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Good Morning 10-11-26

I Am My Father's Daughter

I admit to being a bit of a math nerd. I love statistics. I like spreadsheets with all their formulas that can calculate columns and rows. Heck, when my kids brought home algebra books in junior high school, I sat up and did story problems after they went to bed just for the fun of it. Definitely a math nerd. Not a math whiz by any means, but a nerd for sure. Galileo once said that, “the laws of nature are mathematical.” He’s absolutely right. Think about the symmetry of a sunflower or, the fact that limes come with 8 … Continue reading Good Morning 10-11-26

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Good Morning 10-9-26

I Am My Father's Daughter

The Rebbe, Menachem Mendel Schneerson, famously responded to people who wrote to him about their problems. His thousands of letters over the years have been catalogued in books. In one such letter, the Rebbe responded to a man who complained habitually about nearly everything in life. The Rebbe’s reply was recorded in the “Igrot Kodesh” or “Holy Epistles.” He said: “In the world in which we live, everything contains a mixture of good and evil. A person must choose which of the two aspects he wishes to emphasize, contemplate, and pursue … How instructive is what our sages tell us … Continue reading Good Morning 10-9-26

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Good Morning 10-8-26

I Am My Father's Daughter

There was a little old lady who was nearly blind, and she had three sons who wanted to prove to her which one was the best. The eldest son bought her a 15-room mansion, thinking this would surely be the best that any of them could offer her. The second son bought her a beautiful Rolls Royce with a chauffeur included, thinking this would surely win her approval. The youngest son had to do something even better, so he bought her a parrot that had been trained for 15 years to memorize the entire Bible. You could ask the parrot … Continue reading Good Morning 10-8-26

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Good Morning 10-7-26

I Am My Father's Daughter

Today is the third anniversary of the attack on Israel. In the aftermath of that horrific event, there will be protests and marches in support of the people who perpetrated the attack. These are people who called Israel genocidal the day after more than 1200 innocents were brutally slaughtered and 251 taken hostage. Since that day, we have come to understand more about what happened. The release of Brett McGurk’s book, “Brink,” tells the story about his role as lead American negotiator in every round of hostage talks from October 2023 through January 2025. He was President Biden’s Middle East … Continue reading Good Morning 10-7-26

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Good Morning 10-6-26

I Am My Father's Daughter

We have come to live in a world in which the war between the sexes has created a divide greater than anyone could possibly have imagined. There are women on TikTok describing in detail how they left their husband, not because he abused them or cheated or even was an uninvolved father. They left because they were unhappy. Some of these women record themselves trashing men in general. They want to live in a world without men. All this while holding a phone created by men, sitting in a car manufactured by men, and living in a home built by … Continue reading Good Morning 10-6-26

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Good Morning 10-5-26

I Am My Father's Daughter

Do you have a favorite book, one you have read a dozen times for the sheer joy of it? You know the plot, the characters, and how it ends. Still, you read it again. Maybe it’s a favorite movie. You are channel surfing on a Sunday afternoon and a favorite movie pops up that you have to watch. It’s “Terms of Endearment” or “Top Gun” or some other movie that you love. Perhaps it’s your tradition to watch a particular movie at Christmas. Ours was always “White Christmas.” Another perennial favorite is “Home Alone.” And who hasn’t watched “The Wizard … Continue reading Good Morning 10-5-26

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Good Morning 10-4-26

I Am My Father's Daughter

We attended our first Simchat Torah service in 2019, if I remember correctly. It was shortly after we moved to Egan and prior to the announcement of the pandemic in March of 2020. It was a raucous event. They opened the ark at the end of the service and there we saw a plethora of little red plush Torahs. The children in the congregation rushed to the front and each received a Torah to dance with. Then they pulled out the real things. The coverings of the scrolls were beautifully ornate, and the top of each scroll wore a crown. … Continue reading Good Morning 10-4-26

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Good Morning 10-2-26

I Am My Father's Daughter

Tomorrow is Shemini Atzeret and Sunday is Simchat Torah. These are the seventh and eighth days of Sukkot. In Israel, both Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah are celebrated on the same day. Simchat Torah in 2023 fell on October 7th, a day that lives in infamy as Israel was brutally attacked by Hamas. Their first target was the NOVA Music Festival that was held just east of the border between Gaza and Israel. Three hundred and seventy-eight people died there that day. Over 1200 people were massacred that day — men, women, children, and the elderly. They were celebrating at … Continue reading Good Morning 10-2-26

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Good Morning 10-1-26

I Am My Father's Daughter

Each of the Jewish holidays have some central item upon which our focus rests. During Passover, it’s the matzah which represents the unleavened dough that the Israelites had to grab before it was ready as they fled Egypt and followed Moses into the wilderness. Now it’s a vehicle not just for the mitzvah of eating it as part of the ritual meal shared on Pesach, but a challenge to every Jewish cook’s creativity. It’s breakfast with peanut butter smeared on it. It becomes a substantial thin crust pizza. You can make the base for a delicious, sweet treat by layering … Continue reading Good Morning 10-1-26

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Good Morning 9-30-26

I Am My Father's Daughter

Our Torah and Tea ladies group met yesterday morning in the sukkah at the synagogue. It was a perfect day; not too hot, nor too chilly. We took a slightly different path from reading an article or another chapter in Jonathan Sacks’ book. The meeting always begins with people sharing what happened in their lives in the previous week. Rosalie went first. She had planned a big trip to New York City to visit her daughter. They had tickets for a show and, since they’d gotten an AirBNB on the Jersey shore, she hoped to see the neighborhood they had … Continue reading Good Morning 9-30-26