Judaism

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    Topix: Judaism

  • UK Jews weigh fight after court ruling on - Who is a Jew'

    9 Feb 2010 | 9:10 am
    To fight or not to fight? That question has bitterly divided the Jewish community in Britain following the Supreme Court ruling a month-and-a-half ago striking down a Jewish school's policy of limiting admission to the children of Jewish mothers.

  • Barbara Kay: Beyond race and religion, Judaism is a civilization

    8 Feb 2010 | 8:51 am
    In the Post's Feb. 4 excerpt from Benjamin Errett's book, Jew and Improved: How Choosing to be Chosen Made Me a Better Man , the usual riddle-style question is posed as to whether the Jews constitute "a nation, a race, a culture or a religion." The Feb.

  • Isla Fisher set to marry?

    7 Feb 2010 | 11:53 am
    Isla Fisher and Sacha Baron Cohen are seemingly set to marry this month. The couple have reportedly sent out party invites asking guests to keep February 26 free, however, the notices do not contain any further information.

  • Comic incorporates conversion to Judaism in act

    7 Feb 2010 | 7:19 am
    Yisrael Campbell is flanked by filmmakers Matthew Kalman and David Blumenfeld, the subject of their documentary, "Circumcise Me: The Comedy of Yisrael Cambell." At a glance What: Ninth annual Jewish Film Festival Tickets: $8 per film or $70 for 10 tickets .

  • Controversy over Im Tirtzu report which attacked NIF continues to build.

    6 Feb 2010 | 7:30 pm
    The controversy surrounding a report released this week by the Zionist student group Im Tirtzu, which blames the New Israel Fund for much of the Goldstone Report on last winter's Operation Cast Lead, continued to build on Thursday, as additional Knesset members weighed in on the now-embattled NGO.
 
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    USNews: Judaism

  • Family of Auschwitz Survivor Buys Mengele Diary

    By Paul Bedard, Washington Whispers Josef Mengele's diary, written in exile after he fled the Auschwitz concentration camp as Allied troops advanced in 1945, has been sold to the grandson of a camp survivor who vividly recalls how the "doctor" used to wear white gloves while pointing to prisoners as they arrived, indicating who would live and who would die. Auctioneer Bill Panagopulos, who first revealed the document to Washington Whispers, would not disclose the final price or name of the buyer but told us he is confident the rare Mengele document would end up in a Holocaust…

  • President Obama's Rosh Hashanah Message

    By Dan Gilgoff, God & Country President Obama's Rosh Hashanah message: As members of the Jewish faith here in America and around the world gather to celebrate the High Holidays, I want to extend my warmest wishes for this New Year. LShanah Tovah Tikatevu—may you have a good year, and may you be inscribed for blessing in the Book of Life Rosh Hashanah marks the start of a new year—a time of humble prayer, joyful celebration, and hope for a new beginning. Ten days later, Yom Kippur stands as a day of reflection and repentance. And this sacred time provides not just an…

  • Obama's Ramadan Dinner Included Prominent Jewish Guests

    By Dan Gilgoff, God & Country Interesting that President Obama's Ramadan dinner last night included a handful of prominent Jews. Some Jewish leaders have complained that Obama's outreach to the Muslim world has included snubbing Israel and giving short shrift to certain Jewish concerns. Jewish Americans as identified on the guest list last night: Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren Rabbi David Saperstein, director and counsel of the Religious Action Center for Reform Judaism Nathan Diament, director of Orthodox Union's Institute for Public Affairs Diament and Saperstein are on Obama's…

  • Did Obama Jump the Gun on Rosh Hashana?

    By Paul Bedard, Washington Whispers You know how Republicans sometimes whine that if President Bush and his aides had taken some of the kinds of moves President Obama and his associates have, the critics would be on the Bushies like white on rice? Well, they might have a good case with Obama's early new years message to Jewish leaders.

  • Obama's First White House Sit-Down With Jewish Leaders Today

    By Dan Gilgoff, God & Country Politics Daily reports that President Obama will have his first White House sit-down with American Jewish leaders today, an event that doesn't appear on the president's public schedule. "[W]hile some domestic issues are expected to be discussed," Lynn Sweet reports, "Iran's nuclear threat and Obama's demand for an Israeli settlement freeze also will be on the agenda." Indeed, the key question for today's meeting is how well Obama assuages the concerns of Jewish leaders over his calls for Israel to stop settlement expansion in the West…
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    CNN: Judaism

  • More than 1,000 get mumps in New York, New Jersey since August

    9 Feb 2010 | 2:17 pm
    More than 1,000 people in New Jersey and New York, many of them adolescent Orthodox Jews, have been sickened with mumps since August, health authorities said Monday.

  • Pope visits synagogue, calls for dialogue

    17 Jan 2010 | 9:43 pm
    Pope Benedict XVI visited the main Jewish synagogue in Rome on Sunday, a trip that unfolded amid heightened tension between Catholics and Jews.

  • Pope stuck in 'Groundhog Day' scenario with Jews, expert says

    17 Jan 2010 | 10:22 am
    Pope Benedict XVI is set to take one step forward in Catholic-Jewish relations Sunday when he becomes the first pope since 1986 to visit the main Jewish synagogue in Rome, Italy.

  • Pope ends year as he began it -- with apology to Jews

    24 Dec 2009 | 4:02 pm
    Pope Benedict XVI ended 2009 much as he began it -- with a major gaffe that angered Jews.

  • Intriguing people for December 22, 2009

    22 Dec 2009 | 10:02 am
    Rudolph Giuliani The New York Daily News and New York Times are reporting that the former mayor of New York City is expected to announce today that he is not running for the U.S. Senate in 2010, or governor or any other office -- and this might be the end of his ambitions as a political candidate. Giuliani, 65, became a national figure for the way he led New York and spoke to the world after the terror attacks of September 11, 2001. In 2007 he was a Republican presidential candidate. During his years of public service he's taken pro-choice and pro-gay stands. "I have always said that he was a…
 
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    JTA: The Fundalmentalist

  • Idea #9: It’s time for a systems upgrade

    9 Feb 2010 | 12:12 pm
    Let’s pool our resources and build the strongest technical backend we can for the organized Jewish world.

  • Galperin to leave D.C. federation to take senior spot with JAFI

    8 Feb 2010 | 5:30 pm
    Misha Galperin has notified the board of the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington that he will leave his post as the federation’s CEO this summer to take a position at the Jewish Agency for Israel.

  • The philanthropy of Eli Broad

    8 Feb 2010 | 4:49 pm
    The New York Times has a story about the philanthropy of Eli Broad.

  • Who are the Jews among the Slate 60 list of top givers?

    8 Feb 2010 | 1:42 pm
    Slate.com recently released its annual Slate 60 list of top philanthropic givers. The list, compiled by the Chronicle of Philanthropy, estimates who were the country’s top 60 philanthropists based on what they pledged and gave the most money in 2009.

