“… Down in front of Casey’s
Old brown wooden stoop,
On a summer’s evening we formed a merry group.
Boys and girls together we
Would sing and waltz.
While Tony played the organ on
The sidewalks of New York.”



As an apprentice under Oscar Hammerstein,

Consummate wordsmith brought words to the point of a rhyme.

His work spanned theatrical lifetimes, his sense of rhythm, was simply sublime. 

His content dictated the form as a sentence,

Turned a paragraph into a story through rhyme.

Sinatra sent in the clowns, and Bernadette Peters took a walk through the park with George.

Ambition only superceded by talent.

Like when “good things get bettter/bad things get worse/Wait—I think I meant that in reverse.”

He took us “Into the Woods” and in good “Company” were we.

Every theater lyric a short story, every line the weight of a paragraph you see.

“A funny thing happened on the way to the Forum with a “Little Night Music,”

And a “Gypsy” or three.

With “Passion” he composed the story,

From the “West Side” of the street was the call. 

Dear Mr. Sondheim, in our memory, you will always, yes always Stand Tall.

You threw a lot of spaghetti and All of it stuck to the wall. 

Have a Good Day! In Sondheim-esque fashion-face the music, whistle a tune and sprinkle some passion as your day goes along. 🎼

The room was comfortably full, not packed. The A/C offered a Brrr so any remnant of heat left over from Indian Summer was left outside our “four walls.”

Rabbi Lookstein walked up to the podium with his particular cadence we’ve come to know through the years. I was appropriately clad in the “right” length skirt. And so the stage was set, the evening began.

We were at KJ Synagogue to hear Dr. Rabbi Ari Berman, President of Yeshiva University speak. The write up about the evening caught our eye. He spoke on Sin, Self Perception and the Art of Living. 

The timing for us to hear this was propitious. Yes, G-d offers no coincidences. We walked away from the evening a little more fine tuned on some immediate issues that have been dealt to our extended family.

He touched on the distinction between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. He detailed the difference in prayer between looking at and embracing your sins, your misgivings and your wrongdoings. 

He was light on the emphasis of sins necessarily being terrible shandas worthy of punishments and more on ways we have wronged others. 

Then he moved on to the meaning of wearing white on Yom Kippur, praying for the forgiveness of behaviors that we feel we can better.

Straightforward, his words flowed with a pleasant melody and his sincerity offered comfort. We, as Jewish people are factually in the minority.

Our importance and roles in society however, quite the contrary. What was in the minority last night as well, were cells phones beeping, ringing or being accessed. We were there to listen, perhaps learn.We respected his spirituality and wisdom about keeping the peace pipe moving. L’dor V’dor.

We left the Rabbi’s sermon feeling comfortable, embraced and that our well being was cared about by a virtual stranger, an ordained man.

In the love your neighbor category and a look after your own way, we question why it is often easier to be more kind to strangers than intimates.

In a divine order play out, we are placed in positions in families and situations that because we are “just humans” will inevitably offer conflict and need for repair. So perhaps just for today, several weeks short of wearing a white outfit and sneakers why not look to our left, glance to our right and say we are sorry to someone we may have wronged. Maybe if we begin to own a piece of our behavior we can move on in a healthy way to the sounds of cell phones ringing and beeps of texts coming in. Amen!

One hundred memories of life in a box.
One hundred memories of life.
None were left on the cutting floor.
None were lived through a splice.
We are sorting through decades of life on the run, baby pics and sporting events.
We are heavily endowed with the emphasis on Fun and go on while we still -can run.
Papers of sadness, rekindled our grief, a moment to sit and reflect.
A box filled with toys unfolded the joy-blessed with 2 girls and six boys.
Our heap of relief.
Legos and baby dolls, more shoes than we need.
So we sort and we pack and we throw and we keep.
On from Plan A to Plan B and C.
Wait don’t toss that just yet.
We may need it some day to learn how to knit, or to sew or crochet.
Tomorrow may offer a second chance ok let’s keep it out of the way.
One hundred more memories of life in a box.
Can you believe we did oh! so much.
We are moving on to a chapter unknown.
New ventures and hobbies and such.
So we add some more “stuff,” to the bag of give aways.
We pray we won’t miss that old sweater.
We have a little room in the box that says “save.”
As we move on to new ventures in warm weather.
On our way we will go, yes we are ready and set.
We will count on the hope of new beginnings.
With our lives wrapped up tight.
0n our wings with our prayers.
As we sail into sunsets unknown.
Here’s to one hundred more boxes.
Of memories to make as we add a new Place to call Home.



On the days before the Jewish New Year your presence in our lives feels even more pronounced. We sit still for a moment and reasonably try to evaluate where we could try harder, embrace change and clean up shop.
We hold on to the lessons that have propelled us into a place with more acceptance and the understanding that our journey is just that. The people in our path who are deceptive are there to help us understand wrong from right. The benevolent, kind and selfless offer us lessons for good values. One of your long term themes is for patience. We go along at our own pace and hope that our recognition of who needs a leg up grows more keen with time. Our gut is really our mind speaking through our heart. You know when you know. Don’t underestimate a vibe, a sideways look on someones face. Some of the people, some of the time.

When we are pushed to the limit in our values you leave us with the decision to hold tight or compromise and restructure. When we slip up and waiver we look over our shoulder for the feathers, or dimes you drop along our path.
We feel less alone.
There are days we wonder when it’s our turn again for you to come back our way. It’s often during our toughest lessons.
And so we wake up early, make the coffee as we begin the “Days of Judgment.” We will wait for the feathers, leave our “judgments” in the recycle bins and know, as long as we work together our backs will be covered. Gmar Chatima Tova.

5784

The meant to be-of what came before.

Let’s double down for healing strong.

A better a place for which to belong.

Life becomes more difficult.

Everything lived with much more caution.

We are praying and hoping this year, Dear G-d, for please an easier portion.

We’ll aim to overcome our considerations.

We’ll vow to jump through hoops.

Send our blessings across the waters, to our devoted troops.

On Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.

We will sing and praise the Lord.

Paying attention in place of tired, listening instead of bored. 

Our prayers will recall memories of the frivolous days of our youth.

Let’s usher in the New Year and continue our path for truth.

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