Coming Up On 56

Children Of Israel Are Never Alone

Hey, beloved tribe.

This isn’t going to be a full-length newsletter, just a Sabbath message.

Tomorrow is my birthday (impossibly, I’ll be 56) and I’m going to the Oregon coast to spend it beachcombing and basking in a temperature range within the 60s, even as Portland sizzles in weather that’s 30 degrees hotter.

I’m also going to spend the day in contemplation about where to go with all my initiatives in the coming year. I feel that I’m building communities that are serving our people in many good ways but I want and aspire to do so much more. I’m dreaming of different creative workshops and events and retreats — of ways to serve grieving parents and lonely college kids and people feeling isolated from their progressive former support groups. I want the book club to reach critical mass so we can make a real difference for Jewish authors. I want to figure out ways that Israeli Jews and diaspora Jews can bridge the gap in understanding that often arises between us, given the very different sets of pressures each group is facing. I want to pay attention to practices that foster emotional wellness and resilience and offer them in service of our collective mental health.

I’m so deeply grateful for all of you and the support you’ve given me since I started this newsletter. I honestly don’t know where I’d be without this community. I think I would have gone mad in my attic long ago.

Thank you so much for being here and abiding with me.

I love you all so much and can’t wait to be back with you next week.

In the meantime, I’m wishing you a peaceful and restorative evening and weekend.

Shabbat Shalom.

Am Yisrael Chai.