  • Idea #8: Jewish Artists Residency

    7 Feb 2010 | 1:00 am
    In the latest installment of the 28days28ideas initiative, Rebecca Guber, the director of the Six Points Fellowship, proposes the creation of a place for Jewish artists where there is community, opportunities for learning, space for solitary practice, and an environment that nurtures the creative process free of interruptions and distractions. 
 
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    Rabbi Sedley

  • I'm giving a shiur on Tuesday

    3 Feb 2010 | 10:35 am
    I know that I haven't blogged in a really long time. There are many reasons, but not for now.But here is an important announcement. I will be giving a shiur this coming Tuesday evening in Nachlaot on the laws of Purim and the Four Parshiyos. It is for women only (sorry boys), but provided you have two X chromosomes you are welcome to come. I look forward to seeing you there.Here is the poster, with the details. (You can contact me directly if you want more details, or just to say 'hi').This blog is from Rabbi Sedley. You can see more divrei Torah, halacha and shiurim at my new website…

  • Tamar's birthday at Gan Harmony

    27 Jun 2009 | 10:47 pm
    Tamar's actual birthday isn't for another month and a half (in Elul), but she has been waiting all year for a birthday party at Gan Harmony, which she finally had last week. So here is a video of her celebrating turning 5 (even though she is really still only 4). It is in Hebrew, but you can probably figure out what is going on even if you don't speak the language.You can also see how wonderful Gan Harmony is with its integration of children with special needs with regular children. Everyone is an equal part of Gan life, and participates in everything that is going on.Enjoy This blog is from…

  • Modern Miracle!

    4 Feb 2009 | 1:50 am
    I don't usually like the stories that talk about miracles, especially at a time when others do not receive miracles. It is true that Baruch Hashem very few Israelis were killed in the recent Gaza war (a fact which the UN and the world now uses to support the claim that Israelis are war criminals). But the lives of those few who were killed, and of the many who were injured are also a huge loss to the Jewish people, and musn't be belittled.G-d has plans that we can't understand, and whatever happens is for the best. The hand of G-d is visible to those who wish to see it and invisible to those…

  • Installing Hebrew in Linpus on Acer Aspire One

    2 Feb 2009 | 12:39 pm
    I recently bought myself an Acer aspireOne netbook computer. It is cheap and lightweight, which were my two main requirements. And, just for something different (and to save a small amount of money) I decided to get the linux linpus version. Linux has both advantages and disadvantages over windows, which I won't go into right now. Since I do a lot of work in Hebrew it was very important for me to be able to type in Hebrew. Unfortunately this took a lot of time. On the other hand, now that I've managed to do it (thanks to all the wonderful websites out there who are only too happy to help…

  • Mo's new karate suit

    27 Jan 2009 | 9:28 am
    Mo just came home from his karate chug with his uniform. I couldn't resist the opportunity to try out my new computer and its video and photo capabilities.i just got my new Acer Aspire One netbook computer, and after almost 24 hours I still think it is wonderful. It is running linpus linux, which makes a nice change from windows (no more vista - yay!) and means that all programs from now on are free. Hopefully I'll blog about it in detail when I've got the hang of it all. So far, apart from being a different way of thinking I've been able to do everything that I could do with windows on…
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    Belogski

  • A long-awaited trip to Israel

    2 Feb 2010 | 4:23 am
    My second daughter, Tehilloh, is very excited, as in about a month, God willing, she and I will be spending eight days together in Israel. She will become Bat Mitzvah at the end of June, and this trip to Israel, her first, is her special birthday present from me and my wife.I have the privilege of visiting Israel often, but for various reasons, my wife gets there only occasionally, and my children not at all. As such, it is a challenge to ensure that our children share our passion for Israel and remain aware of the fact that Israel lies at the centre of all Jewish religious, political and…

  • The place of a non-believing Jew

    26 Jan 2010 | 7:43 am
    At a simchah recently, I bumped into the father of an old friend, whom I hadn’t seen for many years. Charlie was always known as a forthright person, and it was good to see that the passage of twenty years hasn’t changed anything. He asked me what I consider to be the place of a Jew who doesn’t believe in God. He also told me that he remains a proud member of the community and of the Jewish people (he is, and always was, a staunch member of an Orthodox synagogue), but doesn’t believe in God. Charlie confided that he had asked his own rabbi and claimed that he had ‘been unable to…

  • Ironies and opportunities: reflections on the JFS ruling

    21 Dec 2009 | 8:30 am
    Last week, the new Supreme Court of the UK dismissed the appeal of JFS, an Orthodox Jewish school, against a judgment that had branded its admission policy discriminatory. The details of the case (which hinged on how the Law views the unique blend of ethnicity and religion that defines Jewishness in the context of the Race Relations Act) are mystifying even to insiders; the final result is deeply disappointing.Despite this, there are fascinating and surprisingly positive aspects to the judgment, as well as some delicious ironies that cannot go unmentioned. The ruling itself, which was handed…

  • Isn't our meat good enough for you?

    5 Dec 2009 | 12:39 pm
    A rabbi goes to heaven and is invited to sit at a banquet attended by Moshe himself. He makes a discreet enquiry and discovers that the food is under Divine supervision. The rabbi whispers in a waiter’s ear, ‘I’ll take the fish!’Many people are puzzled by the suggestion that a rabbi might endorse some area of religious life but be reluctant to partake in it himself. For example, it troubles people that some rabbis won’t eat from certain kosher butchers; others won’t carry on Shabbat, even inside an area enclosed by an ‘eruv’. One hears the obvious concerns about inconsistency…

  • Letter to Jewish Chronicle July 2009

    9 Jul 2009 | 11:14 pm
    I sent the following letter for publication to the Jewish Chronicle. It appeared in part in today's edition.Dear SirI write to thank Rabbi Tony Bayfield for unequivocally supporting the Chief Rabbi in his attempt to fight the recent Appeal Court ruling against JFS. Rabbi Bayfield’s admirable response illustrates a point I made in my recent JC article – that acknowledging our differences, rather than pretending that they can be smoothed over, enables us to work together on issues that impact on us all. Unlike your columnist, the predictable Mr. Alderman and a number of other ill-informed…
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    Cross-Currents

  • Bernard Lander, ז”ל

    Yitzchok Adlerstein
    8 Feb 2010 | 10:54 pm
    I don’t believe that I will ever again meet anyone like Bernie Lander. I’ve met two kinds of people best described as bigger than life: those of huge vision, and those of huge accomplishment. Both are essential to a forward-moving community. Each adds an invaluable element to the full picture. Each kind usually has a deficiency. Those with the necessary vision are often incapable of translating that vision into a reality, and those who are builders and doers often narrow their vision to the job in front of them, and no further. Rabbi Dr. Lander was the only person I ever met whose…

