Category Archives: Personal

Step One Of The Twelve Steps

I admitted that my life had become unmanageable. Step Two Step Three Step Four This took me many years to admit. Though I was rarely thrilled with my life, it never occurred to me to 12-step because I thought that … Continue reading

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‘Sorry, Luke’

I think it was the summer before 11th grade. I was riding in the backseat of a car to Pacific Union College from Lake Berryessa in the Napa Valley. I was with my former classmates from the college’s elementary school … Continue reading

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What’s Chaste?

A few years ago, this girl had said to him late one drunken night, “What does ‘chaste’ mean?” Now she was hosting friends south of Cadillac in 90035 with her fiance. They were shomer-shabbat. As he headed south into a … Continue reading

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The F-Word In Shul

I frequently hear the f-word and other profanity used in casual conversations at shul, the Shabbos table, and the most holy of Jewish occasions. I think Reform and Conservative Jews may be less likely to use profanity in shul than … Continue reading

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Do You Believe In God?

I don’t remember a rabbi ever asking me if I believed in God or what I believed about God or, in fact, what I believed about anything religious. When I asked the editor of a Jewish newspaper if he believed … Continue reading

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