End Less

All too often life takes an unpredictable turn, and we find ourselves on a dead end street.

Or so we think.

We step outside the car only to find that the dead end street has a beautiful path into the woods.

We walk through the verdant woods to the other side.

An opening so bold and so vast stares back at us.

Our dreams are alive in the green pastures before us.

Life gives us "Dead Ends" so we can see beyond them.

The Greater Good

We never know when we will be called upon to serve the greater good. The interview with Kojo Nnamdi yesterday was an effort to release the good vibrations of Divine intervention between Rev. John McCoy and me.

Thanks for listening, if you were able. If not, the audio is available here, and a description of the interview, here. Please share with your friends and families.

Doing the Right Thing

During the Holocaust, righteous gentiles were asked why they protected and hid Jews during the war. In spite of the dangers that existed, they all simply stated: “It was the right thing to do.”

Doing the right thing is never simple or easy. When people all around you are not doing the right thing out of fear and self-preservation, the correct choices become cloudy and cumbersome.

Take a look at the tapestry of you life. What would you sacrifice to do the right thing?

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Reminder: Please join me today, at 12:30 p.m., at The George Washington University Hospital (900 23rd Street NW, Metro: Foggy Bottom) at a rally to protest my firing in August. I will be speaking, along with several other leaders of the D.C. religious community.

And if you can't make it to the rally (and haven't already done so), please take a moment to sign the petition to GWU Hospital.

This Sunday, March 7, at 4:00 p.m., I will be speaking on a "Faith and Healing" panel at the Partnership for Jewish Life and Learning's Routes event. The event is all-day, at the Washington Convention Center (801 Mount Vernon Place NW, Washington, DC 20001). Click here for a complete list of speakers, and here to register.

Later that evening, at 7:15 p.m., I will be speaking on an interfaith panel, "Developing Understanding Among Abrahamic Faiths: Opportunities for Cooperation in the Local Community," at St. Charles Catholic Church (3304 Washington Blvd., Arlington, Virginia 22201).

Thank you for your continuing support, and I hope to see you today and/or Sunday!

Nothing Less Than Gold/The Fearless Factor

What does it mean to live fearlessly? We can see in the Olympic athletes a physical fearlessness. They are totally engaged in life in the moment, and their purpose is crystal clear. Can we also live our everyday lives from that place of exquisite focus and inner power?

The activity of being alive can be a triple lutz or a downhill run. Believing in the art of the possible is a spiritual practice. To live for the gold, practice what you believe in.

Rabbi of the Month

This month, I am JDate magazine's Rabbi of the Month!

Saying Kaddish in a Blizzard

Yesterday the Washington Post published my reflections on my father's yahrzeit, which was Wednesday, in the middle of the blizzard that engulfed the Washington, D.C., area.

Also, I will be leading shabbat services at Bethesda Jewish Congregation (6601 Bradley Blvd, Bethesda, MD 20817) on Saturday, February 13, at 10:30 a.m., and on Friday, February 20, at 8:00 p.m. I would love to see you there!

Desire is My Organizing Principle

The Talmud tells us that in the world to come, everyone will be called to account for all the desires they might have fulfilled in this world but chose not to.

Desires are sacred according to the Rabbis. Who put them there if not God herself?

There is no shame in wanting. No limitations to fulfilling our needs.

Desire is a deep expression of life.