  • The Myth of Mundanity

    Avi Shafran
    5 Feb 2010 | 7:13 am
    An abrupt shift takes place in all the world’s synagogues around this time of year. Over the previous 17 weeks, since the public reading of the Torah was begun anew after the holiday of Sukkot, the readings were narrative in nature, beginning with the world’s creation, continuing with elements of the lives of the patriarchs and matriarchs, then the account of Joseph’s life, the sojourn in Egypt, the Exodus and the revelation at Sinai. Beginning with the portion called Mishpatim, though, the Torah’s focus is largely on technicalities of civil and ritual laws. Then, in subsequent weeks,…

  • The Micronesia Principle

    Eytan Kobre
    2 Feb 2010 | 2:35 pm
    To mark the just-concluded week-long visit to Israel of the presidents of Micronesia and Nauru, I republish below a piece that appeared in Hamodia in 2004. Micronesia. A fabulous name which, if it didn’t already exist, would simply have to be invented. Perhaps as the moniker of an exclusive island retreat for top Microsoft executives. Maybe as a medical term describing a very minute memory lapse. Or, can’t you just see it in some children’s storybook as the name of an enchanted kingdom populated by the Little People? Yet, in reality, Micronesia is none of these things. It is, instead,…

  • Haiti and the Mind of G-d

    Emanuel Feldman
    2 Feb 2010 | 7:01 am
    I am not able to worship a G-d Whose ways are all crystal clear to me – attributed to the Kotzker Rebbe (1787-1859) The ways of G-d are hidden and mysterious; they have never been crystal clear to man. Only a finite and mortal god can be fully known and understood by finite and mortal man. But who will worship a mortal god? By the same token, only an infinite and immortal mind can fathom the infinite and immortal G-d. But who among us has an infinite and immortal mind? Given these obvious facts, it is difficult for a mortal mind to fathom the ease and eagerness with which other mortal minds…

  • A long-awaited trip to Israel

    Harvey Belovski
    2 Feb 2010 | 4:26 am
    My second daughter, Tehilloh, is very excited, as in about a month, God willing, she and I will be spending eight days together in Israel. She will become Bat Mitzvah at the end of June, and this trip to Israel, her first, is her special birthday present from me and my wife. I have the privilege of visiting Israel often, but for various reasons, my wife gets there only occasionally, and my children not at all. As such, it is a challenge to ensure that our children share our passion for Israel and remain aware of the fact that Israel lies at the centre of all Jewish religious, political and…
 
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    DovBear

  • Taking a Jew tour of NY

    9 Feb 2010 | 8:36 am
    Good Morning, DovBear! I hope you are well. I have two reasons for writing you today. One... thank you so much for posting my question about tattoos (around Jan. 5, "Still Another Halachic Question"). The responses were enlightening and helpful. As an update, I opted for laser removal and have already begun the treatment. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to post my letter. Two... A Noahide friend and I are planning to visit NYC later this month. I've visited NYC twice (LOVE IT!!!!) and enjoyed the touristy side, but on this particular trip, we are interested in an authentic Jewish…

  • Investigative report into the dybbuk

    9 Feb 2010 | 7:34 am
    A Guest Post by Rafi G I am going to preface the brief post with an apology. In the nearly 2 years that I have been a contributor on the Dov Bear blog, I have refrained from including, in my posts, links to my own blog, Life in Israel. I know I was allowed to, but my purpose in being a contributor here was not to direct traffic to LII, but to have an opportunity to share my thoughts with Dov Bear's audience, and not just with my own. Today though, I am going to break that rule I set for myself. I am going to send you to my own blog to see what I wrote there. I apologize for the inconvenience…

  • Quality Post

    8 Feb 2010 | 12:49 pm
    http://kylopod.blogspot.com/2010/02/scheming-grasping-liberals.html

  • medical school to suppress Haredi growth

    8 Feb 2010 | 10:49 am
    A Guest Post by Rafi GAre Haredim paranoid, thinking everything non-haredi the State does is to oppose Haredim and their growth, or are non-haredim naive for thinking the State is not trying to suppress Haredi growth and expansion?The State has announced they will be opening the countries fifth medical school, this one in Tsfat and administered by Bar Ilan University. This will also be a precursor to expanding to a full blown university in the heart of the Galil. The intention is to improve educational opportunities in the Galil region, which will improve the quality of life in the area.The…

  • A proto-pluralistic midrash

    8 Feb 2010 | 9:43 am
    הה"ד: (דברים ד) השמע עם קול אלהים. המינין שאלו את ר' שמלאי: א"ל: אלוהות הרבה יש בעולם? אמר להם: למה? אמרו לו: שהרי כתיב: השמע עם קול אלהים! אמר להם: שמא כתוב מדברים אלא מדבר. אמרו לו תלמידיו: רבי לאלו דחית בקנה רצוץ, לנו מה אתה משיב? חזר ר' לוי ופירשה: אמר להם: השמע עם קול אלהים, כיצד? אילו היה כתוב קול ה' בכחו לא היה העולם יכול לעמוד, אלא קול ה'…
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    Reform Judaism

  • Davar Acher: Finding Shleimut

    8 Feb 2010 | 11:08 am
    by Adam B. Grossman(Originally published in Ten Minutes of Torah and Reform Voices of Torah)Life can be challenging! Daily, no matter our situation or our lifestyle, we deal with a lot of things. There are household duties we have to fulfill, office or school deadlines that have to be met, and, in addition, there are always various other concerns pulling us in countless directions. Even though we try to balance our schedules, something usually gets overlooked. In prioritizing our activities, many of us sacrifice our personal well-being for the sake of others. Sadly, this inattentiveness to…

  • D'var Torah: Coming Down from the Mountain While Still Being There

    8 Feb 2010 | 7:29 am
    by Laura Geller(Originally published in Ten Minutes of Torah and Reform Voices of Torah) In January I went on a spirituality retreat. It was an alumni retreat of the Institute for Jewish Spirituality for a group of clergy from around the country who had been part of a two-year program designed to help us deepen our own spiritual commitments. Over the two years, there were four-week-long retreats interspersed with weekly chevrutah study of Chasidic texts. (Chevrutah study, from the root chet-bet-reish, is the intense one-on-one study of a text that one does with a partner.) My chaver…

  • The Torah in Haiku: Yitro

    5 Feb 2010 | 8:21 am
    by Ed NickowTemple Chai, Long Grove, IL(Originally published in The Torah in Haiku Andy Warhol's portrait of Louis Brandeis, the first Jewish Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States Jethro tells MosesYou can't be the only judgeIt's too exhausting Delegate the workAppoint judges for thousands,Hundreds, fifties, tens And Moses did this.The first time a Jewish manTook in-laws' advice?

  • Back to Normal Life(?)

