Bylined opinion and news columns published by United Hebrew Congregation Terre Haute.
During a recent Shabbat, we read the Torah portion B’shalach, which included the famous Mi Chamochah, or Song of the Sea.
This song is so integral to our liturgy that I wonder if we sometimes just sing it out of habit, without thinking about the lyrics.
When we sing out of habit, we might pay little attention, but we sing. Our prayers, even without music, have a rhythmic, musical quality. If we daven in the traditional way, we may sway with the rhythm of the prayers.
This month, I want to speak more about advance directives, also known as medical power of attorney, or appointment of health care representative, as it is more commonly labeled.
These are a statutorily created documents used by medical providers to permit a person or persons to make decisions about health care.
Like other powers of attorney, this document releases the doctor or hospital from liability for allowing someone, not you, to make health care decisions. It also permits this individual to receive personal information about your health care that would otherwise be private, and thus inaccessible to them.
Bagels are everywhere in the U.S. now, but finding a bialy is still a challenge in many places — including Terre Haute.
Some of you may be asking, what is a bialy? It turns out bialys did in fact get their name from the Polish city of Bialystock, where they originated.
Bialys are sometimes described as a combination between a bagel and an English muffin. They notably feature a partial hole (often filled with onions) rather than a hole that goes all the way through like a bagel.
Growth, in general terms, is often challenging to measure. How are people to know whether they or their communities are in a “different place” compared to an earlier point in time?
The minutiae of everyday life often prevent us from taking a step back for moments of introspection and evaluation. Growth is also a gradual process that, in a way, contributes to this lack of awareness.
Meanwhile, these very “micro steps” of the growth process are what propel us forward.