Confessions of a Wandering Jew -- Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Google’s Blogger doesn’t have a flexible menu system.  So, click on the links below to go directly to the articles.

1 — Starting Where I Am (Chicago:  Feb 2009)

2 — A Word of Caution from a Wondering Wanderer (Chicago: Feb 6, 2009)

Wandering the USA:  Kentucky-Wisconsin-California-Texas  (1967-1976)

3 — Wondering Wanderer (Madison, Wisconsin:  1967)

4 — So Who Is Timothy Leary and What Does He Have to Do With Anything? (Madison: 1968)

5 — Seven Days in May (Madison:  1969) Day 1 - Part I

6 — Day 1 (Madison:  May 1969) Part II - Jewish LSD Freak Meets Jesus Freak

7 — Day 2 (Madison:  May 1969)

8 — Day 3 (Madison:  May 1969) - The California Appeal

9 — Day 4 (Iowa:  May 1969) - The Wicked Witch of the East

10 — Day 5 (Santa Cruz, California:  May 1969) - Communal Life Means Sharing Your Peanut Butter

11 — Day 6 (Santa Cruz:  May 1969) - Learning to Laugh 

12 — Day 7 (Santa Cruz-May 1969) - Is There a Hangover from Prayer?

13 — Like the Water?  Go Navy! (Louisville, Kentucky:  July 1969)

14 — A Day in the Sand on the Beach--A Frozen Beach! (Great Lakes, Illinois:  Nov 1969)

15 — Wake-up Call from Above (Great Lakes:  Nov 1969)

16 — Whistling Is Safer than Singing (Great Lakes:  Dec 1969)

17 — ♪♪ On Wisconsin, On Wisconsin ♪♪ (Louisville:  Jan 1970)

18 — Chris the Hippie Meets Chris the Hippie! (Madison: 1970)

19 — SDS vs. Christians (Madison:  1970)

20 — Houston, We Have a Problem! (Houston:  June 1970)

21 — From Jewish Hippie to Texas Conservative (Houston:  June 1970)

22 — Finding Love and War (Houston:  1973)

Wandering Africa:  Rhodesia  (1976-1978)

23 — Honeymooning In A War Zone (Houston to Rhodesia:  1976)

24 — Two Eggs Boss?  You Sure? (Salisbury, Rhodesia:  Nov 1976)

25 — Fit or Fat?  (Salisbury, Rhodesia:  Nov 1976)

26 — A Rhodesian "Rebel" I Loved (Salisbury, Rhodesia:  Dec 1976)

27 — Tea with the Judge (Rhodesia: Dec 1976)

28 — The Convoy (Rhodesia: Dec 1976)

29 — No Umbrella for the Rain Forest (Victoria Falls, Rhodesia:  Dec 1976)

30 — Avocado on a Hot Tin Roof (Salisbury:  Jan 1977)

31 — The Rhodesian Light Infantry (Salisbury: Jan 1977)

32 — Field "Trip" (Salisbury: Jan 1977)

33 — The Interview (Salisbury: Feb 1977) 

34 — The Interview, Addendum (Salisbury:  Feb 1977)

35 — Reverse Gear and Fast! (Salisbury:  March 1977)

36 — Another Colonel In the Church (Salisbury: March 1977)

37 — Stand at attention when you talk to ME! (Salisbury:  March 1977)

38 — Pistol-Packin’ Chaplain (Salisbury:  March 1977)

39 — The Return of the "Wondering" Wanderer (Salisbury:  April 1977)

40 — Unstable and Unreliable (Salisbury:  May 1977)

41 — Hugged Instead of Slapped (Salisbury:  July 1977)

42 — From Death to Birth (Salisbury:  July 1977)

43 — Farm Life in a War Zone (Salisbury & Wedza: Aug 1977)

44 — Tea with Land Mines (Umtali, Rhodesia:  Aug 1977)

45 — A Half Bottle of Jack Daniels (Salisbury:  Aug 1977)

46 — ♪♪ Paranoia Strikes Deep ♪♪ (Salisbury:  Aug 1977) + Addendum:  Thoughts on PTSD

47 — A Genuine “Crippled Eagle” (Salisbury:  Sep 1977)

48 — Tea with the General (Salisbury:  Sep 1977)

49 — Balla Balla, Bulawayo and Matsheumshlope (Rhodesia:  Oct 1977)

50 — "Muck" and Mire (Bulawayo:  Oct 1977)

51 — War Fever (Bulawayo:  Oct 1977)

52 — American Visitors (Bulawayo:  Nov 1977)

53 — This Phone May Be Tapped! (Bulawayo:  Dec 1977)