    4 Feb 2010 | 12:37 pm
    by Adam KoonsMember of Temple Emanuel, Kensington, MD and Director of Relief & Humanitarian Assistance of International Relief & Development (Dr. Koons' blog posts from Haiti were originally posted on the IRD blog. Visit the blog, Voices from the Field to see earlier posts)On the streets of Port-au-Prince, everyone who has a few tomatoes to sell, or books of matches, or even cups of flavored shaved ice, is trying to sell them. The streets are alive and bustling with commerce. It sometimes seems like everyone is trying to sell something to everyone else. In tiny little…

  • The Joy of Peri Smilow

    4 Feb 2010 | 12:04 pm
    by JanetheWriter Although I can't carry much of a tune, I certainly do enjoy listening to them. The ones I click to most often on my iPod are those on the "Jewish" playlist - everything from Beth Schafer, David Broza and Julie Silver to Debbie Friedman, Kol B'Seder and the liturgical songs on the Union's Biennial CDs. If I'm not listening to Jewish music, sometimes I'm writing about it. You can read some of my muscial musings here and here and here. Over the weekend, I received a copy of Blessings, Peri Smilow's new CD and, needless to say, I've listened to it a few times since then. With its…
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    Cosmic X in Jerusalem

  • More Ignorance at Jpost.com

    28 Jan 2010 | 11:01 pm
    The people that purport to report news about Israel do not know the difference between Rabbi Avraham Shapira zt"l and Rabbi Yitzhak Shapira shlit"a. Here's an article about Rabbi Yitzhak Shapira accompanied by a pic of Rav Avrum:

  • Certainly Worth Reading

    25 Jan 2010 | 7:35 am
    Some interesting links IMHO:Yeranen Yaakov - Lamnatzei'ah Mizmor LeDavid - Musical InterludeTorat HaRav Aviner - 10 Relationships between Maran Ha-Rav Kook and Various Gedolei Yisrael that the Yeshiva World Should Know (So far seven parts)Life in Israel - a segula that miraculously did not work Beyond Teshuva - What I Would Tell Every New BT

  • School Uniforms in Israel

    17 Jan 2010 | 11:20 am
    The Beis Yaakov system has had this for years. Will the Israeli public accept this?Education Minister Gideon Saar decided that starting next school year, there will be school uniforms in elementary schools and middle schools. Regarding high schools, uniforms will be recommended, but the decision will lie with the school itself."Where there is a uniform, this contributes to improving the climate

  • HH 2010?

    17 Jan 2010 | 11:09 am
    Is this really the year of Jack?

  • The Lion of Monsey

    10 Jan 2010 | 8:53 am
    Digging deep into the recesses of my memory,I do that once in a while,Various visions of Monsey come to mind,Faded memories that make me smile.The rocks, the trees, the mountain air,Bearded figures decked in black,Yeshivos, Mikvehs, opulent domiciles,Is there anything that they lack?The Voice of Jacob rings out from the Lion's lair,Cubs of the captivity these men still young,Immersing themselves
 
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    Jew Wishes

  • Jew Wishes Re: Warm Glow

    jewwishes
    9 Feb 2010 | 8:07 am
    Once again it is Ruby Tuesday time, where you post pictures with red in them. My photographs are not Valentine’s Day themed…but ones taken inside a restaurant that I like to eat at. I liked the interior architecture and warmth. For more Ruby Tuesday photos, visit here.

  • Monday Musings – February 8, 2010

    jewwishes
    8 Feb 2010 | 12:47 am
    Here it is Monday, again. The week has been a bit strange for me with days running into each other. Some weeks are like that, as we travel the road of life. Logan seems to be a bit better, he has no fever, but he is still undergoing breathing treatments through Wednesday, until he sees his pediatrician, again. I will be babysitting him through at least then. Emily is doing just fine, and is a caring and loving big sister, always concerned about her “Logie baby”. It is much too precious to see… I am so glad to be back in CA, and able to be of assistance, when necessary. For…

  • Sepia Stroll and Pier

    jewwishes
    4 Feb 2010 | 12:24 am
    Once again it is time for Sepia Scenes. For more photos in sepia from around the world, visit here. I wasn’t around yesterday, and probably won’t be until after Shabbat. I am babysitting for my seven month old grandson, Logan. He has been sick with an ear infection, fever and Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV), which is causing him to have difficulty breathing. We are giving him breathing treatments 3-4 times a day using a nebulizor. If I don’t see you beforehand, Shabbat Shalom!

  • Red at the Pier

    jewwishes
    2 Feb 2010 | 9:05 am
    Once again it is Ruby Tuesday time! Submit photos with red in them, and join the other Ruby Tuesday photographers. My photos were taken a few weeks back at the Santa Monica Pier, where red ruled the day, everywhere you looked, there was red. The Buckeye fans were in town for a game between them and the Ducks. Happy Ruby Tuesday! © Copyright 2007 – All Rights Reserved – No permission is given or allowed to reuse my photography, book reviews, writings, or my poetry in any form/format without my express written consent/permission. Tuesday February 2, 2010 – 18th of Sh’vat, 5770

  • This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen

    jewwishes
    2 Feb 2010 | 12:40 am
    I finished reading This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen, by Tadeusz Borowski and found it quite disturbing. It is not a book one can call enjoyable, because enjoyable it is not. Borowski narrates with intense and graphic details concentration camp living (if you can call it that), events and situations that occurred during the Holocaust. This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen, is a book that holds a dramatic collection of short stories, concentration camp stories to be specific. With extreme detail Borowski demonstrates how daily life in the concentration camp almost becomes mundane…
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    Jewish Blogmeister

  • Tefillin Bomb: New Ad From El Al

    Jewish Blogmeister
    8 Feb 2010 | 8:39 am
    The recent incident of mistaking tefillin as a bomb upon a plane boarding for Louisville, Kentucky from NY has made big headlines. In response to it El Al has released the following advertisement:

  • iPhone: Accepting Credit Cards with Smart Phones

    Jewish Blogmeister
    27 Jan 2010 | 7:03 am
    For those of you that missed it, I recently started a blog on the credit card processing industry. This latest post deals with the latest  innovations that are being made allowing people to simply accept payments for their service or product via a smart phone (i.e. iPhone). T

  • Shloime Gertner: Jewish Music Free Sampler

    Jewish Blogmeister
    26 Jan 2010 | 10:24 pm
    Shloime Gertner's new album is hitting stores soon with his new album "Say Assay" entitled  listen to a sample of this song entitled Ashrei Mi, composed by Pinky Weber. S

  • Name Your Own Price? Insurance?

