à la carte spirit by ilona fried
Travel
What’s Crazy? Who’s Crazy? On Feldenkrais, Israel, Self-Image
How would you protect yourself if a crazy person attacked you with a knife? It’s a question many of us have never needed to consider. But it was a question Moshe Feldenkrais had to answer when, as an early settler in what was then Palestine, Arabs frequently attacked Jews, who were forbidden by the British Mandate from carrying weapons. … Continue reading
I Write. God Laughs.
Again, I’m reminded that writing can be an uncannily mystical act. Shortly after drafting my latest post, some of my words came true. In that post, I wrote: “To have an answer, or at least appear smart, had been a survival strategy. To be caught without knowing something was practically as humiliating as being caught with my pants down.” … Continue reading
My Spiritual Nemesis? Glatt Kosher Restaurants
Nothing can dismantle my sense – or illusion? – of spiritual progress faster than eating at glatt kosher restaurants. In recent weeks I’ve been to three. Two in Montreal, where I visited an elderly Hassidic relative, and one in San Francisco, where I had dinner with my oldest, modern Orthodox nephew. Because strictly observant Jews cannot eat in non-kosher restaurants, … Continue reading
Self-Image, Feldenkrais and KonMari
I’ve been on a decluttering marathon the last 10 days. I began to follow the KonMari Method of tidying up after my own efforts stalled and I needed to jumpstart my resolve. The key to this approach is to keep only what sparks joy, unless an item is necessary. It reminds me of the Feldenkrais Method where, through multiple approximations, we learn to … Continue reading
Collecting: Choice or Compulsion?
When I was four, my parents packed me and my two brothers into our pale yellow Chevy Impala station wagon and drove from Massachusetts to Mexico City for my father’s sabbatical year. Throughout those months we ventured to different towns and villages, each of which specialized in at least one distinctive craft, many of which my parents admired enough to buy. … Continue reading
à la carte spirit by ilona fried 
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