• Entrust your pain to the community

    A few months ago, I read this essay called: “Two Lessons learned from this Ancient Piece that Changed My Life” written by Sharon Brous who is a Rabbi. This is an excerpt from The New York Times. “A somewhat obscure text called the Mishnah, which is a very old Jewish legal document has been my unlikely teacher and guide for the past many years, and my north star. The Mishnah gave hope to all in need as they circled the Temple of Jerusalem. For those in pain, they would turn to the left and the ones giving care and compassion would turn to the right. They would meet in the…

  • Job and Our Suffering

    Last week at a small Bible study group of four women, we chose the Book of Job to study for the next few weeks. When I began to read it I wondered why I was so interested in studying a book full of relentless suffering. It was difficult just to read the first few chapters. Take a look at the above engraving by William Blake. This is how Job begins — prosperous — a big family, great riches and lots of animals. Shortly after we began the book, there was an OP-ED on Saturday, September 26th in the NY Times. The title was ” How Can We Bear This Much…