    Jewish Blogmeister
    22 Jan 2010 | 7:38 am
    So we all know the concept of name you own price from Priceline.com. It looks like Progressive auto insurance has gotten on the same marketing bandwagon. I guess it's their way of haggling with you as to what the lowest price they will offer will be. It's a bit of a different model and I'm thinking it's simply a gimmick. Priceline doesn't own the hotels or car rentals places etc.. It simply

  • The Pope Visits The Shul

    Jewish Blogmeister
    18 Jan 2010 | 7:29 pm
    Pope Benedict traveled to Rome's synagogue in a historic visit where he asked for forgiveness for Christians and their antisemitism. The Popes visit was controversial based on the recent events of moving his predecessor Pius Xll closer to sainthood. Riccardo Pacifici, president of Rome’s Jewish community took a very hard line with the Pope and insisted that if the Vatican would open it's wartime
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    Kesher Talk

  • An Entry in the Museum of Bad Art's Iterpretator Challenge

    3 Feb 2010 | 3:29 am
    The Museum of Bad Art in Massachusetts is a little-known treasure of American culture. It challenges notions of good and bad in art, and makes the viewer stop and think, seriously, about what makes a work of art interesting, challenging, or plain ridiculous. It recently closed the submission period for its seventh "Guest Interpretator Challenge." In this, members of the art-astute public were invited to submit a title and an intepretation for a new acquisition of MOBA. Always being up for a challenge, I looked at this vibrant canvas from every possible angle. After consulting many serious…

  • Obama and the Press: Get Ready for the Comeback Kid

    24 Jan 2010 | 11:01 am
    With all the frothing over the problems of the Democrats and the sudden reversal of fortune for the GOP after last week's election of Republican Scott Brown to the Senate from Massachusetts, let's step back and take the long view. As a former member of the press, I've been around journalism enough to know that many mainstream reporters are rejoicing over the victory of Scott Brown -- NOT because they like conservatives or oppose President Obama, but because journalists love drama. A Brown victory is catnip for journalists. On TV and in print, they get to think deep thoughts about the end of…

  • Unsettling Reading: Ethnic Cosmetic Surgery

    18 Jan 2010 | 5:36 pm
    From the endless surprises of free publications of New York street distribution, I plucked the December-January issue of New York City Image: The Magazine for Enhanced Beauty & Wellness. The cover photo of Brooke Shield (Princeton '89) got my attention and I took a look. One article especially unsettled me, and I'm trying to fathom why: "Ethnic Cosmetic Surgery: From Cultural Anonymity to Cultural Beauty." An excerpt from an upcoming book by Dr. Frederick Lukash, it outlined the kinds of plastic surgery most common by ethnic group. Lukash writes, Individuals seeking surgery are not denying a…

  • Plucky Marketers Sneak the Voice of the Proletariat into the Streets of NYC

    14 Jan 2010 | 5:56 pm
    One of my more illuminating experiences at Princeton came during my sophomore year, when I moved into a six-man suite in 1938 Hall. The previous occupants had a subscription to a newspaper called the Workers Vanguard. It always amused me with its rants and raves, always ending with strident appeals for workers revolution! Down with the capitalists! Long live the teachings of Trotsky! (Or was it Marx-Engels? I can't remember the exact political line. The WV definitely wasn't Maoist). I developed a sneaking affection for left-wing publications, a real-world supplement to the Marx I read in…

  • New Year's Resolutions: The More Things Change . . .

    31 Dec 2009 | 3:27 am
    In August 1986 I received a hand-bound blank book from my dear friend Rena Frank. I knew her through Dorot, a program for the Jewish elderly in New York. Rena and I were friends from 1980 until she died in 1994. Born in Berlin, she escaped Germany in 1938 for London and in 1952 she arrived in New York. She wrote on the first page: The art of life is to know how to enjoy a little and endure much. May you have only happy thoughts and memories when opening this album. I use the album as a special diary in which I write on only two days each year: My birthday and New Year's Day, two and and a…
 
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    Jacob Da Jew

  • Belated Birthday Bizness

    8 Feb 2010 | 5:20 pm
    Have no fear,'Da Jew is still here. I'm sure y'all were oh so worried where I disappeared to, based on all the (none-existent) emails received.Anyways....Another year passed and it wuz time for the grand ole celebration: my birthday!This birthday, people have been especially generous to me.D.S. got me a great cake from Chiffon's Bakery, Topp Dawg sent me some Dale & Thomas Popcorn and my ex-neighbors LFD and Gilmour hooked me up with a bottle of Tequila and 2 CDs of Cannonball Adderly and Charles Mingus. Yum!We had a Friday night bash with spiked punch (once a year Da Wife prepares that)…

  • The Quest is over......

    30 Dec 2009 | 5:08 am
    The search, quest, whatever you want to call it. It's ovah.Da Gurlie has been accepted to a great school!We've been to 2 schools since this post. The first one was absolutely brutal and nasty like the others. The second school interview went very well and we received a letter of acceptance yesterday. It actually turned out for the better as her new school is close by, enabling us to save on transportation costs.We are happy to put this harrowing experience behind us.To those schools who rejcted my daughter simply because she doesn't fit the cookie-cutter mold, go fluck yourselves.Full…

  • Death of the Blog-Roll

    28 Dec 2009 | 7:15 pm
    How things have changed.Used to be, quite a few hits and page-views were from other bloggers "Blogrolls". Not so lately.Now, with the widespread use of Google Reader and other RSS feeds, blog rolls are almost extinct.Used to be, in order to check up on a fellas blog, you needed to check in every so often.  Not anymore. The instant someone posts, it shows up in my feed and I can usually skim right through the content. I might only click through to the page if I wanted to comment or see other comments.I now view my Blogroll more ornamental rather than a functional tool for my blog. People…

  • Special Mazal Tov....

    26 Dec 2009 | 6:19 pm
    Special Mazal Tov & Mabrook #1 to Lion of Zion, Mrs. LOZ and Jr. on the birth of a baby girl. Special Mazal & Mabrook #2 to my good friends Child Ish and Mak on their engagement to...each other! Child Ish and Mak were honored guests in my home a few weeks ago and they "mak" a great couple.

  • Jewish Music Bloggers Awards

    23 Dec 2009 | 6:41 pm
    Received a couple of emails that I am invited to post some thoughts about the Jewish Music Awards.I am honored to be included in the same company asChaim RubinGruntig Jewish Blogmeister and other illustrious Jewish Music Bloggers.Wow. However....People who know me, and that includes longtime readers, remember that I'm not a huge fan of Jewish Music. But I do have my favorites.So after the text from JMR pasted below, I'll share some views. People are welcome to say whatever they want in the comment section. Anonymous comments are welcome too, just assign a handle to yourself so we know whom to…
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    Yo, Yenta!

