Marita Anderson – Chaplain, Writer, Teacher, Parent
There was a time when children began the study of Torah not in the beginning at Bereshit (Genesis), but by delving into the middle of the Torah at Vayikrah (Leviticus), the detailed instruction for Temple sacrifices as atonements for wrongdoing. According to midrash, children’s innocence
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I write this from the Spiritual Care office of a large hospital in Atlanta, where the ICU has been expanded, and then expanded again, to accommodate the frighteningly high number of patients who are critically ill with the novel coronavirus. Whereas six months ago, we
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My grandmother spent her childhood in the outskirts of the prison/labor camps in Siberia, where her family members were sent by Stalin in the late 1930’s. She buried 2 generations of women in our family in Siberia, including her mother and grandmother. Her life was filled with
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“Oh, liberty! Treasure your liberty!” said the man behind the double pane window. Speaking into the visitation phone he whispered, “All I wish is to magically turn into a bird so that I can fly away.” He looked up for a moment and closed his
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During this season of self-reflection and spiritual preparation for Yamim Noraim, the Days of Awe, we are invited to contemplate our behaviors and ways we can heal by asking for forgiveness. Our traditional prayers are explicit about what constitutes sin. Those of us who attend
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If you imagine the revelation narrative, or the encounter between the Israelites and G-d, as a tapestry stretched on a loom, it is as if the pattern of weaving was interrupted in chapter 19 (Yitro) and weaved anew in chapter 24 (Mishpatim). At the end
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With my 9-year-old son, I recently visited the National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, Ala. The Equal Justice Initiative erected this powerful memorial to honor the victims of racially driven hatred and terror by lynchings, and it is worthy of pilgrimage. We went
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The Israelites who escaped Mitzrayim (a place of constriction) did not reach their destination for forty years. Instead, they entered the wilderness of the desert (BaMdbar, related to d-b-r root for “to speak”). They left a narrow place where they were bound to the wills of their human masters and were
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In the last few years, I have made time to go on meditation retreats and friends are often curious to know if I find it challenging. Without a doubt, the most difficult part of being in silence for a week is staying off technology, a
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Have you ever heard a person say, “I am a bad Jew”? I hear it all the time, usually in response to something having to do with Jewish life or spirituality. Upon further inquiry, I usually find out what that statement means. Sometimes it means,
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I have always had a difficult time understanding and relating to the Book of Leviticus. After all the family drama in Genesis and the arduous escape from slavery in Exodus, it’s hard to sustain attention for the laundry list of priestly rules concerning the nitty-gritty
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My 11-year-old son recently interviewed my grandmother about her life. She described a life of difficulties that are unimaginable to my son’s generation: survival of World War II, life in Siberia, existence as an orphan at a young age, oppression under the Communist regime, anti-Semitism
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My kids have a picture book on their shelf called “You Are Stardust,” in which Dr. Elin Kelsey, a professor of environmental science, describes the unity of all life on Earth. The book gives examples of the interdependence and interconnectedness of each human life to
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In my work as a chaplain and as a person out in the world, I sometimes encounter vulnerable people who are survivors of abuse, abandonment and human cruelty. Their inevitable questions rise up: “Why did this happen to me? Why did this person do that
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The Torah shows that we should not blindly follow our hearts. The heart is a miraculous organ whose function is to push and pump blood throughout the body. A ball of muscular tissue, the heart contracts and relaxes with the continuous rhythm of a metronome,
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Holding my hand and a cup of hot cocoa, my daughter skipped with confidence onto a playground in a small town outside Atlanta. After a few minutes of observing, she ran off to play with some kids who were pretending to run away from bad
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My husband and I are those crazy parents who give their children names that barely make the list on the Social Security survey. When my daughter was born, we named her Hallelujah because my husband cried every time he heard Leonard Cohen’s song of that
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Many of us, who dedicate our lives to non-profit work and social entrepreneurship, have spent the past year in a perpetual state of frustration. Our country’s deeply divisive political climate and the innumerable losses progressives have suffered can make the practice of gratitude during Thanksgiving
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Staring at the stars offers a glimpse at something greater than ourselves. When I was little, 6 or 7 years old, my house would remain lit up and full of life long after my bedtime, and I just hated going to sleep. I
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Noise is endangering our very capacity to listen and to hear. The president of the United States engaged in a Twitter back and forth with NFL and NBA athletes over the weekend of Sept. 23 and 24, filling the airwaves with threats and harsh judgments
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The air in Jerusalem is different. My daughter complained of a headache as our bus climbed toward the heart of the city, but I told her it was just the change in elevation. I did not tell her that the air is thicker in Jerusalem,
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You recently gave a talk at an Emory University Alumni gathering titled “The Case for Career Polygamy: Turning Passion Projects into Profit.” What’s a career polygamist? The title came from my frustration that LinkedIn only allows you to list one career path on your profile.
