I’m a rabbi, so you can imagine the kinds of conversation I have when I counsel my congregants. Family troubles. Marital strife. And sometimes, theology. The other day, one of my congregants―a young, sensitive woman with hair almost black and eyes just as dark―came in to see me. She was in the midst of a crisis of faith. “If only God would speak to me, or give me some kind of sign…,” she was saying. “Oh, Rachel,” I said, smiling, “God indeed does speak to us. But not with a voice―that would be too dramatic… too Hollywood. Instead, He speaks through coincidences. Haven’t you heard the saying? ‘Coincidences are God’s way of remaining anonymous.’” Rachel held my gaze. “Has God…

Matt and I returned to our hometown after our first semester in college. We arranged to meet at a bar to catch up and trade stories. “How’s UVA?” Matt asked, sipping his glass of Shiraz. “Pretty good,” I replied. “I think I’ll major in physics.” I took a swallow of my beer. “How about you?” “Yale’s everything I hoped for—and more,” Matt answered, “but I still haven’t settled on a major yet. Philosophy maybe, or comparative lit…” Our talk continued like that—matter-of-fact at first, then increasingly nostalgic as the wine and beer flowed. Matt studied me thoughtfully. “We go back a long way, Todd.” I smiled. “Yep, all the way back to first grade.” “First grade with… Mrs. Mohrhusen!” Matt…

My name’s Missy, and I’m a 32B. When I turned 30, I felt it was time to boost my health, so I decided to take up jogging again.  I’d been on the track team in high school and looked forward to savoring the boost of “runner’s high” and the pride of achievement as my physique grew stronger. Of course, one necessity for a wannabe female athlete is the almighty sports bra.  I knew from painful experience that regular bras just don’t cut it for athletic exertion—the damned straps are murder when they dig into your shoulder blades. I went to a store called Hex Athletics and, within minutes, found the bra I wanted.  It was an audacious cherry red.  I…

I’m a lucky guy. I’ve been fortunate all my life, ever since my birth in the heart of Manhattan’s Upper West Side, a storied locale steeped in success and privilege.  Opportunity was my birthright, as illustrated by my attendance at Phillips Exeter Academy; there, I nurtured the awareness of just how fortunate I was to swim in such an elite milieu.  Every day there felt like a testament to the luck which had graced my life. Academically, I thrived at Exeter.  With a sharp interest in economics and a natural aptitude for numbers, I quickly distinguished myself in subjects like mathematics and Global Business.  During the summers, I gained educational exposure to the world of derivatives by shadowing professionals at…

Sarah gambled.  She played video poker and the ponies at the track.  She knew the odds of blackjack if she split a pair of face cards.  She’d played the office football pool–until she was fired for taking one too many three-hour lunches at the casino.  She gambled when she had money and, on credit, when she was broke–before she’d maxed out her credit cards and the debt collectors started dogging her steps.  She gambled when she was happy and she gambled when she was miserable–which was increasingly often. Now, standing under the buzzing fluorescent lights of the convenience store, rainwater dripping from her hair onto the worn linoleum floor, Sarah clutched three crumpled dollars.  It was everything she had left.…

October 29th The announcement hit the internet like a bomb. Cochran Brothers Tech, famous for their viral mobile apps, had outdone themselves this time.  Crypts and Corpses, the latest offering from the tech giant, promised to bring Halloween to life like never before.  It was an augmented reality game designed to transform the last 2 days of the month into a twisted scavenger hunt.  The trailer alone was enough to send chills down spines–grinning skeletons, decaying zombies, and creepy crypts, all superimposed onto real-world locations through your phone. David stood in line at the coffee shop, scrolling through his phone as the buzz about the game raced across social media.  His group chat was already lit. “Yo, you see the…

A beautiful young girl is left home alone with only her dog to protect her. On the news that night, they announced there is a serial killer on the loose in the area. Before she goes to bed, she locks all the doors and tries to lock all the windows, but the one in the basement won’t lock. She decides to leave it unlocked, but locks the basement door and goes to bed. Her dog takes its customary place under her bed. In the deep of night she awakens to a dripping sound coming from her bathroom. Half-awake, the girl feels the comforting lick from her dog and falls back to sleep. She reawakens to the dripping sound, reaches her…

In 1983, a team of deeply pious scientists conducted a radical experiment in an undisclosed facility. The scientists had theorized that a human without access to any senses or ways to perceive stimuli would be able to perceive the presence of God. They believed that the five senses clouded our awareness of eternity, and without them, a human could actually establish contact with God by thought. An elderly man who claimed to have “nothing left to live for” was the only test subject to volunteer. To purge him of all his senses, the scientists performed a complex operation in which every sensory nerve connection to the brain was surgically severed. Although the test subject retained full muscular function, he could…

A man went to a hotel and walked up to the front desk to check in. The woman at the desk gave him his key and told him that on the way to his room, there was a door with no number that was locked and no one was allowed in there. She explained that it was a storeroom, and that it was out of bounds. She reminded him of this several times before allowing him upstairs. So he followed the instructions of the woman at the front desk, going straight to his room, and going to bed. However the insistence of the woman had piqued his curiosity, so the next night he walked down the hall to the door…