  • Hot Boy Band Alert, Nice Jewish Edition

    Head Yenta
    8 Feb 2010 | 6:35 am
    Jewish tweens are a’squealing over Moshiach Times Band, a kepa-and-denim-rocking quartet of kids who are using the years between their bar mitzvahs and yeshiva to kick out some punk-flavored religious jams. Thanks to Heeb for posting this kosher answer to the “Disney-spawned Christ-humpers,” and I’d like to think I would have titled this post “The Jewnas Brothers” if JDub Records hadn’t thought of it already. Here’s Tzdaki (lead) , Elijah (drums), Navi (guitar) and Jesse (bass) with “One Mitzvah At At Time”: I don’t know…

  • And The AfroHeeb Beat Goes On…

    Head Yenta
    5 Feb 2010 | 8:33 am
    A coupla months back I shared the magic of Fool’s Gold, a band out of L.A. that mixes up Hebrew lyrics and complex tribal syncopation. For years I thought I was all alone out here in my love for African high-life music and the ba-dunka-thunk of the dundun, but according to Mordecai Shinefield in today’s Forward, American-Jewish-African-pop music is practically its own freakin’ GENRE now. SWEET. The article mentions Fool’s Gold as well as a jazz reed blower Jacques Schwarz-Bart and the crazy cool Afro-Semitic Experience (how can you not love a song about a torah afloat…

  • T-Shirt of the Week: Fair Labor Or It’s A Hammer to the Kishkes

    Head Yenta
    3 Feb 2010 | 7:36 am
    Look, Purim is coming in a coupla weeks and you know what that means: 12-hour days in the kitchen spreading poppyseed paste on six thousand pointy little cookies. Don’t the hard-working balabustas deserve a few perks, like fresh coffee in the kitchen and a ban on aprons that make a girl look hippy? I’m not sure what a Jewish Teamster looks like, but many thanks to the new Jewnion Label for organizing some new shmatas for the Yenta to share. Say, can you folks help me negotiate some blogger’s benefits? Be sure to rise up and join the International Order of Challah Makers and…

  • Hug A Tree…While You Still Can

    Head Yenta
    1 Feb 2010 | 11:04 am
    Yesterday was Tu B’Shvat, the birthday of the trees. It’s always been one of my favorite holidays, a fine excuse to pop lots o’ pomegranate seeds and shlep my Shalom Schoolers out to the square for some arms-to-trunk action on an oak tree, but for some reason this year I don’t feel so rah-rah about it all. Judaism teaches us that we are responsible for our environment, and so many of us do our very best. We wash out the cream cheese container and put it the plastics pile for recycling, we buy organic produce that comes from a sustainable farming system instead of the…

  • Haiti Relief Update

    Head Yenta
    29 Jan 2010 | 8:19 am
    We’ve finally gotten some footage from our sponsor Dave, who’s been in Haiti all week assisting with relief efforts. Besides distributing supplies and helping with triage, Dave and his anonymous Flip cameraman have managed to capture the scope of international presence in decimated Port-Au-Prince. Here’s a tour of an outdoor hospital run by the IDF, with a spontaneous op-ed speech about why and how the Israelis managed to be the first responders after the disaster: For more of Dave’s on-the-ground videos including street footage, check out PrimeTime’s YouTube…
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    Rabbi Rachamim Pauli Drasha

  • Parsha Beshallach 2, Yisro, Stories Galore

    4 Feb 2010 | 12:50 pm
    A very young man or teen the son of my friend from the Yeshuv has colon cancer: Zvi Moshe ben Miriam Rachel please add him to the prayer list. Shlomo Zalman ben Rivka passed away. This week’s Parsha – Yisro should be a joyous one for everybody with the establishment of a court hierarchy and the giving of the Torah but for me it is always the Parsha around the time of the passing of my father Felix ben Yitzchak Pauli on Chaf Gimmel Shvat. I thereby dedicate this Issue to his memory. Error – Last week out of my usual learning of Shulchan Aruch with Rabbi Mimran I wrote Orech Chaim which…

  • Letters, Parsha Bo 2, Parsha Beshlach introduction

    28 Jan 2010 | 12:36 pm
    I was asked to ask people to pray for a little girl - a 7 year old that in the past had cancer and she got it again recently her name is Tahel Chaya bat Michal. Shlomo Zalman ben Rivka I received another true story based on Lenny’s story last week. Reminds me of a story that happened in NYC a while ago: Told to me by a doctor, now at another hospital. Some old guy comes into Sloan hospital and asks where can he make a donation. So the information personsends him to the head of donations, and the guy, seeing this little man poorly dressed, calls over one of his aids to handle the gift. The…

  • Parsha Bo part 1, Halachos, Tefillin, stories, News

    22 Jan 2010 | 4:55 am
    After at least a ten year battle with Cancer Esther bas Chana passed away. She might have lasted a year or two longer, but she simply lost the will to fight to live when her husband passed away, my friend Yacov passed away on Vav B’Elul. Reviving Prayer List: Asher ben Malka, Avraham ben Devorah, Zvi Yechezkiel ben Leah, (Yehuda ben Chava Rivka, Raphael Avraham ben Golda – both until the end of the month of Shevat) Shemayahu Yosef Chaim ben Peshiya Miriam, Ahron Yehuda Lieb en Gittel Feige, Zev ben Miriam, Shalom Charles ben Gracia, Chaim Pincus ben Yaspa, Avraham ben Leah, Bentzion…

  • Parsha Vaiera, Rabbi Yehiel London Zal, Good Shabbos Story

    14 Jan 2010 | 5:46 pm
    Raphael Avraham Ben Golda, Chazkel ben Frumet need prayers. Esther bas Chana has a few days to live so keep praying until further notice and Rivka bat Shirin Rachel (pancreatic cancer) passed away. Nach Nafsha D’Rav HaGadol Mori Rabbi Yechiel Yehuda ben Spritza and Sturya London Zal Behind the Scenes, the working of the Rabbi and his brother The London Brothers formed Jewish Boys High School in the 1940’s and eventually expanded it into Yeshiva Haichel HaTorah. Rabbi Yechiel was 16 years old at the time and taught people quite a bit older than himself as well as the younger fellows. They…

  • Parsha Shemos, Mitzvos & Halachos, story, Gog and Magog news

    7 Jan 2010 | 6:23 pm
    NEVO BEN GALIT and Perechiya bas Yalkut need our prayers for healing. Also a personal blessing to my friend Barbara in NJ who is recovering that she should have a speedy recovery and her computer will be repaired so that she will enjoy the Drasha again. Miracle in Modiin Iiltt A boy in the class above my oldest grandson was riding his bicycle in the street many months ago and was struck by a bus. He was rushed to the hospital in critical condition and for quite a while was between life and death. Prayers were made for his healing. The boy recently regained consciousness and told his Rebbe who…
 
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    Protekzia by Simon Synett

  • Yithro and the Dark Side

    7 Feb 2010 | 3:02 pm
    Yithro's reaction to Israel's escape from Egypt is at once liberating and terrifying as it allows us to acknowledge our inner struggle and forces us to confront our dark side... The Torah describes his reaction: vayichad Yithro - literally the word derives from the root chedva - happiness or joy, and as Rashi explains, he experienced tremendous joy on behalf of the Israelite nation. Whether due to his personal connection to Israel as Moshe's father in law, or because he deeply understood the hardships of slavery, or as a witness to God's power that was demonstrated by the redemption He…

