Today is July 27, 2026 /
Today is July 27, 2026 /
Well-being has become the god of today. Everything we do is evaluated in terms of whether it promotes or diminishes our personal well-being. Does our daily routine offer us more health, happiness, and prosperity? Will it maximize our sense of personal satisfaction, diminish stress, and enhance our sense of meaning? Does it detract from or Continue Reading »
I once asked a rabbi: “How is your personal relationship with God?” Speechless, his face went white. Then, before he answered, I asked him a second question: “When was the last time you were asked that question?” This time he could answer: “Never.” I have raised this question countless times with rabbis over the past Continue Reading »
For almost 20 years, I’ve been taken by the idea that the Haggadah is constructed as the movement from silence to words to song – the enactment of freedom through the very modality through which we express it. Meaning, at the beginning of the Haggadah, there are no stories, no tales, no history lessons. There Continue Reading »
Becoming a Soulful Parent’s Director Dasee Berkowitz and Pardes Institute’s long-time educator Tovah Leah Nachmani invite you to learn about some of their most meaningful ideas they have used at their seders in these new Pesach-themed episodes of their podcast, Inspired Parenting. We hope it can inspire your own! How often do we share our Continue Reading »
In Southern California, over the course of a few days in March, anyone walking — or standing, or driving, or looking out the window — at almost any time of day was treated to a remarkable sight. Flying through the air were thousands upon thousands of butterflies. The creatures — orange and black Painted Lady Continue Reading »
I didn’t grow up in a religiously observant home. As a result, I don’t have too many Passover memories from childhood. My strongest memory is of my mother telling me that if I wanted to eat bread during Passover, I had to go outside. There is a single family photograph, taken in my grandparents’ narrow Continue Reading »
Megillat Esther is about hiding in plain sight. Hadassah becomes Esther — “I will hide” — hiding her true self until the dramatic scene in chapter 7, in which she also unmasks the villain who has been hiding in plain sight all along, right under the king’s nose. The masks we wear on Purim and Continue Reading »
Ayeka: Center for Soulful Jewish Education is seeking part-time Senior Educators to join our North America and Israel staffs. The position entails working with multiple schools, including their faculties as well as the families of their student bodies, via retreats, online, and in-person check-ins. Professional development, including via webinars and semi-annual retreats, are an integral Continue Reading »
Jonathan Haidt’s books have been stirring my soul, both his latest book, The Coddling of the American Mind. How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas are Setting Up a Generation for Failure, and his previous one, The Righteous Person. It is remarkable to me how on the one hand he can write such provocative and powerful Continue Reading »
It’s been almost 3 years since I read Kate Bowler’s New York Times op-ed, Death, the Prosperity Gospel and Me and I haven’t stopped thinking about it. At the age of 35, professionally successful, in a loving marriage and the mother of a toddler, Kate was diagnosed with Stage IV colon cancer. She is the Continue Reading »
