And then, it always seems like life happens. Elul is the season …

Elul and the Great De-Beigification of 2019

The man who owned our house before us got a really great deal on some very drab beige paint.  I know this because there are still 5 gallon buckets of it in the basement and it covers all the walls, ceilings, and up until last week, even the crown moulding.  That beige is everywhere, making …

One Year A Jew and One Year Married…Again

Yesterday was my wedding anniversary and, as usual, the biggest question most of my friends had was "How long have you been married?"  In this case, like so many others with my family, this was a simple question with a complicated answer.  It all depends on how you look at us. From a Jewish perspective, …

A Year as a Jew and More Questions

The title of this blog, "The Safek" refers to the Hebrew word, safek, for question.  Up until last summer, that question was my husband, who lived his life in the awkward position of neither being a Jew nor NOT a Jew for 7 long years before that question was answered.  (Spoiler alert...he was a Jew …