FROM RABBI LIEBERMAN
“Death With Dignity Act” Ballot Initiative
This November, voters in Massachusetts will have the opportunity to cast their votes on several ballot initiatives, among them the “Death With Dignity Act”. The proposed legislation states, in its opening section: It is hereby declared that the public welfare requires a defined and safeguarded process by which an adult [...]
At Summer’s End
At Summer's End by John Engels Early August, and the young butternut is already dropping its leaves, the nuts thud and ring on the tin roof, the squirrels are everywhere. Such richness! It means something to them that this tree should seem so eager to finish its business. The voice [...]
The Return of “Boomer Shabbat”!
The current issue of Reform Judaism carries an article by Rabbi Mark Dov Shapiro of Sinai Temple in Springfield, MA which describes the “God survey” he distributed to his congregation. The article is worth reading because it reflects what many of us already know....that liberal congregations like his (and ours) [...]
Maurice Sendak, z”l
For my birthday this year, one of my children gave me a t-shirt with a wonderful image from In the Night Kitchen, one of the classic children's books created by the late, great Maurice Sendak, who died this week at the age of 83. I have long-admired Sendak's artistry, his [...]
Peak Experience
I have never been a mountain climber, but I do know about “peak experiences”. What is a “peak experience”? Wikipedia defines it this way: “‘Peak experience’ is a term used to describe certain transpersonal and ecstatic states, particularly ones tinged with themes of euphoria, harmonization and interconnectedness [my emphasis]. Participants [...]
Seeing the World With Pesach Eyes
Passover approaches. I lift my eyes to the top shelf of my bookcase, where lie many haggadot, some of them very familiar to me, others with spines unbroken. Each haggadah is a shard of refracted light, a piece of the spectrum of the Passover story that has journeyed through generations [...]