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Sunday, May 5, 2013
Iyyar 25, 5773
8:22 am IDT
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Ops & Blogs

Avi Rockoff

Avi Rockoff practices dermatology in Brookline, Massachusetts

May 5, 2013
8:04 am

The Philosophy of Toasted Oats

One way I’m trying to improve my Hebrew is to read the backs of breakfast cereal boxes. This has helped me pick up some new words, along with some......

April 30, 2013
6:24 pm

No Airport for You!

As our flight neared its destination, a stern voice came over the loudspeaker. “Government regulations require that no one be out of their seat for 30 minutes before we......

April 2, 2013
2:05 pm

A mistaken case of identity

What is an Israeli? “He is making a mistake.” The speaker was my friend from Ramat Gan, who visits Boston from time to time. He was referring to an acquaintance who......

February 14, 2013
10:40 am

The minyan must go on

We had a blizzard in Boston this weekend. Two feet of snow, howling winds. The works. ...

February 4, 2013
7:58 am

How do you want to be remembered?

Time was running out. The 52 minutes Mel had allotted for the story of my life were almost up. He looked at the clock, turned to me,......

January 17, 2013
6:48 pm

One people (sort of)

“We’re from an old Sephardi family in Bucharest,” Orna said, which surprised me a little since her last name is Holczman. “There were two Sephardi synagogues of course,” she said.......

January 3, 2013
4:47 pm

An amazing insight

I haven’t seen Ben in a few years. Now in late middle-age, he looks happy and prosperous. With a wife twenty years younger, he thinks he’ll be working for......

December 10, 2012
3:12 pm

A Hanukkah tale: the search for God at the barbershop

“This one’s for you, Rabbi.” Vinnie insists on calling me “Rabbi.” He has to be the world’s only barber with a piano in his shop. Now in his late 60’s,......

October 4, 2012
5:00 pm

Mikvah etiquette

I visit the mikvah twice a year: Erev Rosh Hashana and Erev Yom Kippur. Because I usually can’t make it till the afternoon, I go to......

September 23, 2012
7:30 am

Billy’s toe: A holiday memory

When my father took a Long Island pulpit in 1953, he found a few things that came with the job. One of them was Hyman. Outside of......

September 3, 2012
1:08 pm

Bureaucratic nonsense

People like to groan about bureaucrats. Israeli bureaucrats are especially notorious for being unhelpful and unpleasant. In fact, a selling point of the Nefesh B'Nefesh program......

August 19, 2012
5:02 am

A Jew, a Christian woman and a priest walk into a church…

When John Kerry ran for President in 2004, the world learned (along with Kerry) that his grandfather had been a Jew: Fritz Kohn, who married a......

July 4, 2012
5:12 pm

Happy birthday, USA

Our rabbi was giving a talk about the halakhot of mesirah, discussing when -- if ever -- it is appropriate for a Jew to turn over......

June 6, 2012
11:41 pm

The Bible tells me so

Felice comes in twice a year. Nothing serious, just a small medical procedure that needs regular repeating. So I was surprised when this time she said,......

May 16, 2012
6:28 pm

Piercing the mountain: For a consumer-friendly rabbinate

The car salesman and I had something unexpected in common. Just for fun, I had wandered into the upscale dealership next door to the one selling the balebatish sedan I was......

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