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favorites spirituality

The iPod Method for Spiritual Enlightenment

Many of us seek some form of enlightenment, a release from the mind, so that there can remain a simple capacity to just “be.” So off we run to workshops, travel to ashrams in India, chant on mountaintops in Tibet, sit on our meditation cushions, go to church, read spiritual texts, and even fall to […]

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family home on traveling ukraine

Home, Homeland and the Heart

It’s quite powerful the pull that a land, a place can have on us, and how unabashedly quickly that can develop. When I left Ukraine by train a few weeks ago for a few days, 7 am departure towards Bulgaria, I was very strongly feeling the pull to stay, and the loss that comes from […]

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family Jewish life ukraine

Things We’ve Handed Down – Family Roots

So now I’m off in search of my ancestry, more specifically to find the roots of my paternal grandfather Moise Zeldman who came from a town called Khotin (pronounced around here with more of an implied K rather than a firm one). The photograph you see to the left is one of my grandfather before […]

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family

Lu and Joey Together Again and the Inheritance of Grief

I did it. I brought what remains of my mother’s ashes to rest with her first husband Joe in a cemetery in France. (Please read previous post first for more background). It was a powerful and truly wonderful experience. What clearly stands out for me in this experience is the amount of grief that we […]

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family life

Inchworm

Today is the day I dealt with the “Chicago portion” of my mom’s ashes. It was a wonderful experience. I drove to Foster Ave. beach where my mother loved to lie in the sun and swim and I set up a little altar. Nothing much, just a photograph of my mother and I together, my […]

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india life

Ready to Sing Halelujah!

I’m floating. It’s amazing being back here in the United States.  Didn’t expect to feel this way, but here it is and here I am.  And it really has very little or nothing to do with the fact that it is the United States.  It’s really me within the US.  I feel in a way […]

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favorites india on traveling

Sweet Moments in Palani

Another incredibly precious moment here in India, this time in Palani where i’m spending a couple of days. It’s a major pilgrimage place. While on the bus coming here, one could see many, many groups of people walking together in this direction. I knew then and there that it would be a special place and […]

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family speaking the truth the truth

When I Look in Your Eyes

Today while at the beach with some friends, we came upon a seal on the beach (pictured above) that appeared to not be doing so well. It’s generally strange to see seals on the beach here as they tend to stay on the rocks except to pup. Anyway, we thought about what to do and […]