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...... 1
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,...... 1
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....... 1
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...... 1
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...... 3
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...... 14
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,...... 7
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......