Rabbi Koppell’s Writings
Erev Rosh HaShanah 2017 My husband Ron has introduced me to the joy of mountain biking. We have a beautiful, regular route at Brown’s Ranch, just challenging enough and still fun. Except, that is, for the first 90 seconds. You’ve barely had time to process the fact that you’re…
It’s okay, in the eyes of Jewish tradition, to tell a lie. A little white lie for the sake of shalom- to maintain harmony in our relationships. “Look what I bought today- I got such a great price!” So what if you don’t love it- say something nice. “It’s lovely!”…
In her novel The Wonder Worker, Susan Howatch warns us of a fact of life which we would all much rather ignore, as she writes, “Evil exists. Those who forget that fact or ignore it or reject it are at best taking a big risk and at worst conniving at…
Every grandparent thinks that their grandchild is an angel. My new grandson, Michael David, who is 10 days and 30 minutes old, actually IS an angel. Or, at least, he is named for one! People are sometimes surprised to learn that there ARE angels in Jewish tradition. The Torah speaks…
By now we are all familiar with the story of Guadalupe Garcia de Rayos, the Mesa mom who came to the U.S. from Mexico at the age of 14, and who was recently deported in an initiative to enforce the strictest standard of law. In 2008 she was convicted for…
On July 14, 2014, my husband David and I sat down with our children to disseminate and discuss our healthcare advanced directives as a family. It was David’s 69th birthday; he died about 2 months before his 70th. David had endured several years of ill health, culminating in the removal…
On Rosh HaShanah it is written, and on Yom Kippur it is determined, “Who shall live and who shall die.” In America we associate dying with sickness and disease, something which takes place in hospitals, out of sight. In ancient culture, and, in fact, up until the modern era, death…
HOW TO BE HAPPY Make the decision to be happy Make the best of whatever comes your way Understand that everything has a price Speak in positive ways Expect less and appreciate more Find ways to give back to the community Care for your body through food and exercise Make…
WHY IS FORGIVENESS SO HARD? In Sue Monk Kidd’s fabulous book, The Secret Life of Bees. The author writes that, “If God said in plain language, ‘I’m giving you a choice, forgive or die,’ a lot of people would go ahead and order their coffin.” We cling to our woundedness…
My beloved husband, David Rubenstein, died on May 19, 2015. This is my second High Holidays without him. His death did not quite meet the standard we imagine when we say the words, “a ripe old age.” He was 69 years old, not young, but too young to be gone,…