I Don't Have All the Answers

I don't have all the answers,
Not even the questions.

All I have is the will
To learn and to change.

And that's all I need.

Tu B'Shvat

Tu B'Shvat

The best is when

You start from scratch

All that could fail

Indeed fell flat.

And now, the Skies

Open to your plea

Give you a chance

To breathe and see.

To create anew

Just like He did

Something from none

Humility.

And that small seed

Blown in the wind

Will find new lands

New shades, new kin.

And water, too.

And yes, some sun,

Who would have thought

It'd be so fun.

Life is so good 

When you are there

Not to decide

All that is fair.

"The Kabbalah of Time" at NMB Public Library "Author Showcase Series"

Jacob, Israel

Jacob, Israel

I try so hard

In every way

To get Your smile

And get Your say

Perhaps one day

After all that trying

After all that living

After all that dying

My seeds will grow

To become trees

And testify

About that child

And then that man

Who tried so hard

And finally got

What he couldn't see.

Allah huAkhbar

G-d is Great

He is All and

More

People peep

Like mice at bar

Holes

And make Him

small.

Through the Cracks

Through the Cracks

In sealed windows

The students peaked

At passing cars.

Modern flashy 

Models, foreign

Convertibles.

Fast exposing 

All that South Beach 

Had to offer.

Class was dismissed,

Car pollution 

Now filled the air.

The kids had failed

To focus on 

The interior,

The future proud

Lessors bound to

Repeat afresh 

Rookie mistakes.

The new teacher

Still deciding

If to stand for

His principals.

It was too late

The cracks had long

Been open to

The heat and dirt.

The solution

Was to shed more 

Light and reach for

The Menorah

For the dealer

Across the street

Had captured the

Imagination.

Torah Portions

Devarim: The Desert in Words: 

Ki Tetzeh: Tackling the "Evil" Inclination 

Shoftim: Justice as a Communal Obligation

Re'eh: Destroying by Failing to Destroy

Ekev: G-d's Committment to the Land

Va'etchanan: "Giving it All You've Got"

Devarim: "All of Israel"


Bamidbar: Words in the Desert

Ma'asei: The Journey as the Cure

Matot: Verbal Agreements

Pinchas: Earning One's Place

Balak: Horrible Bosses

Chukat: Miriam, the Red Heifer

Korach: Human Calculations


Shelach: Ants, Grasshoppers

Beha'alotcha: Inverted Situations

Nasso: Brides

Bamidbar: Being Dear to G-d


Vayikra: In Service

Bechukotai: Pursuit and Self-Persecution

Behar: Working the Land, Working the Soul

Emor: Speak Softly and Carry a Big Kohen (Kohen Gadol)

Kedoshim Holiness, Sexuality

Acharei Mot: After Mourning

Metzorah: Life's Challenges

Tazria: Life and Death

Shmini: Knowing When to Be Quiet

Tzav: Elements of a Spiritual Work Out

Vayikra: The Fine (Humble) Line Between the Holy and the Unholy 


Shemot: Leaving Egypt

Pikudei: Focusing on Actions (Not Their Amazing Results)

Vayakhel: Shabat, Leadership and Community

Ki Tissah: The Right Way and the Wrong Way to Connect to the Tzadik 

Tetzaveh: Glory, Humility, Tiferet

Terumah: To Give or Not to Give

Mishpatim: Trust versus Initiative

Yitro: The Importance and the Danger of Foreign Influences 

Beshalach: Singing and Dancing

Bo: The Importance of Acting as One

Va'eira: Getting to Know G-d

Shemot: Purposeless Work


Bereshit: In the Parasha Series

Vayechi: Shechem in the Parasha

Vayigash: Oded in the Parasha

Miketz: Daniel in the Parasha

Vayeshev: Rachel in the Parasha

Vayishlach: Korach in the Parasha

Vayetzei: Jerusalem in the Parasha

Toldot: David in the Parasha

Chayei Sarah: The Four Exiles in the Parasha

Vayerah: Uriel in the Parasha