Religion

Dueling Eicha’s…with Wheels

August 9, 2011

Segways at the tayelet The holiday of Tisha B’av has befallen us (yes, pun intended) and Jews all over the world are spending the day reflecting, fasting or otherwise using the holiday’s restrictions to avoid shaving and bathing for a day. On the evening of Tisha B’av, it is traditional to hear the book of […]

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L’ag b’Omer is Saturday Night. Or Maybe Not

May 18, 2011

The date of the next bonfire is no vanity The Jewish “bonfire” holiday of L’ag b’Omer is this Saturday night. Or maybe not. L’ag b’Omer commemorates the day some 2,000 years ago that a plague killing 24,000 students of Rabbi Akiva ended. “L’ag” stands for lamed-gimel – in Hebrew the number 33. The Omer refers […]

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My “Kavanot” for Aviv’s Bar Mitzvah

April 5, 2011

A couple of weeks ago, I posted a video from Aviv’s bar mitzvah along with links to more content on his “bar mitzvah blog.” But before the bar mitzvah itself, I asked to lead the kavanot in honor of Aviv at the Nava Tehila havurah that we participate in once a month. Nava Tehila uses […]

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Aviv’s Bar Mitzvah

March 25, 2011

It’s been an incredible few weeks around Aviv’s bar mitzvah. Family came in from overseas, we had a slew of great activities (from a lovely walk in the Jerusalem Botanical Gardens to a treasure hunt in the Old City – more on that in an upcoming post) all leading up to the big day. The […]

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Even the Roosters Crow for RebbeSoul

February 24, 2011

Why would a successful Hollywood musician and Jewish music pioneer leave behind a lucrative career and pack it all up to make aliyah? Bruce Burger, who goes by the stage name of RebbeSoul, can’t quite put his finger on it. Maybe it’s his Jewish soul, or that he fell in love with the people of […]

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Secular Rabbis to the Rescue?

February 10, 2011

Rabbi Sivan Maas The Jerusalem Post reported this weekend about a rabbinic ordination ceremony of a very different kind. I was there at the event too, which took place in December. What made it all so unique was that the new rabbis were all entirely secular. And they don’t believe in God, at least not […]

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Religious Mustard and Other Hebrew Acronyms

January 26, 2011

Hodaya, the most famous “datlashit” from the TV show “Srugim” In the U.S. and most western countries, Jews tend to identify their religious affiliation through one of the major Jewish movements, be it Conservative, Reform, Orthodox, Reconstructionist, Jewish Renewal, and even Secular Humanistic Judaism. Not so in Israel, where one’s religious standing is far more […]

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You Say Basya, I Say Batya, It’s all Great Music

January 12, 2011

Basya Schechter in Jerusalem (photo: Warren Burstein) Basya Schechter has long been one of my favorite Jewish musicians. Whether with her seven piece band, Pharaoh’s Daughter, or stripped down (metaphorically, please) in an acoustic show, Schechter offers an intriguing mashup of ethnically tinged Shabbat zemirot, Ladino love songs, and wistful Yiddish poetry. Her playlist ranges […]

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To Brit or Not to Brit

November 25, 2010

We recently attended a brit mila in Jerusalem. Prior to the ceremony, the father of the newborn expressed some misgivings about the whole concept of circumcision. Of course my friend was going to go through with the ceremony – this is Israel, after all, where for a Jewish boy not to be circumcised is rare […]

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The Eternal Optimist

November 1, 2010

Rivka Matitya z’l My wife Jody recently attended her 30-year high school reunion in California. She remarked on her return to Israel how at the 10-year reunion, everyone was still in high school party mode. At 20 years, her friends were all talking about their families and careers. At her 30th, many of the attendees […]

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