Collections of Thoughts and Poetry

#mahneejun #grandmothers #iran #isfahan #visitstoisrael #sharedlanguage #love #rice #poolaki #tea #mint #greens #persianfood #kaddish #remembering I started writing about four years ago. I had wanted to write children's story books this a draft I wrote a few years ago. Today is my mother in law's Azkara (Yahrtzeit). Mahnee Jun (Batya) was born in Isfahan, Iran, which I understand was a beautiful place and had a large Jewish community and she later moved to Tehran. She and B

#masekhetbrakhot #brakhot #dafyomi #apageaday #whendowesayshema #blessingourfood #theshmonehesrei #drbanan #doreita #blessingsoverfood #whendowebless #birkhathamazon #mezuman #talkingtalmud #inmemoryofmom #mothersanddaughters #wordshavewings #sayingkaddish #kaddish Imagine a group of dedicated rabbis whose job it is to create a new way of life after a people is decimated and scattered away from their land and their way of life. Judaism, such an ancient religion, was built o

#prayer #openyourhands #openyourheart #thedanceofprayer #sayingkaddish #kaddish #africandance #sufidance #hassidicdance #nativamericandance #danceasprayer #wordshavewings #mothersanddaughters #irmag #covid19 #missyoumom #thankyoumom #dancingwithyourheartopen #feetonthefloor #dancetofeel #danceforjoy #rabbinachman #breslovchasidim Dear G-d, if only my heart would be straight with You all the time, I would be filled with joy. And that joy would spread all the way down to my fee

#time #sevenoclock #eightoclock #wakeup #timetowakeup #covid #socialdistancing #morningprayer #sayingkaddish #kaddish #irmag #mothersanddaughters #clocks #clockfaces This post is dedicated to two synagogues whom I have virtually visited over the past few days; Anshei Emet Synagogue in the Lakeview Neighborhood in Chicago and and the Emanuel Synagogue in Hartford, Connecticut. ***************************************************************************************************

#kaddish #sayingkaddish #covid19 #lifeathetimeofthevirus #prayer #Chicago #synagogue #davening #shacharit #sayingkaddish #blogwordshavewings #wixblogwordshavewings When I got up this morning and came downstairs I had already missed the shacharit minyan in local synagogues, so I went hunting in another time zone. I found a service that was being broadcast from Temple Beth Shalom in Chicago so at about 8:15 AM I became part of a Chicago service. The rabbi, seen below, was

#minyan #shabbat #socialdistancing #onlineservices #kaddish #wordshavewings #cancelled Who would have thought a few weeks ago when I began this blog that shul would be cancelled? Closing a synagogue essentially closes the doors to community and comfort but it only one cog in the wheel of closures that are being used as an arsenal of weapons against a tiny but virulent common enemy. I began this blog as a way to reflect on the process of saying kaddish, but I believe that it

#ten, #kaddish, #sayingkaddish, #wordshavewings, #minyan, #nine, #onepersonlefttheroom #countingwomen #dowomencount #idocount A funny thing happened at synagogue this morning. A small group of people were at the synagogue for Shacharit and as we approached the end of the Shacharit service the Ba'al Koreh stopped his prayer. There was the sound of some people rustling in their seats, others gesturing and then just silence. One of the men in the room opened the door, checked o

#silence #poetry #kaddish #sayingkaddish #rememberingmom #amida #morningprayer #sephardicjews #irmag #irma #wordshavewings I usually arrive a few minutes late to Tefillot in the morning. When stepping into that holy space, usually during the silent Amidah, I am transformed, not by the words but by the silence. The words transform those who are praying. Are they lost in their prayer? I cannot know what their kavvanah (intention) is but I can reflect upon the silence in the