Ops & Blogs | The Times of Israel » Lori Silberman Brauner

The exhilaration of Torah study

Lori Silberman Brauner — Wed, 22 May 2013 15:11:49 +0000

This past Shavuot, I had the opportunity to accompany my 13-year-old son, who celebrated his bar mitzva only three months ago, to one of the largest synagogues in town to do some Jewish learning ahead of the all-night study and cheesecake fest in which many Jews would be participating. There was an evening session for [...]

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Much ado about the Kotel

Lori Silberman Brauner — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 16:30:58 +0000

They did it again, the Women of the Wall. They staged a large prayer service yesterday on Rosh Hodesh Nisan, complete with women holding a Torah scroll and wearing tallitot and tefillin. And with that included the monthly protest by ultra-Orthodox men and women, outraged at WOW’s public display of traditionally male ritual garments and [...]

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A plant uprooted from its native soil

Lori Silberman Brauner — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 01:47:55 +0000

It was about 10:30 at night at Ben-Gurion Airport. Tired from security checks, shlepping heavy baggage, and dealing with irritable children, it was time to present my passport. Two sets of booths lay ahead of me: “Israeli” and “Foreign” Passports. I trudged toward the latter, but not without first registering a bit of dismay. How [...]

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Stepping out of the American bar mitzva circuit

Lori Silberman Brauner — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 00:17:20 +0000

My family is officially now in bar mitzva season, or should I say, “circuit.” I mean this literally: my seventh-grader recently received an Evite to a racing party at an indoor go-kart track, followed by a Saturday night celebration the following week for the same child. His social life has certainly become more active than [...]

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Why aren’t we there for Israel?

Lori Silberman Brauner — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 15:47:22 +0000

The days since Israel and Hamas reached a cease-fire would seem like a perfect time to book a trip to Israel. Things have quieted down in the Mideast, it’s getting frosty here, and to top it off, El Al is offering a $949 fare round trip from New York! But anecdotally at least, I am [...]

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The highs and lows of Hurricane Sandy

Lori Silberman Brauner — Mon, 05 Nov 2012 12:50:32 +0000

My family — and home — have thankfully emerged intact and well after five days of no power following the onslaught of Hurricane Sandy over the East Coast. The night of its wrath we watched as exploding transformers literally lit up the sky over Teaneck, NJ, and beyond. The winds were howling enough for us [...]

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Tweeting for Israel

Lori Silberman Brauner — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 15:24:56 +0000

Never underestimate the power of a single tweet. That was one message I picked up — a modern cliche for our times, perhaps — but a worthy one, at #ThinkIsrael, a recent “tweet-up” for advocates of Israel in New York City. The tweet-up was one just element of a “Think Israel” conference for students and [...]

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Holy day burnout

Lori Silberman Brauner — Fri, 05 Oct 2012 03:10:46 +0000

Is it just me or is this year of chagim more difficult than previous ones? I’m completely burned out and done with celebrating. No more cooking, shopping, cleaning up and entertaining guests. No more giving up my bedroom for relatives and sleeping on an inflatable aerobed with ridges that make me feel like I’m rolling [...]

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Jewish women, Arab men

Lori Silberman Brauner — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 07:22:27 +0000

The recent near-death beating of an Arab teenager in the heart of Jerusalem is disturbing on so many levels. That a gang of Jewish youths could attack another youth for reasons other than self-defense. That it could happen in a public square, watched by dozens of people who did not apparently intervene on his behalf. [...]

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My inner Sephardi

Lori Silberman Brauner — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 04:31:03 +0000

It’s only been 10 years, but I have finally found a shul in Teaneck (in reasonable walking distance, that is) that I feel comfortable with. But I really shouldn’t call it a “shul.” It’s a Sephardic synagogue, or beit knesset, Congregation Shaarei Orah, that I have come to admire. It moved into a beautiful new building [...]

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A tale of two Teanecks

Lori Silberman Brauner — Wed, 01 Aug 2012 07:30:25 +0000

Nowhere do the distinctions between the “haves” and “have nots” come into play in my community more than during the summer, when residents seek to cool off a bit from the heat. Many communities in Bergen County, NJ, where I live, have a town pool, which offers families a fun, safe place to swim and relax and [...]

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The plane I missed

Lori Silberman Brauner — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 02:57:25 +0000

You couldn’t miss the buzz surrounding the Nefesh B’Nefesh chartered aliya flight arriving last Thursday, July 12, to Tel Aviv, celebrating the 10th anniversary of the organization’s success in helping to facilitate the immigration of English-speaking immigrants to Israel. I know of at least two families that were on that flight; it was startling to [...]

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Natan and Nyah go to camp

Lori Silberman Brauner — Sun, 08 Jul 2012 04:01:04 +0000

My multi-cultural love affair with Teaneck continues, two days after the Fourth of July celebration. A gem of a camp program in town, Teaneck Sports and Arts, which my 12-year-old son attends, pulled out all the stops this week in showing that kids of all backgrounds can and do get along. Sports and Arts, a recreation department [...]

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Grand old flag

Lori Silberman Brauner — Wed, 04 Jul 2012 18:46:58 +0000

I couldn’t think of a better way to introduce my community of Teaneck, New Jersey, to the blogosphere than with a recap of our town’s Fourth of July parade. Teaneck is a New York City suburb only a few miles from the George Washington Bridge. Its diverse population has many nationalities and religions represented — [...]

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