In the wisdom of my Aunt Lil, who lived vibrantly to 103, she once said, “At any age, it’s wonderful to have a lover—even...

Some stories don’t begin with a single dramatic event, but Mark Mathew Braunstein’s does. On what was supposed to be a joyful celebration—his birthday in 1990—Mark’s leap from a footbridge into a river wasn’t just a dive, but a plunge into a new reality. A misjudged jump left him paralyzed from the waist down. He calls it his “Rebirthday.” And ever since, he’s been navigating life as a born-again pedestrian—one crutch, one challenge, one revelation at a time. A Moment Becomes a Lifetime Before that fateful dive, Mark was like many adventurous souls—active, curious, and perhaps driven by a touch of ego. That day, watching swimmers plunge into the river, he followed suit, partly to impress his...

In the wisdom of my Aunt Lil, who lived vibrantly to 103, she once said, “At any age, it’s wonderful to have a lover—even when the mind stays willing but the body loses some ability.” Her words echo a timeless truth: intimacy and connection enrich our lives at every stage. Yet, modern statistics reveal a concerning reality. In the United States, nearly half of women and about a quarter of men experience a reduced sex drive, a number that grows with age. Factors such as stress, poor nutrition, anxiety, depression, menopause, and andropause (male menopause), along with fatigue and prescription medications, all contribute to diminished libido. It’s no wonder that when Viagra hit the market, it...

There are moments in history when humanity must collectively pause, reflect, and recommit to our shared values. Today feels like one of those moments. This past Sunday, our congregation recalled Hands Across America, the 1986 initiative that brought over six million Americans together in a symbolic coast-to-coast embrace. The message then was clear: we are one people, united in hope despite our divisions. Nearly four decades later, the gesture resonates more deeply than ever—not as nostalgia, but as a wake-up call. Our nation is fraying at the seams. Not from lack of patriotism or principle, but from a slow erosion of empathy. When Law Becomes Violence News that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested Marcelo Gomes Da Silva—a...