Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing
Zeke and May had been married for over seventy years. Zeke was 101 years old and his wife was 99. One hot afternoon, as they sat together on their front porch rocking away, the old man, who was nearly deaf,…
Shed a Lotta Light!
There’s a very old Jewish story about a woman who’d pretty much had it up to here with her life. It seemed she had nothing but tzuris and couldn’t find a way through the mess. So she went to see…
Our Huynh Family
These words were presented on Shabbat Vayera (Fri, Oct 30, 2015) as part of “Throwback Shabbat: The 60s and 70s,” a 50th anniversary celebration of Woodlands Community Temple. Beginning in December of 2010, the world watched with extravagant hope as…
Thanks for Nothing (a Sukkot reflection)
While procrastinating about writing for tonight, I watched what I thought was a pretty extraordinary and wonderful film called The Road Within. Released without much fanfare earlier this year, it’s about three teenagers – one with Tourette Syndrome, one with…
Elul: Preparing to Forgive … Others, and Ourselves
The 19th century German poet and essayist Heinrich Heine once wrote, “All I ask is [for] a simple cottage, a decent bed, good food, some flowers in front of my window and a few trees beside my door. Then if…
The Honor of Being Alive and Part of Creation
Holmes and Watson go on a camping trip. After dinner and a bottle of wine, they lie down for the night and go to sleep. Some hours later, Holmes wakes up and nudges his faithful friend. “Watson, look up at…
Zero to Hero
My brother Jimmy came up from Florida last week to spend time with me and my family. Jimmy is number five of the six Dreskin children. I’m number six. We’re two years apart. Much of my childhood was spent fending…
Unclean After Charleston, SC
In this week’s parasha, Hukkat, it is still the second year after the Israelites’ liberation from Egyptian slavery. They’re still at Mount Sinai receiving instruction from God through Moses. Eventually, the topic of instruction turns to death. As is true…
On LGBT Pride Month
I was invited to write this piece of ReformJudaism.org where it was published on June 19, 2015. I hope you find it worthwhile reading. Billy I did not know that June is LGBT Pride Month. I’m not gay, which may…
The Phone Lines of Human Connection
Woody Allen once said, “In California, they don’t throw their garbage away. They make it into TV shows.” While much of television really is mindless drivel, we certainly love it. It’d be good to limit how much we watch, lest…
