Don’t want to read? Take a listen, here. Last fall, I wrote about going back to school, taking a Judaism 101 class with friends, taught by the award-winning Rabbi Michele Faudem. In truth, I had started a more formal continuing education journey earlier in 2025, when I went through the 2164 Approach Training for Philanthropic […]
Don’t want to read? Take a listen here. With graduation season here and wedding season underway, we hear a lot about firsts. First real paycheck. First time hosting a dinner party (maybe Shabbat through OneTable!) — or the first big decision without asking your parents for advice. It has me thinking about another kind of […]
Don’t want to read? Take a listen here. For 29 years, I worked for other people. I had a fulfilling career supporting organizations through fundraising and leadership development, and then nearly a decade supporting a family philanthropy’s commitment to Jewish organizations — locally, nationally, and globally. But as of May 15, 2025, that changed. I […]
Don’t want to read? Take a listen here. If you have, you probably remember him. He’s not a breed you see every day. There are a fair amount of Australian Shepherds out there, but nowadays I feel like I more often see doodles — of all sizes, shapes, and colors — and less of any […]
If you’ve been reading these missives, you know that I am a habitual exerciser. I lay out my clothes the night before, think through what I want to do, and wake up and GO. The routine is almost automatic — the decision was already made the night before, so there’s nothing to negotiate with myself […]
Don’t want to read? Take a listen here. Now that I’m blogging pretty regularly, I’ve noticed that my writing has a couple of patterns. For one, I like to use an em dash (“—”) when I write. I find it more forceful than the semicolon, and it sort of mimics the cadence in which I […]
Don’t want to read? Listen here. I can’t tell you how often I hear that phrase. I (most likely!) disagree. Well, what do you do? Some sentences I hear: I support charities. I give tzedakah. I tithe. I serve on the board of a food pantry. I buy raffle tickets to support my child’s school. […]
Don’t want to read? Take a listen here. I’m willing to bet that if you’re reading this (or listening to it!), you have had a positive influence on someone’s life, and that you may have done it unintentionally. When I started my MSW, a rabbi at my synagogue asked if I’d teach religious high school […]
Don’t want to read? Take a listen, here: I have been writing a lot about legacy, and community, and recently, about the biases that accompany memory. I often touch on spirituality without always naming it as such — that sense of connecting with power and people beyond the physical realm, different from, although often in […]
My notes here have been of the emotionally heavy variety lately, so today I’m thinking about something a bit lighter: the silly, the mundane… and compliments and insults. I try to give compliments often—sometimes to people I know well, sometimes to people I’ve just met. It can be as simple as noticing someone’s shoes, their […]
