The Drash

People sometimes use the words spirituality and religion interchangeably. The words are worlds apart. Spirituality implies seeking a deep, individual connection with God. People who say they are “spiritual, but not religious” practice yoga and meditation,...

Prior to Simchat Torah there was some discussion about how our shul would acknowledge October 7, 2023, which had fallen on Simchat Torah. We concocted an elaborate plan.  We would commemorate the loss on Shemini Atzeret during Yizkor.  We would then dance...

Over the years, I’ve heard the word “lapsed” used to describe a person who is not particularly connected to his or her faith. Recently, however, I’ve come up with something else.  I am going to start to use the word “dormant.” Faith never truly exits...

For the past eight years I’ve lived in Georgia, I would say conservatively, I spend at least two minutes a day, four days a week, stuck at the traffic light at the intersection of Johnson Ferry and Roswell Road. So, I finally decided to do the math. 2...

As I drank my $6.99 Diet Coke at the ball game the other night, I had somewhat of a revelation.  Earlier that day, I had gone out for lunch and spent $2.50 for the same Diet Coke.  A few days prior, I had spent $20 to buy 48 cans of Diet Coke at the grocery...

“Cheers” is the place where “everybody knows your name.”  But places like Cheers are getting harder and harder to find. I don’t need to tell you that there has been a major shift in the way that Americans have become consumers.  Once upon a...

This past Sunday Amy bought us tickets to see Beauty and the Beast at the Marietta Performing Arts Center (at Marietta High School).  She saw an ad for the show hanging up in Marietta Square and thought it would be a good activity for the kids to...

Walking down the main aisle in Target, I spotted a more senior congregant.  We had not seen one another in some time.  We saw one another, smiled widely, laughed for joy, and embraced. I then turned to my right.  At the very same time not...

There are many lessons that we can take away from Purim.  But the one that I’ve always been partial to is the importance of learning to “let go.” We all have that one thing.   A painful memory.  A person who treated us badly.  Days, or even years later,...

I was driving toward a traffic light on East Cobb Drive the other day when a woman in a black Maserati SUV backed into my car.  She had tried to make a right turn, pulled halfway into the intersection, and then decided that she didn’t have enough time. ...