54 — Tell Them to Go!  (Salisbury:  Dec 1977)

55 — The Rebel I Loved and Lost (Bulawayo:  April 1978)

56 — “The French Would Sell Their Mothers!” (Bulawayo:  April 1978)

57 — Finding Out for Myself (Leaving Rhodesia:  May 1978)

Wandering the USA:  Texas-Wisconsin-Kentucky (1978-1983)

58 — Are We There Yet? (New York:  May 1978)

59 — In Uniform for Church? (Houston:  May 1978)

60 — ♪♪ On Wisconsin, on Wisconsin ♪♪ Again! (Jan 1979)

61 — Me a Pastor? (Neshkoro, Wisconsin:  Dec 1979)

62 — “Sparks” In Our Ministry (Berlin, Wisconsin:  Spring 1980)

63 — The Brothers In Responsibility (Louisville:  Spring 1980)

64 — A Brother from Zimbabwe (Louisville:  1980-1981)

65 — Tired of Waiting (Louisville:  1982)

66 — Listen for the Music and Follow It (Louisville:  1983)

Wandering Africa:  Zimbabwe (1983-1987)

67 — Back to the Jameson Hotel (Louisville:  Nov 1983)

68 — By Train from Johannesburg to Harare (Southern Africa:  Dec 1983)

69 — “Kalanyoni” -- The Call of the Bird (Harare, Zimbabwe:  Dec 1983)

70 — Colorless Sunday Services (Harare:  Dec 1983)

71 — “A Whiter Shade of Pale” (Harare:  Dec 1983)

72 — Hitchhiking in Zimbabwe (Harare: Dec 1983)

73 — The Road to Wedza (Zimbabwe:  Jan 1984)

74 — Fun and Games with Zimbabwe Immigration (Harare:  Jan 1984)

75 — Darkness and FOG (Harare:  Jan 1984)

76 — Computer Programmer or Pastor? (Harare:  Jan 1984)

77 — Fun and Games with Zimbabwe Immigration—Again!!! (Harare:  Jan 1984)

78 — The Beginnings of Ministry (Harare:  Feb 1984)

79 — Overturning the Rhodesian Paradigm in a Church (Harare:  Feb 1984)

80 — Hold the Rain! (Harare:  Mar 1984)

81 — Taking Our Show On the Road

82 — A Tale of Two Phone Calls (Zimbabwe:  May 1984)

83 — Detoured from Wedza’s Tobacco Road

84 — The Tobacco Road (Wedza:  May 1984)

85 — Under the Big Top (Wedza:  July 1984)

86 — “But you were invited!” [Intro]  (Wedza:  July 1984)

87 — "But, I repeat--you were invited!” (Wedza:  July 1984)

88 — All Politics is Local (Wedza:  July 1984)

89 — You Don't Understand that God Sent You (Wedza-Harare-Kariba:  July 1984)

90 — Contrasting Hearts (Harare:  Aug 1984)

91 — Too Much Mutton! (Kariba:  Sep 1984)

92 — Where Is Home Anyway? (Kariba:  Sep 1984)

93 — The End of the Journal — Not the End of the Journey (USA:  Sep/Oct/Nov/Dec 1984)

94 — A Triumphal Return!  Uh-oh, another detour . . . (Chicago:  July 4, 2013)

95 — Get on with that “Triumphal Return” already!  (Zimbabwe:  Jan 1985)

96 — Those Polymorph Thingies (Wedza:  Feb 1985)

97 — This Is Ridiculous—Another Detour!!! (Chicago:  June 2014)

98 — Time to Ponder (Wedza:  March 1985)

99 — When All Seemed Promising (Wedza:  May 1985)

100 — A decade-long detour. So forgive the reintroduction!

            Includes:  Harare Having Any Fun Yet?  (Harare:  Jan 1986)

101 — Another 7 Days in May—This Time in Israel (Tel Aviv, Israel:  May 1986)

102 — Abigail! (USA:  June 1986)

103 — Stuck in the States (Louisville:  Aug-Sep 1986)

104 — Why Are You Traveling to Israel? (Oct 1986)

105 — No Longer Welcome (Harare:  Oct 1986)

106 — The Northern Wasteland (Lusaka, Zambia:  Nov 1986)

107 — Leaving Africa:  🎶 “Hello, I Must Be Going!” 🎶 (Harare:  Nov 1986)

Wandering the USA:  Kentucky (1987-1997)

108 — Starting Where I Am Again! (July 4, 2024  --  June 3, 2025)

109 — More Wandering and Wondering (July 2025)

110 — Fond Farewell? (Zimbabwe to Louisville:  Spring 1987)

111 — Teaching Myself to Swim (Louisville:  Fall 1987)

