I Want to Die on the Trail
This is a prayer fantasy envisioning my death. G-d willing, it will be some time from now. I’m not ill, but of the age to begin…
Read articleHero of Ukraine
This prayer-poem for the people of Ukraine incorporates a quote from Ukrainian poet and artist Taras Shevchenko, writing from St. Petersburg Citadel Prison in May, 1847,…
Read articleMinisters of Earthly Blessings
Angels are first mentioned in the Talmud in Masechet Brachot 4b. Quoting a Tosefta, we learn the number of flights an angel needs to get from…
Read articleOne-by-One: A Prayer as the COVID Death Toll Mounts
The U.S. death toll from COVID-19 is approaching 100,000, as the world-wide death toll surpasses 350,000. This prayer was written at the request of the Central…
Read articleMourner’s Lament
A short meditation about the daily shifts that mourners may experience on the journey to healing, based on my own experiences of mourning. I wrote it…
Read articleFor Rabbi Peter Knobel, z”l
Rabbi Peter Knobel z”l has died after suffering a massive heart attack almost two weeks ago. A gadol b’dor, a giant of this generation, a tzaddik,…
Read articleTaharot in Pittsburgh
As the Jewish world mourns the murders at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, a group of private individuals are preparing themselves to perform taharot. Taharah…
Read articleYizkor after a Suicide
My family doesn’t know the full circumstances of my wife Ami’s z”l death, but it was probably suicide. This is another prayer about suicide, following the…
Read articleTender End of Life Vidui
A confessional prayer at the end of life, from This Grateful Heart: Psalms and Prayers for a New Day. Here are more memorial and yizkor prayers, including meditations…
Read articlePrivate Meditation on the Death of a Beloved Public Figure
A beloved teacher, I didn’t get the chance to know Rabbi Aaron Panken z’l. Yet from everything written about him — from obituaries to Facebook posts…
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