What if I Don't Believe in G-d?

I got to make this video with Ruthie Guggenheim. She is a no nonsense hero who has been chugging away sometimes single handedly at Jewish Education for decades. What an honor. Even though we're sitting Talk Show style there' s one thing different than a Talk Show. Well, actually there's a lot - no band, no commercials  and no audience (but you!) The main thing that's different though is that its completely unscripted. We were just both thinking of Amy or Sarah or whoever it is out in middle America who may be searching for her roots. And we thought - what would she need to know. And so our conversation began. The cool thing is - that I actually want to have a talk show. One Day. Wouldn't it be awesome to feature amazing people in meaningful conversation broadcasted everywhere?   Read more...

Good Bye Wrapunzel

    Last night was Good Bye Wrapunzel night. Its a huge change but we are sure that  this will be the beginning of something incredible I can't explain it in more profound terms, we just KNOW that despite the loss, everything is going to be amazing. In preparation for this new stage we've been fixing up our house. All those places (like our torn couches) that we had ignored while we were breathlessly busy were suddenly staring up at us with pitiful eyes; "Fix me, take care of me, make me a home again."

Sorting through our books

Anyway, its been a long time in coming and it's been a  powerful cleansing process.  You may not know this, but Wrapunzel ran out of my daughters old bedroom. We painted it and put up shelves to accommodate the tichels  but it wasn't long before the shelves spilled out of the room and lined our hallways. It was a little crazy! LOTS of tichels! Now that a new era is here I feel a yearning to reclaim my space - to lavish my rooms with love and attention so that they'll hug us and hold us while we finally take some time to breathe. Its our way of making a vessel for G_d to send blessings - bring it on! ( Plus  - no more playing with tichels all day so home decorating is a wonderful art form as a replacement!)

My new writing space. ( previously the Wrapunzel room)

I look forward to more blogging and getting to share more of our life with you with all this freed up time! Love, Rivka Malka If you haven't already, come subscribe to my blog, that's where it's happening! Subscribe HERE.       Read more...

Letting Go

Today a friend shared with me some  wisdom borrowed from a Buddhist teaching. The topic was letting go, and it really stuck me deep in my core. As I listened to the simple words they resonated and vibrated deep within me and I recognized a power that I never knew that I had. The power to let go. Going through a transitional time myself it's particularly poignant, but truly it's relevant to all of us at all times: Here goes: He tells this story. " I learned something from my teacher in the way that great teachers teach. Not with many words, but a small subtle lesson that makes your world open up. I was walking with my teacher, taking a stroll, when he bent down, picked up a stick,  turned to me and asked, "Is this heavy?" I nodded. Then he threw the stick to the side "Now it isn't." It's only heavy when you hold it, but if you let it go , it's got no weight at all. Profound, simple and unforgettable.  It's only heavy when you hold it, but if you let it go , it's got no weight at all. He taught me that the  first way to uncomplicate life is to travel lightly. We carry so much around all the time. Worry and anxiety crowd our mind. We regurgitate old wounds and chew on them thinking that they'll nourish us. But they won't, they'll poison us. Imagine you had a backpack filled with big rocks and you had to carry it everywhere you went. Imagine  you just didn't know how to take it off and put it down. You'd be so grumpy; so sick. You'd be exhausted. Are you exhausted?  I don't want to be exhausted. So I need to get rid of those rocks. I need to look in there and  see what I don't need and throw it away. This is the first step in the process of letting go."What can I throw away?" You know, you can throw away so many more things than you thought you could. Nothing bad will happen, I promise. We spend so much energy  telling and retelling our most heart wrenching stories to ourselves and to others. I know I spent many years doing that,  but it's not worth it.   Until now I thought  you learn from the past. I thought I  had to hold on to it or it would have been for nothing. You don't. The lessons you learned are already a part of you. Trust that. And trust that you can be here now, alive and present, fully actualized without reliving the stories again and again and again. In fact, its even deeper. You don't learn from the past, you feel pain from it. Its just rocks on your back weighing you down with every step you take. holding you back from being happy.We can  empty our mind of those stories. If we need them to teach someone about life we can always find them again, but the bag on your back can be empty and light. I'm letting go, I'm free falling into the wonderful destiny G-d has in mind for me.  Looking ahead there are a thousand ways to give to the world and I'm bursting with excitement to give and to share. If you haven't already, come subscribe to my blog, that's where it's happening! Subscribe HERE.     Read more...

Letting Go....

Today a friend shared with me some  wisdom borrowed from a Buddhist teaching. The topic was letting go, and it really stuck me deep in my core. As I listened to the simple words they resonated and vibrated deep within me and I recognized a power that I never knew that I had. The power to let go. Going through a transitional time myself it's particularly poignant, but truly it's relevant to all of us at all times: Here goes: He tells this story. " I learned something from my teacher in the way that great teachers teach. Not with many words, but a small subtle lesson that makes your world open up. I was walking with my teacher, taking a stroll, when he bent down, picked up a stick,  turned to me and asked, "Is this heavy?" I nodded. Then he threw the stick to the side "Now it isn't." It's only heavy when you hold it, but if you let it go , it's got no weight at all. Profound, simple and unforgettable.  It's only heavy when you hold it, but if you let it go , it's got no weight at all. He taught me that the  first way to uncomplicate life is to travel lightly. We carry so much around all the time. Worry and anxiety crowd our mind. We regurgitate old wounds and chew on them thinking that they'll nourish us. But they won't, they'll poison us. Imagine you had a backpack filled with big rocks and you had to carry it everywhere you went. Imagine  you just didn't know how to take it off and put it down. You'd be so grumpy; so sick. You'd be exhausted. Are you exhausted?  I don't want to be exhausted. So I need to get rid of those rocks. I need to look in there and  see what I don't need and throw it away. This is the first step in the process of letting go."What can I throw away?" You know, you can throw away so many more things than you thought you could. Nothing bad will happen, I promise. We spend so much energy  telling and retelling our most heart wrenching stories to ourselves and to others. I know I spent many years doing that,  but it's not worth it.   Until now I thought  you learn from the past. I thought I  had to hold on to it or it would have been for nothing. You don't. The lessons you learned are already a part of you. Trust that. And trust that you can be here now, alive and present, fully actualized without reliving the stories again and again and again. In fact, its even deeper. You don't learn from the past, you feel pain from it. Its just rocks on your back weighing you down with every step you take. holding you back from being happy.We can  empty our mind of those stories. If we need them to teach someone about life we can always find them again, but the bag on your back can be empty and light. I'm letting go, I'm free falling into the wonderful destiny G-d has in mind for me.  Looking ahead there are a thousand ways to give to the world and I'm bursting with excitement to give and to share. If you haven't already, come subscribe to my blog, that's where it's happening! Subscribe HERE.     Read more...