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by Aleta Bryant It is almost impossible to watch television, or view other forms of media without being inundated with advertisements for 23andMe or ancestry.com , where we learn the stories of everyday people who, tracing their DNA and ancestry, learn they are related to great chieftains, famous jurists, inspiring social activists, or even President […]

This short story is based on a strange and evocative dream I had.  Looking back, he took a double take. He looked again. Where in the world had that come from? It didn’t belong to him. And, what in the world was he going to do with it? He continued driving down the rural, country […]

Last week Arnie and I attended Shabbat services at another synagogue to hear our grandson read Torah. The congregation acknowledged the beginning of the month of Elul. The rabbi was not there, rather a lay leader offered congratulations and a blessing to a young couple who will be married in a week. He mentioned that […]

It is both my pleasure and great honor to introduce my son, Brett, the Honor Roll student and poet. Five years ago, he was diagnosed as being High Functioning on the autism scale. The progress he has made is nothing short of phenomenal. I have never considered my son’s autism to be a handicap but […]

Elul, the month of reflection and preparation. At this time significant words pass through my thoughts. Words like repentance, reflection, introspection, spiritual stature come into my time of prayer, chanting, singing and even when I am driving on a beautiful sunny California day, windows down, sun roof back, with either the Beach Boys singing their […]

I have often wondered how do we feel G’d’s presence in today’s modern urban society? When I am in the store looking for a particular item and there is exactly one of that item left on the shelf, was G-d responsible for my good fortune? When I long for a day free of obligations, and […]

In June/July of this year, I fulfilled a life-long dream to travel to Eastern Europe, specifically to Poland, Lithuania and Belarus, the cradle of Jewish civilization and culture for centuries before World War II. My father was born in Vilnius, Lithuania (part of Poland before WW II). Part of purpose of the journey was one […]

Those who know me understand the title of this piece. Skeptical is my middle name. So where does this doubting instinct come from and why do I always look for another explanation? Even before I could read, probably around age five, I began doubting. The memory of this event is vivid and pops up every […]

Many years ago, I attended the Catholic wedding of one of my students. During the ceremony, the priest intoned, “… and let us say a special blessing for the outcasts, the lepers and the Jews.” I could not restrain my outward guffaw of laughter, knowing that the groom, my former student, would well-understand my inability […]