Gaza: a Rock and Roll Response

July 14, 2010

With another ship of questionable humanitarian aid and activists on its way to Gaza this week, I thought I’d take a look back at what my wife Jody and I did during the original “Free Gaza flotilla” and near lynching of Israeli troops six weeks ago: we went to a concert. Not just any concert, […]

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Meet Me at the Mugrabi

July 8, 2010

Mugrabi Cinema in its Heyday When I was hired to record a series of conversations to accompany a course on teaching Hebrew to English speakers, I didn’t know I’d be getting a lesson in Tel Aviv nostalgia. The project was to edit a 500-page curriculum originally developed to prepare U.S. diplomats posted to Israel. Along […]

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Will my Children Be Jewish?

June 29, 2010

MK David Rotem New regulations from the Chief Rabbinate have non-Orthodox Israelis in a tizzy. According to the rules, anyone can have their Jewishness called into question at any time. But legislators in the Knesset aren’t taken the changes lying down with MK David Rotem vowing to fight. The new rules appear to be part […]

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Search for the Perfect Knafeh

June 25, 2010

Must-have knafe I’ve never eaten it, but I’ve just got to have it. Kanafeh, that is. It’s an Arab pastry somewhat like baklava, but with the addition of soft goats cheese, an orange coating and sprinkled pistachio nuts. I first learned about kanafeh from a friend who was guiding us through East Jerusalem. He pointed […]

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Memorial for Walter Blum – Oseh Shalom

June 23, 2010

(מן התפילה) This is the eighth and final post in the series from the memorial for my father, Walter Blum, who passed away last year. The event mixed music and humanistic interpretations of Jewish texts to try to share what my father was like and what he was passionate about. The verses to this final […]

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Last 4 Hours of Jerusalem Festival of Light – Don’t Miss It!

June 16, 2010

Map to the festival. Take the green route Run, no sprint to the Light in Jerusalem festival, which is closing tonight – in just a few hours! – after a successful seven day run. The event consists of tens of creative, playful and often awe inspiring light installations from internationally renowned “light artists,” displayed and […]

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Anglo Community in Jerusalem Struck by Tragedy

June 11, 2010

Lee Vatkin, z’l The text message came in early Tuesday morning: “There are no words to express our thoughts and feelings at this time. Our darling daughter Lee Gabriella’s funeral will be at 11:15 PM tonight.” By this time, of course, we already knew – half of Anglo Jerusalem did, whether by email, phone calls, […]

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Memorial for Walter Blum – Ma Gadlu

June 10, 2010

(תהילים צ”ב, ו) This is the seventh in a series of posts from the memorial for my father, Walter Blum, who passed away last year. The event mixed music and humanistic interpretations of Jewish texts to try to share what my father was like and what he was passionate about. Next week I’ll post the […]

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Did Lost “Lose” the Jews?

June 2, 2010

SPOILER ALERT: if you have not seen the last episode of Lost, do not read further. It’s been just over a week since the two and a half hour series finale of Lost aired, but the blogosphere continues to dissect every nuance of the show’s final big reveal. I’ll readily admit I’ve been a Lost […]

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Memorial for Walter Blum – Livnat HaSapir

June 1, 2010

(שמות ×›”ד, ×™) This is the sixth in a series of posts from the memorial for my father, Walter Blum, who passed away last year. The event mixed music and humanistic interpretations of Jewish texts to try to share what my father was like and what he was passionate about. ————————————- I’m going to take […]

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