Blogs

In class this week, one of my students presented a fable written by the late French-Canadian author, Léon-Pamphile Le May. The fable, entitled “Les deux ruisseaux et le rocher,” tells the story of two streams flowing from the same source who encounter a gigantic rock blocking their path. The rock warns them to turn away, and one of them listens, meandering this way and that until it ends up in a forgotten...Read more...

Earlier today, I went through the Student Handbook with my advisee group at the school where I teach. We reviewed the Honor Code, Major School Rules, and Statement of Expectations, as we do every year, and my advisees proceeded to sign an electronic statement to affirm that they had reviewed the Handbook and were committed to respecting all the rules. As we talked, sunshine streamed in through the windows and a soft...Read more...

There was once a young Hasid who devoted his life to studying the religious texts of our people.  One night, without any apparent reason, this pious young man closed his Talmud and ran out of his house into the middle of the town square, crying out, “What is the meaning of life?  I cannot go any further, I cannot study one additional verse of Torah without knowing the meaning of life!” 

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One of my favorite scenes from the Amazon Prime show The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel revolves around the holiday of Tisha B’Av, which fell this past week from Monday to Tuesday evenings. Midge’s family is gathered at a resort in the Catskills, oblivious to the occasion, but her sister-in-law, a delightfully sincere yet comical recent convert, is determined to observe the day to the letter, fasting from sundown to...Read more...

For the past few days, I have been in the Catskills, hiking, swimming, visiting historic sites... As I look out the window of the storied resort where I am staying, there is green as far as the eye can see: warmer, brighter tones in the foreground and cooler, more minty ones from the mountains in the distance. Families are playing tennis, that friendly elderly couple will probably be sitting on the front porch...Read more...