Dear Friends:“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the…

Dear Friends: I’m often intrigued by false cognates.  Hoodoos, also called tent rocks, are common geological features around Los Alamos, the result of erosion of soft rock underneath a harder rock.  This results in a tall, frequently tapered spire with…

Dear Friends: Our hybrid Friday evening service was interrupted recently in the middle of the silent, standing prayer, the Amidah, by a voice emanating from the computer speaker querying repeatedly, “Can anyone hear me?”  Although my solitude was momentarily broken,…

Dear Friends: Recently I scanned the headlines of the online news, and in my haste, I mistook what was written as bitcoin for the Hebrew word “bitachon,” Bitachon is generally translated as “trust.”  (Somehow, I think that putting one’s trust…