Even though it feels like we’ve been traveling quite a bit, last week was the first vacation we took in the year since my father died. We spent four nights in Tel Aviv and packed in a lot. We were there during a week of warmer than usual weather, so we even went into the sea. No photos of that, since we just took towels … Continue reading praying in Tel Aviv, amidst the negative space
I am circling towards the end of this year of mourning. Rosh Hodesh Adar will be next Wednesday, and I am working on figuring out so much. Did I do a proper job of honoring my father? Should I have done something else? Would I recommend to others that they do what I did or how they should figure out what they should do? I … Continue reading Redefining kavod, again
Or grey; it’s a gre/ay area. The phrase “fade to black” came to mind recently, maybe because my hair is not, maybe because my friend sent me a photo of the snow of New England after I sent her this: These were from the day before: These were from the week before in Sataf outside Jerusalem: Yes, grateful to be watching the opening of the … Continue reading fade to gray
I realize this blog is called “touching toes”, but these past few weeks have made me focus on touching hands. We have been experiencing a lot of different occasions; our grandson putting on Tefillin for the first time (at the Kotel no less); a wedding; visiting Jerusalem with family; visits and day trips with visiting friends. When looking through the photos that I finally was … Continue reading hands on
I went to wash my hands this morning and phphpht phphpht No water. ISHI at that moment was calling the water department and they hadn’t known about the stoppage; it wasn’t scheduled by any of their workers (which happens frequently enough). Thankfully, truly thank G-d, at that next moment, the water returned. So that’s the question and the answer; isn’t it? We are so spoiled … Continue reading respecting the source
Now that shemittah is finished for the year, the work begins again. As with most areas of Jewish law, apparently, things become more complicated than perhaps they need to be. But until things change, we work with what we have. And what I have is a messy post-shemittah garden. I am grateful that most people looking at it would not think it so; it has … Continue reading the healing of weeding
I tend to see things as signs. That’s not a problem; I see things the same way as pages read or lessons heard; ways to learn new things. Or sometimes, it can be a way to learn old things. I could have called this “The Dawn of a New Day”. But I realized we never start over from nothing. After six years here in Israel, … Continue reading starting over with chaos
כִּֽי־אָבִ֣י וְאִמִּ֣י עֲזָב֑וּנִי וַֽיהֹוָ֣ה יַאַסְפֵֽנִי׃ Though my father and mother abandon me,the LORD will take me in. Psalms 27:10 We are here in the states in order to hold an unveiling for my father this Sunday. It would have been his 97th birthday. And since it’s also Labor Day weekend, we thought it would be easier for people to attend. I also wanted to delay … Continue reading who has been abandoned?
It’s easy to take things for granted. Part of what I’ve been trying to do is figure out when things started and perhaps why they did, especially if there had been a change. At some point, he started doing the mitzvah of visiting the sick. How and when did that happen? I realize that for all the photos I have of my father, none of … Continue reading but enough about me
touchingtoes 