Teacher. Lifter. Lyricist.
Hello friends!I hope you are making the most of the final days of 2025 and that you reached your goals for health, professional growth, and personal fulfillment. Sometimes I forget that life is not a series of tasks to complete, but a process that creates meaning. I often find myself working from a sense of … More Get Lit – Best of December 2025
Greetings, friends! Books This month I finished the book The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara. This episode in history was new to me, and the book captured the time period and its complexities in a thrilling narrative. As Italy was in the throes of turmoil, slowly breaking from papal rule and coming under greater European influence (read: enlightenment), … More Get Lit – Best of November 2025
Greetings, friends! Books I read the original Hebrew version of Achinoam (King Saul’s Wife) by Tami Ezer. I happen to love Biblical fiction. There is so much missing from the Old Testament, it’s easy to reinterpret the events according to other characters—in this case Achinoam. The story was compelling and familiar, and I am glad I read … More Get Lit – Best of October 2025
Hey everybody! Books I’ve noticed that my little students have the uncanny ability to live in the moment. They are inconsolable one minute when they think they’ve lost their lunch box, and skipping down the walkway when they realize it’s attached to their backpack. These little munchkins don’t hold grudges either. Whatever happened yesterday, stays … More Get Lit – Best of September 2025
Greetings, all! Books: I am reading an amazing book by Betty Edwards, Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain. What makes this text so special is the blending of philosophy and practice. Ms. Edwards instructs the reader through various drawing exercises, teaching the reader how to “see” and then translate the sights to paper. The … More Get Lit – Best of August 2025
Hi, everyone! Books I read nearly a dozen books this month. Vacation suits me. Here are two choice quotations. “Crying is for when there’s nothing else left to do.” – There There by Tommy Orange. This collection of short stories follows the familiar format of “six degrees of separation” when all characters finally meet during the last scene. What … More Get Lit – Best of July 2025
Here are this month’s offerings as the world turns and burns: Books I re-read the Hebrew translation of The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Expuéry (whose eventful life is summarized for the National WW2 Museum). The story follows the Little Prince from outer space who lands on Earth. As he wanders in the desert he meets a snake … More Get Lit – Best of June 2025
Hey everyone! Books I decided to read Sholom Aleichem’s famous work, Tevye’s Daughters (the book serves as the basis for the musical Fiddler on the Roof). It was a tragedy as Tevye’s family broke apart, as his community was dismantled, and as Jewish traditions were abandoned under Russian violence. The language, even in translation, reflects the speech patterns … More Get Lit – Best of May 2025
Let’s review this month! Books I read Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History. The author S.C. Gwynne spared no details in this riveting history of the Plains Indians. On one hand, life as a native tribe was brutal. In … More Get Lit – Best of April 2025
Howdy ho, friends! Books There’s a reason Jews read the same chapters in the Old Testament year after year, the lessons are invaluable and need to be repeated. Some aren’t religious, or observant though. And so I HIGHLY recommend The Daily Stoic by Ryan Holiday and Greg Hanselman. It is one of those books you should keep … More Get Lit – Best of March 2025
Find the balance. 