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Shvat 5781 My fellow Chaplains:I hope this finds you and your loved ones safe and healthy. Extrapolated from the Talmud is the expression, “we don’t see things the way they are. Rather we see them the way we are!” What a year this has been! While there have been many challenges to contend with...

Act Like A Chaplain- Many people imagine this command to be a gender specific command directed exclusively toward males. However, that would not at all be how the Corinthians would have understood what the Apostle was saying. The word he used was Christ Like. Apostle Paul the word is a figurative ex...

It seems to be a common headline that we will not, or in many cases should not, return to “normal” after Covid-19. The “should not”, of course, referring to positive changes or adaptations we were forced or encouraged to make, such as more interaction with and attention to family at home, to...

I'm sitting here watching the news of Black Lives Matter protests and “Take It Down” chants accompanying the removal of historical statues, and in this moment I am humbled by both the tremendous honor and the burden that each of us living in this time must bear. In 1493 the flag of the Spanish g...

My dear fellow chaplains, It is my fervent hope that you and your loved ones are, and remain, healthy and strong as we navigate the current storm. Wherever I am or who or what I am listening to, the one thing I keep hearing these days is, “things are/will be different”, or “this is the [&helli...

My dear brothers and sisters in state service, Shalom! Having recently completed the festival of Chanukah, I am reminded of a powerful lesson from the candles, given by my teacher and mentor, the Lubavitcher Rebbe: “It's luminous, it's warm, it's romantic; but most of all it's spiritual. A yellow ...

ACCSS Newsletter December 2019 “It’s the most wonderful time of the year” For some. Dearest Brothers & Sisters in State Service We live in a day and age where we all need to hear the message of “glad tidings of comfort and joy”. If we’re willing to open our eyes to see the desperate ...

We continue our journey through Fall towards winter, with the hour change, the colder weather and the more prevalent darkness. We see the reality of cyclical decay, darkness, and death, which will later give way to new birth. Of course, we know this change is coming and we prepare for it, even accep...

“How can I align my life with that spiritual intelligence that is written within my own DNA?” The Sun comes up, evening morning and we offer prayer and song to greet the new day. Everything comes alive and wakes up; water, plants, people, animals, birds, and the trees. And in turn, night follows...