So much is demanded of us now but I, for one, have been feeling inert, immobile. Tu Bishvat reminds us to have patience – the sap will again rise.

I had cause to do a deep dive into Ma’oz Tzur – our old Chanukah song, sung in English as “Rock of Ages.” So much more to it than I’d ever thought. I went from indifference to love. Come geek out with me.

Gone a dozen years now, the flavor of my grief has changed, and memory is sweet.

A mystery arrived at my doorstep – information encrypted within a quote over the door of a tiny German synagogue my ancestors helped build and lead in the 1820s. Decoding it was exciting, and reminded me of the ways we can remain in contact with the ancestors if we retain our imaginations and our curiosity.