Search: boogie

Bodhichitta and Boogie

December 6, 2007

My wife Jody and I have been getting into meditation lately. Both of us had tried it in the past and dropped it. Now we’re back on the path. We’ve even taken to reading some literature on meditation before bed which relates to Buddhist subjects such as tonglen practice and boddhichitta – most commonly translated […]

Read the full article →

Jacob’s Ladder Review: The Evolution of the Abrams Brothers

May 24, 2011

When Yehudit and Menachem Vinegrad booked the Abrams Brothers to appear as the main act at this year’s Jacob’s Ladder festival, they probably thought they were treating the audience at Israel’s (and one of the world’s) pre-eminent folk shows to the Brothers’ down home bluegrass and country stylings. Instead, they got Coldplay…with a fiddle. This […]

Read the full article →

Tu B’av Fashion Show Faux Pas?

July 27, 2010

Tu B’av – the 15th day of the Jewish month of Av – is the closest Israelis have to a Valentine’s Day: just substitute a bit of ribald wisdom from the rabbis of the Talmud for a martyred Roman saint and a lot of cuddly Cupids. Tu B’av is the number one day for weddings […]

Read the full article →

No Place for Old Folks

March 9, 2010

During last week’s Purim celebrations, I began to feel my age. Not the Megillah reading – you can appreciate that no matter how old you are (especially if you’re hard of hearing…helps drown out the din of the groggers). No, it was the party afterward. Every year, my wife Jody and I go dancing at […]

Read the full article →

Oud v’Rikoud

November 12, 2009

The annual Jerusalem International Oud Festival has become the leading event of its kind on the ethnic music calendar. Now in its tenth year, the festival, which kicks off tonight, lasts for 16 days and includes shows in both Jerusalem and Nazareth. But those of us fortunate to have attended last week’s “Boogie Nights” dance […]

Read the full article →

Getting Through the Night

March 13, 2009

It was Purim evening and Jody and I went dancing. It was an exhilarating night out as thousands of revelers, young and old, from around the country, came to shake and bounce and twirl to free form world music until the wee hours of the night at the post-Megillah Boogie Jerusalem annual extravaganza. We stayed […]

Read the full article →

Branding Israel

January 26, 2007

During the 2003 run up to the war in Iraq, France found itself bitterly opposed to U.S. plans, earning it derision from conservatives who went so far as to insist that U.S. government cafeterias rename certain “French” foods as freedom fries and freedom toast. But at no time did France lose its image of also […]

Read the full article →

Iran as Psychotherapy

January 4, 2007

I was interviewed this week by Michele Chabin, a reporter from the New York Jewish Week, and asked to give an “average Israeli’s” opinion on the threat from Iran. How did it make us feel? Were we afraid? Did we have thoughts of leaving? Was the world community’s response comforting or confounding? The interview came […]

Read the full article →

Thanksgiving in Israel

November 23, 2006

Every year, just about this time of the month, I get a flurry of emails from friends and colleagues all with pretty much the same message. It goes something like this: “Happy Thanksgiving, that is if you celebrate it over there…er, do you?” So, what do immigrants from the U.S. to Israel do on the […]

Read the full article →