read · reflect · kvell

The columns.

Five of them, 365 pieces deep, 345 of them free to read right here. One walks the week's parsha; the others look for the spark in an ordinary day.

Latest, across all five

• Finding the JoyWhere He IsWe took the red-eye out of Los Angeles on Tuesday night and landed in Atlanta on Wednesday morning. A kid behind me kicked the seat and coughed the whole way across the…September 11, 2026 · Parashat Rosh Hashanah I
• Spiritual SparksWhat Lens Are You Looking Through?A wise old man sat just outside a city when a traveler approached him. “What kind of people live in this city?” the traveler asked. The wise man answered with a question…September 9, 2026
• Your Weekly DoseThe Stories We Tell OurselvesThe commandment that Moses speaks of in this verse on his last day is the commandment to do teshuvah, to return to G-d.September 4, 2026
• The Shabbat DropWelcome to Jewish CroatiaCroatian Word of the Week: No Hebrew this week -we’re switching it up with the Croatian word for Jewish, which is Židovski, pronounced ZHEE-dohv-skee.September 4, 2026
• Finding the JoyThe Revealed PartMost of this week went on other people. Who needs what, and who has to move for any of it to happen. Some of it got settled. A good deal did not, and the parts still…September 4, 2026 · Parashat Nitzavim-Vayeilech
• Spiritual SparksYou Never Know!Four decades ago, two baby girls were born in India and adopted by different families in the Netherlands. They grew up only hours apart, unaware of each other's…September 3, 2026
• Gimme Some TorahThose Who Can TeachMoses tells the nation that he is now 120 years old and can no longer be active as their leader. (The literal translation is “I cannot go and come.”) Rashi gives us the…September 3, 2026
• Gimme Some TorahThe Creation of RepentanceThe Talmud (B. Nedarim 39b.)) says something interesting about the creation of תְּשׁוּבָה (teshuvah), which means repentance:September 2, 2026