Articles by Rabbi Ann Brener

July 1, 2010 0

D’var Torah: When the truth is found to be lies: The Coen brothers’ Rorschach for serious people

I learned about Jewish spirituality in a yoga class in 1971. I lay prone on the carpeted floor, relaxing after achieving the challenging Bridge posture for the first time. I [Read more...]

January 31, 2010 0

A Caring Community

When I had cancer, people were generous. It validated the work that I had done during the previous two decades to assist in creating caring communities that extend themselves [Read more...]

September 17, 2009 0

D’var Torah: Unatana Tokef

A modern meditation Rabbi Ann Brener, LCSW We now confront the meaning of this day As we stare into the face of our own mortality. We form a circle. Hands and souls linked, [Read more...]

August 1, 2009 0

Tammuz: A Gaping Hole

Yesterday my daughter and I held our beloved cat as his doctor administered a lethal dose of anesthetic. Rascal was our Kitty companion for 15 years. He grew up with Jen, who [Read more...]

May 1, 2009 0

D’var Torah – Iyyar- Cultivating Patience as we Count the Days

The underside of the leaves are lit by the early morning light, as we enter the month of Iyyar. This is the month the Bible calls Ziv (shining), which, in Israel and here in [Read more...]

April 1, 2009 0

D’var Torah – Pesach: Rising to the Occasion

On this sparkling day in Nissan, it is easy to imagine the joy that people must have felt at this time of year in ancient Israel as they made their way on camels and donkeys [Read more...]

February 1, 2009 0

Schvat- a Harbinger of Hope

President Obama’s inauguration January 20th was a day that I could not have imagined as a young Jewish girl growing up in the Jim Crow New Orleans of the 1950’s. My [Read more...]

January 5, 2009 0

Time as a Healer: The Jewish Calendar as a Spiritual Path: Tevet

I live in Southern California, where the seasons match those in the land of Israel. Therefore, my own moods and sense of time are often congruent with the Jewish [Read more...]

December 1, 2008 0

Time as a Healer: The Jewish Calendar as a Spiritual Path

“Time heals all wounds” is a misleading phrase. It implies that when we are faced with pain, all we must do is wait and things will get better. These deceptive [Read more...]