  • Spiritual Cause and Effect

    31 Jan 2010 | 3:20 pm
    Beshalach - Spiritual Cause and Effect A quick thought that struck me this week on parshas Beshalach: A general question that presents itself throughout the account of the exodus and ensuing period of wandering in the desert: The Children of Israel are always complaining about one thing or other...how do they not see what God did for them with the ten plagues, the splitting of the sea, taking them out of Egypt laden with gold, silver and clothes, and how did they not realise that they were in good hands? How could they be so ungrateful, like spoiled children? Listen to them: "...it would have…

  • Chukim, Mishpatim and Israel's Mission

    30 Jul 2009 | 4:52 pm
    Parshas Va'eschanan Moses gives his parting advice to the Children of Israel, as they prepare themselves physically and mentally for the greatest paradigm shift since their emergence from slavery. From being a Nation of Manna eaters, living an exalted, spiritual life in the Clouds of Glory, they were to make a transition, to re-enter the civilised world as a National entity, a country among other countries and a people among other peoples. But not just any Nation - they were to become a Holy Nation, a Kingdom of Priests. They were to use their National Sovereignty to show the rest of humanity…

  • Rabbi Akiva's students' demise - the curse of Torah without respect

    29 Apr 2009 | 12:50 pm
    Rabbi Akiva had 12,000 pairs of students and they all died in one period because they didn't treat one-another with respect. In Hebrew shelo nahagu kavod ze-lazeh. (Yevamos 62b) The gemara continues that from that time, the entire world was desolate until Rabbi Akiva took on the five apprentices who would later become the leaders of their generation. Clearly then, Rabbi Akiva and his students were considered as the transmitters of Torah of their time, the greatest scholars and teachers. Given that, it's hard for us to grapple with the idea that people of such stature would sink to such a low…

  • Counting the Omer, defending or destroying the oral tradition?

    17 Apr 2009 | 6:47 am
    From the day after the Shabbat, from the day on which you bring the omer offering, count seven complete weeks. Until the day after the seventh Shabbat, count fifty days, and then bring a new offering to God. (Lev. 23:15) When are we supposed to begin the count? What is this Shabbat upon which the entire count rests? This is doubly important because on it depends the date of Shavuos. The question is discussed in Menachos 65/66 and there we find that some groups would read the above literally and begin the count on a Sunday, with the result that Shavuos would always fall on Sunday. However the…
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    Open Minded Torah

  • Oedipus in a Kippa

    wdk
    20 Jan 2010 | 10:00 pm
    At the beginning of Sophocles’ tragedyOedipus Rex, a chorus of elder priests surrounds the oracle at Delphi. They mourn the terrible plagues that have befallen their city, Thebes, lamenting that the gods have abandoned them. Oedipus, who had already saved the city once, and is lauded by the elders as ‘chief of men’ appears, commanding the devout priests: ‘don’t pray to the gods; pray to me. I will grant your prayers!’ Jocasta, his wife (and, as we know too well, his mother), is distraught, skeptical, mocking the oracles of the gods and their supposed involvement in human affairs -…

  • Open Minded Torah Goes Retro

    wdk
    19 Jan 2010 | 11:22 am
    From Papyrus to Script; from Script to Print; from Print to Electronic.Despite this normal course of progress, OMT will be reversing the trend: Open Minded Torah will be published (as a book!) by Continuum in 2011!Watch here for further developments and updates, and a new look to OMT!

  • Jerusalem Hanuka Event: Hod Hanuka at Barbur

    wdk
    9 Dec 2009 | 1:34 am

  • Making Exceptions

    wdk
    26 Nov 2009 | 3:09 am
    Getting from the house to cheder - or rather the two separate chedarim that my sons attend - always takes time. Shmuel is like a seven-year old Wordsworth - constantly stopping to marvel at the wonders of nature (and the neighborhood); while Pinchos, five, comports himself like a young Newton, always pausing to ask how things work. Today, a garbage pick-up fired both of their imaginations. Yes, getting to cheder takes a long time.Between the flights of sublimity and the mechanical inquiries, I pursue another topic - 'How to Cross the Street.' First, an under-undergraduate course in semiotics:…

  • Fanatics in Israel

    wdk
    23 Nov 2009 | 5:03 am
    After a considerable hiatus, OMT weighs in on 'Who are Israel's ultraorthodox Jews?'Imagine an extra-terrestrial – or someone from Oslo or maybe Kansas City – who googles ‘ultra-orthodox’ and happens upon Avirama Golan’s ‘Who are Israel’s ultra-orthodox Jews?’ What would he find? Golan starts by expressing dismay – ‘woe unto us,’ she laments – at the differences of the skullcap-wearers who continue to ‘divide and subdivide.’ True, Golan admits, one can’t generalize – but in this taxonomy, the ultra-orthodox largely consist of lunatic preachers, arsonists,…
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    Profit Motive

  • Will Mobile Giving Take Off In The Jewish World?

    Tamar
    5 Feb 2010 | 11:39 am
    Over the course of the past year, a group of volunteers affiliated with The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee’s (JDC) Next Gen initiative has been looking into launching a mobile giving campaign. When an earthquake devastated Haiti last month, suddenly the race was on to get it up and running immediately. JDC announced its text-to-donate campaign at “Help Haiti Now,” an emergency benefit held Jan. 19 at a popular music venue. The entire setup process took less than 48 hours after choosing a provider, says Sarah Eisenman, JDC’s director of next generation and service…

  • Michigan’s New Israel Investment

    Tamar
    22 Dec 2009 | 8:41 am
    At 1:45 a.m. on a recent weeknight, a group of 27 Jewish students gathered in the main auditorium at University of Michigan’s Hillel. Instead of breaking out the beer, they video-conferenced with Nir Elperin, vice president of Arba Finance, a venture capital firm in Tel Aviv. A split-screen projected on the wall featured a PowerPoint presentation on one side and Elperin on the other, talking in real time about the venture capital and high-tech industry in Israel, as well as various ways in which startups secure funding. Elperin then fielded questions from the group. “Which industries in…

  • A Philanthropist Crunches The Numbers

    Tamar
    25 Nov 2009 | 6:41 am
    Some philanthropists focus on Jewish continuity. Others devote themselves to promoting Jewish educational opportunities. Mandell (Bill) Berman, a Jewish philanthropist based in suburban Detroit, gives generously to both of the aforementioned causes. But what makes him unique among Jewish philanthropists is his love of data, particularly Jewish data. “I’m the only Jewish philanthropist who has a real interest in Jewish data, and the storage, dissemination and preservation of that data,” Berman told The Jewish Week in a recent phone interview. More than 20 percent of Mandell L. and…

  • ‘Green’ Groups Pulling In Green

    Tamar
    17 Nov 2009 | 6:28 pm
    This has been a good year for Jewish Farm School, an environmental education organization that aims to reconnect Jews with the joys of working the land and growing their own food. Last summer, JFS was one of two start-ups selected to join Bikkurim, the New York-based incubator that provides its resident groups with office space and computers in downtown Manhattan, as well as a stipends and organizational consulting. Started in 2005 with just $5,000, enough to run only two programs a year, the Jewish Farm School has seen its budget mushroom to $110,000 last year, as it increased its Organic…