112 — Treading Water Can Be Pleasant . . . for a While (Louisville:  1987-91)

113 — My Father Told Me a Joke (Louisville:  1991-92)

114 — Hating August (Louisville:  1993)

115 — Don’t Be in a Hurry to Be an Old Man (Written Aug 2025)

Wandering Southeast Asia:  Singapore (1997-1999)

116 — Don’t Hurry, But Pick Up the Pace! (Louisville to  Singapore:  1991-1999)

Wandering the USA:  Chicago (1999-2023)

117 — Meeting the Rabbi (Chicago:  Fall 1999)

118 — 🎶 “Teach Your Children Well” 🎶 (Fall 1999)

119 —  One Small Step for a Man—A Giant Leap for this "Wasser"-man (Chicago:  Fall 1999)

120 —  Jewish-ish, Jewish-er — Just Jewish (Chicago:  1999-2022)

No Longer Wandering:  ISRAEL (2023 . . . )

121 — Planting My Flag (Israel:  Aug 30, 2023)

122 — O Jerusalem! (Israel:  Aug 30 - Oct 7, 2023)

123 — The Sum of the Matter (Israel:  Hebrew Year 5784)

Afterthoughts 

Postscript:  What’s Next? (Jan 20, 2026)

Why “unleavened” bread? (Jan 21, 2026)

Why “unleavened” bread? (Jan 21, 2026)

Why “unleavened” bread? 

In reading this week’s Torah portion (Parashat Bo:  Exod 10:1-13:16), which deals with the first Passover, I found myself asking, Why unleavened bread (matzot)?

It can’t just be about making some “fast food” to take on the next morning’s trip. Yes, unleavened crackers are a lot more practical than fully-formed loaves of bread.  You can quickly prepare them, stuff them in a convenient pocket for a one-handed snack as you hoof your way into the wilderness.  Matzot is poor man’s bread (fast food). It is just flour and water quickly baked without yeast to puff it up.  As such, it is bread in its simplest and rawest form that is consumable.  On a journey you would only take the bare essentials that you could carry with you.  

Aside from the practicalities of crackers versus loaves, what meaning can we derive from matzot?  Could it be that unleavened bread reflects the “stripped-down/keep it simple” status of the children of Israel at the time they left Egypt?  

After hundreds of years in Egypt, they weren’t ready to dwell in Eretz Yisrael (the land of Israel), the place of promised fulfillment. They were raw and unformed as God’s people.  God would add the necessary ingredients to give “rise” to them as a nation during the 40 years of baking in the wilderness.  Fully-formed, they would enter the Promised Land.  [I see a similar theme in Ezekiel 37’s vision of the dry bones that came to life.]

Genesis tells the story of human response to the Creator resulting in the covenant God makes with Abraham and his descendants. Exodus shows us God forming a raw people into a purposeful nation. Leviticus details the recipe that will result in the “rising” documented in Numbers.  Deuteronomy displays that fully-formed loaf ready to inhabit The Land.  

The transformation from crackers to showbread is a process.  Start simple (wherever you are) and God will cause you to rise to your full potential.  Be patient.  The Master Baker knows what He is doing.  It takes time, but the end result is worth the wait.

-Jeff- 

Postscript: What’s Next? Jan 20, 2026

Here is a quick update.  As I mentioned in chapter “123 — The Sum of the Matter,” I have finished telling my story for now.  I don’t intend to stop writing, but after 17 years writing my story, I am now in the process of editing and polishing things up—just a bit.  I expect that to take about 2-3 months.  This blogspot will be updated and I will mirror the finished project on ConfessionsofAWanderingJew.com, my webpage as well as on other platforms such as Substack.  In the meantime, I will continue to post short essays here periodically for those of you who are interested.  

I am not interested in writing to get paid for this—I just want to share my story.  But, there may be someone out there who would like this in book format, so I will also publish this as an ebook on Amazon.  

My 2012 book, Messianic Jewish Congregations:  Who Sold this Business to the Gentiles?, based on my 1997 doctoral dissertation, is already on Amazon in ebook format. I plan to also make it available in a “free” serialized internet version.

I started this blog in 2009 not expecting anyone to notice.  At first I was writing for my 2-yr old grandson.  My thinking was that by the time he was interested in his ancestry, I might not be alive to tell him.  So, I needed to have an imaginary adult audience to speak to as a proxy for him until he reached adulthood.  A cyber audience worked for that, but I was amazed that there were actually real live people out there who were touched by my wild and crazy story!  

Over the years, I have had over 100,000 views.  I have no idea how many of those viewers found the elements of my story of some value, but the these numbers are humbling! 

-Jeff-