Rabbi Jonathan P. Kendall
I attended the funeral last month for a woman my age. This, alone, has a way of bringing one’s own mortality into sharp focus. Still, circumstances were decidedly different. This individual, the sister of a member, was developmentally challenged. Chronologically, she was sixty-five. Intellectually and emotionally, she was pegged at between 4 and 5.
Rabbi Jonathan P. Kendall, Rabbi Emeritus, Temple Beit HaYam
Several years ago I was asked to perform the wedding ceremony for an old friend’s daughter in Los Angeles. I flew in to San Diego a few days early so that I might visit a fellow I had known sometime in the past. We had worked together years before and shared some pretty remarkable experiences. His wife left him and he had moved to El Sauzal in Baja California – about ten miles north of Ensenada on the Carretera Transpeninsular. It was a pretty drive from Tijuana south along what seemed to alternate between Highway 1 and Highway 1D. The striking scenery along this coastal route kept me from focusing on the purpose of my visit.
Who among us is not familiar with the faith-filled words of Job who, in the midst of crushing despair and loss, utters the famous line, “The Lord giveth, the Lord taketh away; blessed be the Name of the Lord?”
There is a tradition with Judaism that the time between Pesach and Shavuot is spent studying the collection of sayings called Pirke Avot (Sayings of the Fathers).
Rabbi Richard F. Address, D. Min.
This collection of sayings is part of our Mishnah and dates from around the year 2d century of the common era. Many young people in Confirmation class study this as part of their pre-Confirmation studies. Read more
One of the most interesting developments in recent years has been the growing interest, on the part of baby boomers, in issues of health and wellness.
Maybe it is part of our own understanding of our own aging and the desire to stay vibrant, and active as much as possible. Maybe it is a subconscious desire to stave off the reality of mortality. Read more
