Marita Anderson – Chaplain, Writer, Teacher, Parent
“She Said” is more than an inside look into the outstanding investigative reporting by two Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists, which is fascinating in its own right. What Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey have presented in this best-seller is a birds-eye perspective on the #MeToo movement and
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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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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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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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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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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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Joel Hoffman’s latest book, “The Bible Doesn’t Say That: 40 Biblical Mistranslations, Misconceptions, and Other Misunderstandings,” caught my eye soon after it was published. I love studying and teaching Torah, and I am always on the lookout for ways to engage with biblical text from
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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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A few years ago, during what I remember as a difficult time in my life, I began learning meditation with the hope of calming my panicked mind. What brought me to my knees was not any particular crisis, but the daily monotony of taking care
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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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