Stories,photos

134 results total, viewing 1 - 10

Keeping the flame alive: Memories and blessings

I follow the lunisolar Jewish calendar in which the rhythm of time is determined by both the sun and the moon. It creates both the dates of our holidays and of the yahrzeits that commemorate the … more

Mike Fink | 10/8/24

Seeking sanctuary: Popeye, Roger Williams and the promise of Israel

It’s easy to research the history of Popeye and his playful planet, but I have a private perception of his spinach and his search. Created in 1929 by American Jewish cartoonist Elzie … more

Mike Fink | 9/6/24

Sacred sand, wise hands, July musings

It’s the first week of summer 2024, and we are back safe and sound in our beloved little Rhody with its Jewish headquarters in Newport at the Touro synagogue. Our state promised , of … more

Mike Fink | 8/2/24

The music of our lives

Dietrich compared love to “a summer with a thousand Julys,” and Garbo prayed merely to “Give us our moment!” Judy Garland pleaded, “Birds fly over the rainbow, … more

Mike Fink | 7/5/24

June holidays, then and now

It’s the time of year to eat white foods, and maybe also to remember your first sip of the white blessing at your mother’s breast. My wife is a heroic and devoted lactation … more

Mike Fink | 6/7/24

The marvelous month of May

Sea winds pierce our solitude. That’s how Ralph Waldo Emerson described the month of May. I see it quite differently. Yes, it’s a moon I would describe to bless Mother’s … more

Mike Fink | 5/10/24

The wisdom of ‘fools’ and ‘be merciful to me, a fool’

Poets praise folly, perhaps to protect their art form from harsh assaults. Poets praise folly, perhaps to protect their art form from harsh assaults. I have excerpted a few lyrical … more

Mike Fink | 4/5/24

The Purim-like daring and courage of those who visit Israel now

Surely I can’t be the first to note the close spelling of “Hamas” and the villainous “Haman,” who is so evil that we use rattles to drown out his very name. But the … more

Mike Fink | 3/1/24

An ode to trees

Trees have spoken to me pretty much all my life: Every day is Tu B’Shevat to me! Yeah, I learned from poems, even Joyce Kilmer’s famous lines, which turned into the lyrics to the … more

Mike Fink | 2/2/24

It’s no fable: Jewish culture is far-reaching

Aesop, of the Fables, was taken hostage and enslaved by the Athenian Greeks: Is the central moral of his tales, in any sense, Jewish? Well, the very word , or name, “Aesop” is … more

Mike Fink | 1/7/24