à la carte spirit by ilona fried
Religion
For Passover, I’m Refraining from Facebook
This year marks my first, “post-gluten” Passover. The holiday, commemorating the Jews’ hasty exodus from Egypt, is in part observed by eating matzah, unleavened bread, while also refraining from eating hametz, anything made of fermented grain (bread, pasta, beer, etc.). The complete dietary rules are more complex and vary depending on ancestry. Ashkenazi Jews, hailing from Eastern Europe, also avoid rice and legumes on … Continue reading
Feldenkrais and At-One-Ment
Health is the ability to realize our avowed and unavowed dreams. – Moshe Feldenkrais. In the Jewish calendar, we’re in the midst of the Days of Awe, a period of introspection that began with Rosh Hashanah, the New Year, and culminates with Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year, also known as the Day … Continue reading
Feldenkrais: Learning as Prayer
Learning is turning darkness, which is the absence of light, into light. – Moshe Feldenkrais While decluttering last spring, more painstakingly and ruthlessly than ever before, I found handouts from a class on prayer, circa 2008. I had enrolled in the class at Temple Beth Zion in Brookline, MA, to see if I could I transform my relationship … Continue reading
Road Trip as American Camino: Yellowstone as Santiago?
Before I left for El Camino de Santiago nearly two years ago, my dance teacher told me she had seen the film, “The Way”. Wide eyed, she recapped a scene at Santiago de Compostela Cathedral, where robed priests swung a censer across the church, releasing white smoke into the air. My innards tightened, as if that … Continue reading
Remembering a Holy Maverick: Encounters with Reb Zalman (z”l)
The world lost one of its luminaries, Reb Zalman Schachter-Shalomi (z”l), in early July. At a moving celebration of his life last weekend, I recalled a few of the more powerful times when my life intersected with this amazing being, with a “heart as big as the world”, if not as large as the cosmos. Grief introduced me to … Continue reading
à la carte spirit by ilona fried 
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