  • Where The Heart Meets The Mind

    Tamar
    22 Oct 2009 | 1:00 pm
    Noted philanthropist Charles Bronfman and philanthropy expert Jeffrey Solomon have co-authored their first book together, titled “The Art of Giving: Where the Soul Meets a Business Plan” (Wiley), which will be released in early November. There, they argue that philanthropy must be strategic, intentional and — perhaps most importantly — fun. The Jewish Week sat down with the authors at The Andrea and Charles Bronfman Philanthropies office on East 59th Street, where they spoke about the shift from charity to philanthropy, how the Madoff affair has impacted philanthropy and the…
 
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    Beyond BT - The Baal Teshuva / Baal Teshuvah site for Baalei Teshuva / Baalei Teshuvah and Other Growth Oriented Jews

  • Time, Space and Soul at the Kotel

    Mark Frankel
    8 Feb 2010 | 9:00 pm
    On my recent trip to Eretz Yisroel, I had the good fortune to rent an apartment in Kfar David in Mamilla, very close to the Jaffa Gate. I davened almost every Tefillah at the Kotel, except for Shabbos when we were in Ramat Beis Shemesh. (As an aside, the apartment was great and priced at $160 a night off season. There are smaller ones for $100 a night. Email me at BeyondBT@gmail.com if you need more information). Davening at the Kotel is amazing because it’s a Minyan factory and you get to join together with all types of Jews from the four corners of the world. However, I do find it…

  • The BT and the SuperBowl

    Guest Contributor
    7 Feb 2010 | 9:00 pm
    The NY Times has a good article about Alan Shlomo Veingrad, the Professional Football Player who won a Superbowl with the Dallas Cowboys and became an observant Jew afterwards. The Ba’al Guf and the Ba’al Teshuva A promotional flier announced the evening’s subject as “Super Bowl to Super Jew.” There was truth in that advertising. Mr. Veingrad goes these days by his Hebrew name, Shlomo. He wore a black skullcap and the ritual fringes called tzitzit; he wore the Super Bowl ring he won in 1992 with the Dallas Cowboys and the Rolex watch that was a gift from Emmitt Smith, the…

  • Yisro in a Nutshell

    Guest Contributor
    4 Feb 2010 | 4:07 am
    Here’s Rabbi Rietti’s outline of Yisro. You can purchase the entire outline of the Chumash here. Yitro # 18 Yitro Converts – Advice: 10-50-100-1000. # 19 Preparations for Divine Revelation # 20 The Ten Commandments # 18 Yitro Converts – Advice: 10-50-100-1000. * Yitro arrives at Jewish Camp in desert with Tsiporah, Gershom & Eliezer * Yitro blesses HaShem when he hears the details of the Exodus * Yitro eats with Moshe in HaShem’s Presence * Yitro sees Moshe’s method of adjudicating justice * Yitro’s advice, delegate judges of 10, 50, 100, 1000 *…

  • Dealing With Lack of Appreciation

    Administrator
    2 Feb 2010 | 9:00 pm
    People involved in Communal and Chesed projects know that it is not unusual for the recipients to not show adequate (or sometimes any) appreciation. Although at the higher levels of Chesed we should not care about the appreciation shown, it can be troublesome sometimes. How have people dealt with this situation either internally or through verbal expression to the recipients? People who looked at this item also looked at… What are the Challenges that FFB Children of BTs Face Holden Caulfield and the Lack of Observance No Easy Way Out The Special Challenges of the Baal Teshuvah Marriage…

  • Putting Hubby First

    Azriela Jaffe
    1 Feb 2010 | 9:00 pm
    I didn’t grow up with a mother who gave me any kind of pre-marital chat about how to be a good wife. But I learned from watching her. In our household, she was fully dedicated to taking care of my father’s every need. I vividly remember their routine – he ran a business about a 25-minute ride from home. He would call when he was leaving work, and my mother would time the evening supper meal perfectly so that when we all heard the automatic garage door opener, and my father was pulling in the driveway, my mother was plating up his dinner. Perhaps that is why my husband comes home to a…
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    Stumbling Into Jews

  • Allan Sherman’s Hello Muddah lyrics

    markcohen12
    8 Feb 2010 | 10:55 am
    The lyrics to Allan Sherman’s “Hello Muddah” Hello Muddah, hello Fadduh, Here I am at Camp Granada. Camp is very entertaining, And they say we’ll have some fun if it stops raining. I went hiking with Joe Spivey. He developed poison ivy. You remember Leonard Skinner. He got ptomaine poisoning last night after dinner. All the counselors hate the waiters, And the lake has alligators. And the head coach wants no sissies, So he reads to us from something called Ulysses. Now I don’t want this should scare ya, But my bunk mate has malaria. You remember Jeffrey Hardy.

  • Does anyone still read Saul Bellow?

    markcohen12
    8 Feb 2010 | 10:44 am
    “My god, I didn’t know people still read Saul Bellow.” That’s what a passerby said to Stanford University professor of Jewish history, Steven Zipperstein. Zipperstein told that little story in 2001, when this talk was given. And back then, Bellow’s celebrated and controversial novel, Ravelstein, had just appeared. What’s Bellow awareness like now? Dunno. But it doesn’t look good. Adam Gopnik recently wrote in the New Yorker about J.D. Salinger’s stand against Hemingway’s hardboiled style without reminding himself of the manifesto that was…

  • Salinger article reveals there was no Saul Bellow

    markcohen12
    5 Feb 2010 | 11:47 am
    It takes a few days for the New Yorker to get to California, so it was only yesterday that I read Adam Gopnik’s Feb. 8 article on J.D. Salinger, which reveals there was no Saul Bellow. A deluded "reader" of the non-existent Saul Bellow Gopnik was modest about his discovery. He implied it instead of making a big deal about it. But for those like myself who spent decades thinking we were reading Saul Bellow novels and talking about his significance to postwar American literature the news was harsh, as Cher Horowitz would say. The blow, as I said, was delivered with subtlety, but…

  • Allan Sherman links — the videos

    markcohen12
    4 Feb 2010 | 5:04 pm

  • Allan Sherman — A links resource

    markcohen12
    3 Feb 2010 | 3:17 pm
    Allan Sherman links: The Starter Kit Here is a starter kit of links to information about Sherman. Trouble is, nearly all of the articles have a single source: Sherman’s autobiography, A Gift of Laughter. I’ve done original research for a Sherman biography that goes well beyond this and I plan to share it. Here is a good overview of what’s on the record now, “My Fair Sadie: Allan Sherman and a paradox of American Jewish culture.” Don’t let the title scare you. My peer-reviewed article on Sherman is readable. Really. (The link is only to the first few hundred…
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