These are dark days. I'm not referring to the state of the world. We definitely live in a challenging world, but I choose to look at the bright side of things.

I'm referring to the season of the Jewish calendar in which we now find ourselves.

Life is hectic. Information comes at us faster than we can possibly process it. Podcasts to listen to. Books to read. Emails to answer. School forms. Family responsibilities. Date nights. Work. Errands. The list never seems to end.

So what is really important?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that for the first time since the days of King Solomon, Jews truly have it good. We have much to be grateful for, especially for the freedoms and opportunities this country has provided.

Gratitude is one of Judaism's most fundamental values. In fact, each morning, before we even get out of bed, we begin our day by expressing thanks:

The Rebbe often instructed his Chasidim to avoid politics.  Not because we lack backbone, for who greater than the Rebbe stood up for the Jewish People, faced the fears that many post war Jews carried and moved the Jewish People forward.

Our mission is the Jewish People. Our mission is connection.  Our mission is the Torah.  Our mission is the Mitzvah.

This Monday I had the honor to travel to NY, post the Rebbe's Yurzeit on 3 Tammuz to visit the Ohel.

We finished early and since I'm very smart I decided to change my flight from 8:30 to leave a little earlier to the 6 PM flight.

We live in a culture that treats conflict as a disease. If people disagree, someone must be wrong. If there is tension, we assume something has gone terribly awry.

But Judaism sees it differently.

Are you unsettled inside? Anxiety, discontent, discomfort?Who isn't? Today's therapeutic brain science tells us that in early childhood our sense of self is formed.

Perhaps more than any other time in history we live in the era of the individual. Old norms, old structures are being replaced without revolutions. Regular folk making decisions on how they can disrupt industries are succeeding and the world is changing with it.

Seven Rabbis were summoned late at night for an early morning exclusive session to determine if the year should be interlocated (fancy word for adding a month - a Jewish Leap Year) as is proscribed.  Eight Rabbi's showed up. This is not the beginning of a joke.  True story Talmud Sanhedrin.

Neither the bent over suffering depictions of Jews by anti-semitic cartoonists, nor the image of the modern Jew the buff warrier are the authentic depictions of either the Torah's value nor the true meaning of greatness.

I love when that happens! That was my uncle Schwartzie’s favorite line and the name of his book. He meant this in the context of recognizing the hand of Hashem when seeing the dots connect in interactions and events transpiring around him/us.

The orders of the Torah portions are intentional. In preparation for the holiday of Shavous we have the rebuke in this week’s Parsha, similar how it is two weeks before Rosh Hashanah. 

This week I had a difficult discussion with a colleague. I walked away from the conversation sad for my colleague and also not feeling great with how I showed up for that individual (perhaps the two are tied together).

What's in your ear(pods) or you are what you consume.

Do you ever find yourself agitated or angsty for no reason? And then you remember that you saw a disturbing news piece, read a bothersome email, or someone said something that set you off?

I am not particularly interested in outer space. 

There, I said it, and it feels like a confession. For someone my age—Gen X, raised on rockets and Reagan and the promise of “the final frontier”—I’m aware this borders on heresy.

Although Pesach is over, the aura of the holiday and the spiritual effects of the Matzah and Wine remain inside of us having become part of who we are.

The idea of imagining slavery or being kept hostage is not a foreign idea.  These past two + years we have lived with the plight of the hostages, their suffering, their release and now their stories.

One of the most familiar passages of the Haggadah, a quote from a Mishna reads, "in every generation one is required to see themselves as if they left Egypt". 

When was the last time you brought an animal sacrifice?

In the opening of the third book of the Torah we are introduced to the Mitzvah of sacrifices.  We know the Torah is eternal and its application is at all times.

This week we end the second book of the Torah - Shemos. As is the tradition we announce and call up on strength three times - Chazak Chazak Vinischazek - be strong, be strong and be strengthened.  In Jewish teachings, three creates a permanence and enforces.