Taking career advice from Shimon Peres — I recently had the rare opportunity to play golf with a caddie. There are many upsides to playing with a caddie, like course knowledge and an uncanny ability to find the ball. One thing, however, struck me as my friends and I played a mediocre round of golf; the caddie…

Praying on the beach, a perfect answer to all our ‘what ifs’ — Prayer, I suppose, isn’t for fair weather fans. Or at least it’s not supposed to be. On a recent Friday night I attended an incredible Kabbalat Shabbat on the beach in Atlantic Beach, NY. Just hours before sundown, the anticipated start time for the services, it started to rain. My…

Reflections on Shavuot (2022) It is remarkable that Jews around the world feel a sense of connection to each other. What enables that feeling of connection? What do we share? This is a question that Jewish scholars have anticipated for over a thousand years. In his famous commentary on the…

Reflections on rereading the Haggadah each year — Why do we watch the same movies over and over again? How many times have you seen the same episode of Seinfeld or Friends? When will I pick a new commute playlist on Spotify? In 2011, Professors Russel and Levy, two researchers from the field of behavioral science wrote a…

A recent WSJ headline read “The Month Business Went to War”. The article made the case that executives are taking much of the responsibility for the sanctions against Russia. What interests me most was the opening line of the article: “About 10 minutes into Sunday church services, Visa Inc. Chief…

Giving Good Advice to Leaders — “No one really knows how the game is played The art of the trade How the sausage gets made We just assume that it happens But no one else is in the room where it happens” These lyrics are likely familiar to you if you’ve seen Lin Manuel Miranda’s iconic…

A call to dream about office life — I have an entirely romanticized view of New York City. Think You’ve got Mail or Seinfeld or Home Alone 2 or The Thomas Crown Affair. Sunny autumn days, world’s best coffee shops/museums/hotels, corner bookstores, and big fancy corner offices. While my version of NYC sounds like I’ve watched too many…

A few years ago I was invited to speak on panel at my alma mater on the topic of “can Liberal Arts graduates have a career outside of academia?” I was an English major and I work/have worked at some of the most coveted tech companies in the world. My…

A Thought on Lighting The Menorah — “‘What was mankind’s greatest invention?’ I would argue it is history itself. History isn’t fact. Its narrative, one carefully curated and shaped.” — Gaal Dornick, Season 1, Episode 9 ‘ Foundation’ on Apple TV+ Alan King, a 20th century comedian and fellow Great Neck dad, half-jokingly quipped “A summary of…