Live. Love. Lead.

     This past week, we completed the celebration of the Hannukah holidays! This Hannukah season was and continues to be so pivotal for me in this particular season of my life.      One Rabbi said this regarding the Hannukah season, "At the time of the Maccabees somebody could have said 'That is only one jar of oil! Look at our situation! What can one jar of oil do? But, it was that first person who chose to ignore despair and choose hope that re-kindled hope for generations to come."  It only took one jar of oil that kindled the light of the menorah that HaShem miraculously allowed to last 8 days!      When considering this, I thought about the current circumstances that many people I know are engaged in right now. Too often, it is expedient to say or think, "That's just one little good thing. Look at all the other bad things around us. What can one little act, word, thought, or gesture do?"  I believe this is one of the biggest ...

     Recently, I have had several conversations with friends where we have wrestled with the question of, "Are we where we are supposed to be?"  Often we have a tendency to paint of picture of where we should be based purely on the fact that we are a certain age, have accomplished a certain task, or have a certain amount of knowledge.  In this vein, the sole determinant of what chapter in the journey we "should" be living are milestones that we have set; instead of being based primarily on where G-D's presence resides.  This style of life only leads to frustration by creating a glare so that we cannot see the miracles that HaShem is daily weaving for us.        Just weeks ago I struggled, professionally, with where I was supposed to be.  During that same time, I "happened" to be reading Numbers 9:15-23, where HaShem granted the specificity of His direction to His people.  It says, "According to the word of HaShem would the Ch...