When you lose control over your writings...

Today, I went on MyJewishLearning.com to make a list here of all my articles on that site (notice new sidebar). I wrote several articles for them over about two or three years. I loved it and was very proud of my work for them. At one point, the editor changed, she and I had some miscommunications, they changed the lay-out and focus of the site (which I feel is now SO much less attractive and user-friendly), and I stopped writing for them. (Sigh.) I still feel that MJL is one of the best sites to learn something Jewish that isn't filled with a personal or denominational biases.

When I went to the site, I did a bit of a freak-out. I wrote for MJL several articles without a by-line, mostly topical overviews for sections. Several of these now have been significantly altered. I will admit that these additions are mostly for the better. Originally, the topical overviews had a pretty rigid word-limit, which seems to no longer apply. So the extra info is great... but it still feels eerie to read an article in which sentences and paragraphs of your writing are interspersed with that of another person or persons.

More on Keva and Kavanah, Fixed Ritual and Spontaneous Intention

MyJewishLearning.com - Daily Life: Repetition and Spontaneity

After leading tefillah last week, I thought my sixth graders and others might like to learn some more about keva and kavanah.

Israel may OK division of Jerusalem - Yahoo! News

I woke up early this morning, unable to free my mind of a to-do list that kept getting longer and longer during the Tishrei holidays. Laundry that's been piling up since the beginning of Sukkot. Finishing up the curricula I've been writing for my sixth- and eighth-grade students. Continuing to put away wedding gifts and finish thank-you notes. Send gifts purchased in New Zealand, on our honeymoon. Finishing the unpacking from the honeymoon. I think you get the idea. I'm hoping to go back to sleep momentarily, but I turned on the computer to find out that Jerusalem might be divided again--not the Old City, mind you, but a separation of the Palestinian and Jewish neighborhoods into Palestinian- and Jewish-governed areas.

In reality, there really are two Jerusalems already. Once, several classmates and I tried to catch a taxi in the Rehavia neighborhood that would take us to a teacher's house on the Arab side of town. It took us four attempts before we could find a driver to take us.

Still, I don't know how many Israelis and lovers of Israel are ready for this.

Israel may OK division of Jerusalem - Yahoo! News

NPR : The Questions We Must Ask

NPR : The Questions We Must Ask

On Sunday, Sept. 30, I drove to work and listened to a remarkable piece on NPR's Weekend Edition. As part of their "This I Believe" segment, NPR presented a piece by a Jewish educator who argues with her Israeli mother about whether individual rights and the security of a country can be balanced, and where the weight must be placed. It is respectful of two sides of an argument among Israelis and lovers of Israel all-over.

It's also worth looking at the other "This I Believe" segments and asking oneself: "What do I believe?"