From the Executive Editor

In My Own Words: When words mean something different

By Rabbi Rachel Esserman

I originally read the phrase and thought it meant something completely different. The phrase I’m referring to is “silent quitting.” My first thought was, “Oh, people are quitting their jobs without giving notice to their employer? That’s unprofessional. T…

In My Own Words: An unusual beginning to 5783

By Rabbi Rachel Esserman

I did two unusual things in September: for the first time in at least 40 years, I did not attend services or pray during Rosh Hashanah. I also posted about the death of a relative on Facebook, something I’ve never done before. Both of these things occurred becaus…

In My Own Words: Culture shock

By Rabbi Rachel Esserman

I couldn’t believe it. That one sentence completely overthrew what I’d known as a fact since childhood. What could have caused such culture shock? It was a simple statement in the latest issue of the AARP’s magazine. I was skimming an article about dentistry …

In My Own Words: Divide and conquer

By Rabbi Rachel Esserman

“We need to grab our piece of the pie.” That worldview suggests that there are limited resources and, if someone else gets a piece of that pie, there will be less for us. It also means that we are always in competition for every resource, and therefore we shoul…

In My Own Words: My continuing journey with a CI

By Rabbi Rachel Esserman

If I ever doubted I had a computer attached to my skull, the letter I received in June 2021 made it clear. Cochlear, the company that makes my cochlear implant, sent a letter to everyone who used a particular version of one of its CIs that it was no longer going to…