By Prof. Jonathan Karp
Among the victims of the July 4 Hyde Park mass shooting were Irina McCarthy, 35, and Kevin McCarthy, 37, the parents of a 2-year-old, Aiden. Although with them at that fatal July 4 parade, miraculously, Aiden was not struck by the gunfire that slaughtered his mother a…
By Rabbi Rachel Esserman
Contradiction #1
“No one can tell me what to do with my body. It’s mine and I demand complete autonomy over it.” Two different groups have made this claim, but each focuses on a different issue. I’m betting most readers will guess one or the other, but can…
By Shelley Hubal
One of my favorite psychologists and meditation teachers is Tara Brach, Ph.D. In her teachings on self-compassion, Dr. Brach uses the acronym “RAIN,” which stands for “Recognize, Allow, Investigate and Nurture.” All of us experience emotional pain at some point in o…
By Rabbi Rachel Esserman
The request came in an e-mail: the person asked if I would review the book “Chosen: A Memoir of Stolen Boyhood” by Stephen Mills, which tells of how Mills was sexually abused by the director of the Jewish summer camp he attended. The person who wrote the e-mail …
By Rabbi Rachel Esserman
Gun violence
Is it possible to say anything new about gun violence? In April, before the killings in Buffalo and Uvalde, TX, I’d thought about doing a column after reading this in The New York Times’ daily e-mail: “Murders have spiked nearly 40 percent since…