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For the second Passover seder, Temple Emanu-El hosted clergy from Greater Piney Grove Baptist Church, a 5,000-member congregation in Atlanta’s Old 4th Ward. My husband, Rabbi Spike Anderson, and I were eager to reach out beyond Sandy Springs. Our new friends were curious and interested
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My youngest daughter was about to turn 5 and days before her birthday, I still had no plans. I searched for ideas online, hoping to find something that would be quick and easy to plan, and found a website that offered pony parties. The ponies could
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My family lived in Odessa during the Communist regime until the Soviet Union imploded in 1990 and there was nothing to hold us back from leaving. I grew up listening to grown ups share terrifying stories of hardship, poverty, and anti-Semitism, but what I remember
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I bought my ticket to Washington DC shortly after the election, when I heard a protest march might be forming. It was a reaction to the relentless waves of emotions I was feeling: disappointment, shock, sadness, and worst of all, fear. I felt
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“Mr. Gaga” is a documentary profiling the life and work of Ohad Naharin, an Israeli choreographer and the director of the Batsheva Dance Company, based in Tel Aviv and renowned all over the world. This film is about the art of dance and offers a
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“Harmonia” is an Israeli film that is shaped by layers of meaning and is satisfying on many sensory levels. At first, you might think this movie is about music because it is centered on the life of an orchestra conductor and his beautiful wife, a
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As we prepare to gather in our homes for Thanksgiving, I have heard from several friends who are filled with anxiety about their time with family members who hold a different version of what is best for our country. This year, the holiday stress is
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Are you ready for the holidays? I don’t know about you, but I rarely feel ready. When you live the life of a clergy family, this time of year often feels rushed and overwhelming. Even if you are not clergy and are unaware of the
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Why would a Jewish chaplain and wife of a rabbi sign up to spend three days with her children at a Christian festival? That’s precisely the question I asked myself when I walked through the gates of a camping ground in the mountains of North
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On Tisha B’Av, we read Lamentations, one of the most difficult books in the biblical canon. I once read that the opening of the Book of Lamentations (Eicha in Hebrew) is pronounced with a catch of the throat to convey the breath-stopping shock in the
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As I write this, we have not yet begun to celebrate Passover, and my household is bursting with anticipation. My middle son is hilariously attempting to sell our chametz to the babysitter, my youngest child has taken our cockatiel’s molted feathers to task around the
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When I asked my husband if he had any inspirations to share with me on this week’s Torah portion, Metzorah, he stared out into space and uttered a singular sound, his breath caught in his throat: “ugh.” I could not disagree with him. I certainly
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I was born in Soviet Ukraine at a time when people were stripped of their spiritual rights and forced to conform to a colorless mass that was communism. How did I know that I was Jewish? It was written in the passports and legal documents of
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A friend of mine suggested that I write a letter, addressed to my future self, that she would mail to me next October. The letter would remind me to be extra gentle with myself in October — a month that brings with it disorienting anxiety,
Read moreSeasons have passed since I last touched my grandmother. She holds her loneliness in quarantine and, faithfully, I keep my distance in fear of contagion and angry that she’s gotten herself sick with age. On the telephone our conversation telescopes the weather in New York;
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