Leonard Bernstein’s Kaddish

June 19, 2009

Two weeks ago, prior to the “Enhanced Kaddish” ceremony we held for my father, Jody and I attended a very different musical memorial. Together with several thousand Israelis, we trekked to Yad Vashem, The Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Authority, for a special outdoor performance of Leonard Bernstein’s Symphony No. 3, also known as Kaddish. […]

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ObamaNation

June 12, 2009

Let me preface the following rant by saying I voted for the guy. I had great expectations, not quite bordering on messianic, but in that general direction. His oration; the clear, educated and trained mind – especially compared with his predecessor – was lucidly refreshing. Yes, those of us in Israel were worried that he’d […]

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Kaddish & Kiddush

June 4, 2009

Since my father died two months ago, I’ve thought a lot about what is the nature of community and, in particular, what is my place in it. It’s not a simple question. For many years I’ve been what I jokingly call “tefilacally-challenged” (tefilah being the Hebrew for “prayer”). Prayer is not something that’s easy for […]

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TNL Classic: More Cheese Please

May 28, 2009

The Jewish holiday of Shavuot begins tonight and I’ve dug up another TNL classic. This one first appeared just before Shavuot in 2005. The kids are, naturally, a bit younger in this story but the learning is just as relevant today. Enjoy…and chag sameach! ————————— “What are we going to do today?” six-year-old Aviv demanded […]

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TNL Classic: Save My Spot

May 22, 2009

This week, Jody got stuck in a half-hour long p’kak – Hebrew for “a traffic jam” – waiting to get to the front of the meat counter at the supermarket. That reminded me of a supermarket-themed piece I wrote way back in 2004 about a similar experience. So in that spirit, here’s another “TNL Classic.” […]

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TNL Classic: Overly Sensitive New Age Guy

May 15, 2009

Last night, my friend Eliezer and my son Amir dragged me to the movies to see the new Star Trek film. I have not been to a movie theater in more than three years, since we bought our big screen plasma TV. For me, 42 inches is an entirely acceptable alternative to the costs and […]

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The Future of Reading (and its Impact on Jewish Law)

May 7, 2009

I have seen the future of reading and it is not print books or newspapers. On Wednesday, Amazon unveiled the Kindle DX, a larger version of its popular Kindle eBook reader. The DX’s 9.7-inch screen is two and a half times the size of the original Kindle, making it perfect for reading newspapers, magazines, textbooks, […]

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A Peek Inside

May 1, 2009

Ever since I saw the 1965 classic sci fi flick Fantastic Voyage, I have been fascinated with seeing the inside of the human body. In Fantastic Voyage, a team of scientists in a submarine are shrunk and injected into the body of a man to repair a blood clot in his brain. The team, most […]

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The Original Ponzi: An Inside Account

April 24, 2009

Bernard Madoff’s multi-billionaire dollar swindle has been called a “Ponzi Scheme,” referring to a similar scandal perpetrated by Charles Ponzi beginning in 1920. There has been no surfeit in articles on Ponzi, but nearly all have focused on comparing and contrasting Madoff and his would be inspiration. That’s one reason Chapter 3 in my father’s […]

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The Power of Shiva

April 17, 2009

I have paid many shiva calls but I never truly realized how important they are until I sat on the other side of the chair. My father, Walter Blum, died on a Sunday. He was buried on Wednesday. I sat shiva for one day in California at my parents’ home. Then I returned to Israel […]

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