Did you give thanks yesterday? Did someone have a fork to your throat to force you? Thankskilling has that threatening tendency. How dare you not have something rote to recite when so pressed? If you live each moment of your life truly thankful, all I can do is admire you. You already know that abundant …
The Day After
The shitshow goes on. And on. I'm culminating my Ten Atonements series the day after the general election of 2020, or the day after that. Though circuitous, the thread of publicly eviscerating personal wrongdoing and society's sins is unbroken. Clearly, I (will) continue to overanalyze everything, trying to come to terms, coin terms, and make …
“Are You Here to Vote?”
The whole thing is backward. "Yes, I am." That answer didn't come naturally. "I can't," "not eligible," "not a citizen," "not this time" ~ you name it, I had said it to the people scattered throughout NYC streets each past election season, hugging clipboards and gesticulating pens at passersby. Come to think of it, I …
Shame on Us
I've done this before, written to you, my Soviet Jewish community. The preamble to that entreaty read: This letter is... a response to my own sense of duty and responsibility as a beneficiary of white privilege, as part of a non-black immigrant community, and as a member of US society. It is personal and collective …
Tashlikh ~ Indigenous Peoples Day Post
In the practice of tashlikh, תשליך, Jews symbolically "cast off" our sins by tossing pieces of bread into a body of water. This is done during the High Holy Days renewal ~ to unburden ourselves, give our transgressions physical form, watch them disintegrate and float away. Without changing or reducing the ripple effects of our …
Weekly Wins: Courting Court Watch
At least three victories and triumphs of (not exactly) the previous week or so. Paramount or minuscule, a win’s a win! Ever in search of meaningful, if unpaid work on criminal (in)justice, I joined Court Watch NYC. We literally witness criminal court proceedings to increase their transparency, making elected district attorneys and appointed judges immediately …
SeeknSea 