By Rabbi Rachel Esserman
I am not particularly adventurous. When I was young, friends would suggest a questionable activity and try to convince me to go along by asking, “Why not?” I would answer, “Sorry, I want a good reason for doing it.” Years later, I read a science article that…
By Rabbi Rachel Esserman
The Facebook friend request came with a message. Someone I haven’t seen for more than 20 years tracked me down and discovered I was still working. What provoked this search is that the informal Zoom minyan she takes part in had recently been discussing poetry and…
By Rabbi Rachel Esserman
My first thought was that winter is definitely coming. That happened after seeing that the emergency message boards on Routes 17 and 81 had a new message. No, they weren’t warning me about an upcoming storm. Instead, they were trying to entice workers to apply fo…
By Rabbi Rachel Esserman
It’s become a holiday tradition. Once the countdown to Christmas starts, I send a Christian friend notices from e-mails and websites about how many days there are to the holiday. I’ve also been known to let her know when displays start going up in stores, espec…
By Rabbi Rachel Esserman
We read and study the Torah each year because every year we can discover new insights or new ways to appreciate the text. Sometimes that study informs our ideas outside of the study group or synagogue. When looking at the story of Noah recently, something interestin…
