A video that explores what to say to a mourner. Of particular significance for me since my father Ken Kipnes died.
Category: Stories of our Lives
5 Extra Minutes During Shloshim (An Ode to Not Shaving)
A poem about my experience as a mourner following the ritual of not shaving during Shloshim.
The Secret Life of the Mourner
A poem about what a mourner experiences, hidden away from the rest of the world, sometimes hidden even from friends or community members
There’s No Poetry During Shloshim
A poem about the challenges of finding poetry (and meaning I can hold onto) during shloshim for my father
The Day After Shiva: Excruciatingly Difficult
A poem about that first day after shiva, when a mourner walks into a room of people for the first time. About my experience mourning Papa (my father Ken Kipnes).
‘Tis an Apt Metaphor for a Mourner
A poem written on a Jetblue flight carrying me home from my father's funeral. Flying as a metaphor...
Facing Shiva: I Don’t Like Being that One
Spoken word poetry about a rabbi who now has to be the one who sits shiva and let's other take care of him.
Seeing Daddy in the Mirror
Spoken word poetry about seeing Dad in the mirror, and seeing dad within me.
“Reality of a Death” Mantra
A mantra that I repeated again and again when I couldn't wrap my head around the fact that my father had in fact died.
I Never Knew: A Rabbi’s Poem about Mourning
A spoken word poem about a rabbi who realizes that after all the pastoral support for people whose loved ones have died, he never really knew what it felt like. Until his own father died.
When the Rabbi Feels Trauma: Lessons from the SoCal Fires
Facing the trauma after the fires. If it can happen to the rabbi, it can happen to you too...
Four College Buddies, A Poem about Finding Oneself Again
Four college buddies gather together for a guy's weekend reunion. Open hearted sharing ensues. A spoken word poem.
I Held a Newborn Baby Today
Reflections on holding a newborn baby
History-holding Friend is a Gift from God
Devoted, history-holding, once-in-a-blue-moon-visiting friends are a transcendent gift from God.
Strangers at the Shiva Minyan
Seeking to extract meaning from the shiva minyan, we held onto the stories that brightened that house of mourning.