Rosh Hashanah 1984. Saratoga Springs, NY

The Biblical story does not attempt to crack the mystery of creation.  It is not meant as an eye-witness account of what actually happened when the universe came into being.

It does, however, point us toward the deep meaning of the creation of a world.  And the creation of an entire world is just the same as the creation of a single cell.  Which is just the same as the creation of the cosmos as a whole.  And the creation of the universe, we are taught by ancient wisdom and by modern science, is the same as the creation of a human being.

1984

By closing our eyes——not permanently——but for part of our twenty-four hours, we open ourselves to a knowledge older and more profound than that we can attain alone. In that darkness, distant voices come to us more clearly.....Hillel,.....Ruth,... Miriam,.... Moses,.... arguing, weeping, laughing voices rolling together into the thunderous voice of God upon the mountain.

1982 HUC-JIR, Los Angeles

A rabbinical student once sought to know the meaning of faith. As it happens, he did most of his learning on the subject at night. At the peak of his struggle with the problem, he received a series of nocturnal visitors, all of whom had strong and widely differing views of the nature of religious faith. Because it seemed to me a matter of great importance and of universal interest, I have recorded the student’s conversations with these visitors as they were told to me,

Yom Kippur 1981

I would like to share with you some of my attempts to grab hold of the holiday. I’ve just begun turning them over in my mind lately and hope that they may help you in your struggle with this impossible season Hayamim HaNoraim--the Days of Awe.

June 1975 Penfield HS Graduation

Nowadays, “cool” describes anything good or excellent or nice or superior.  The unabridged dictionary dedicates half a page to connotations of cool.  The reason “cool” has stayed, and even taken on broader meanings, is that “cool” has always meant unexcited/calm/dispassionate. Today, unexcited/calm/dispassionate is the best way to be.