Jerusalem, August 2010
August 24, 2010 by 7 Comments
Okay So This is the NaBloPoMo Test
November 5, 2009 by 5 Comments
It's 11:00 PM. It's NaBloPoMo. I made a Facebook Page for CookingManager.Com. Not only did I create it, I even followed a video tutorial to make an interactive sidebar. The sidebar isn't much, but according to Facebook none of my friends uses that application. My Facebook fan page is the cutting edge. My teenage daughter asked me if I was going to blog about a particular thing in our house. It starts with L, ends with E and has four letters and six legs. It will wait for another day. I have too much to say about it to start at 11:00 PM. Tonight our synagogue had a meeting about a proposal to add a balcony for the women's section. The plan would involve tearing up the roof and … [Read more...]
Shavuot, Eruv Tavshilin, Recipes and Carnivals
May 28, 2009 by 6 Comments
The holiday of Shavuot begins Thursday evening. Known in English as Pentecost because it takes place fifty days after Passover, Shavuot commemorates the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai. The two main customs associated with the holiday are serving dairy foods and staying up all night to study Torah. Staying up all night only became popular once coffee became readily available in Europe. This year the one-day holiday of Shavuot leads right into Shabbat. Cooking is permitted, but only for the holiday itself. This creates a problem with heating or cooking food for the Sabbath, when all cooking is forbidden. To get around this we put aside some cooked food on Thursday, before the holiday … [Read more...]
Pashkevilim: Anti-Establishment Jerusalem Wall Posters Part II
May 27, 2009 by Leave a Comment
In honor of Jerusalem Day our synagogue hosted Tzuriel Rashi, professor of political science and communications and expert on pashkevilim, political and religious wall posters found on the streets of large haredi neighborhoods. This is Part II. See Part I and Part III. In the pre-State period, a staff of four men known as kruzim sped through town to put up the pashkevilim. One brushed the walls with glue, the second and third worked together to carry and stick up the posters, and the fourth added a final layer of glue. Pashkevilim were and continue to be a way of getting out important news that the regular press won't publish, in the same way we often use blogs. After the 1929 … [Read more...]
Pashkvilim: Anti-Establishment Posters in Jerusalem, Part I
May 22, 2009 by 6 Comments
Pashkevilim hold up the buidings of Jerusalem. Rabbi Joel Teitelbaum, Former Satmar Rebbe Today marks Jerusalem Day, commemorating the unification of Jerusalem and the restoration of its Old City to Israel's control. As part of the celebration our synagogue hosted a talk called "Al Homotayich Yerushalayim" ("On Your Walls, Jerusalem," Isaiah 62). Dr. Tzuriel Rashi, head of the Communications Department at Lipshitz College in Jerusalem and a professor in the Political Science Department of Bar-Ilan, introduced us to the textured world of pashkevilim, the religious wall posters found in large haredi neighborhoods throughout the world. The word Pashkevil comes from the Italian … [Read more...]
The Parent’s Prayer
May 22, 2009 by 3 Comments
This prayer of the SheLa"h is supposed to be said by parents before Rosh Chodesh Sivan (new month of Sivan) this Sunday. Yesterday and today were the days to say it, as prayers making specific requests are usually not said on Shabbat. If you know of another translation, please send it along. In my previous post I mentioned that the upcoming holiday of Shavuot is associated with bridal imagery. According to Artscroll we say the prayer now because on Shavuot, we also remember that we are God's children. Shavuot commemorates the day the Jews received the Torah. … [Read more...]
Pre-Shavuot Shabbat
May 22, 2009 by 2 Comments
Glossary below. Two holidays are so special that the preceding Shabbat has special significance: The Shabbat before Pesach is known as Shabbat Hagadol, and the Shabbat before Yom Kippur is called Shabbat Shuvah. The rabbi always gives a special shiur on the other two special sabbaths. Tomorrow he will be speaking on the approach to Torah study of Rabbi Schneuer Zalman of Liady, author of the Tanya. The rabbi wrote that the Shabbat before Shavuot was known in ancient times as Shabbat Kallah. The giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai, celebrated on Shavuot, is a symbolic marriage between God, the groom, and the Jewish people, the bride. The Torah is also considered the bride of the Jewish … [Read more...]
Pesach and Wasting Food
April 9, 2009 by 11 Comments
Cross-posted on DovBear. Jonathan Bloom at Wasted Food writes about throwing out food in advance of Passover: I can’t criticize religious or cultural practices that cause food waste, but I will say that not all Jews throw out or burn their leavened foods each spring. There are different levels of observance, both personally and officially (Reform, Conservative and Orthodox). When I was growing up, my dad “sold” our chametz to a colleague for a symbolic buck. While it's true that a strict observance of Passover may involve some waste of food, I want to make two points. The need to get rid of chametzdik food isn't so different from going on vacation or moving to a new house, … [Read more...]
Erev Pesach: Lost and Found and Sun Blessing
April 8, 2009 by 1 Comment
Today is Erev Pesach (the day before Passover), the busiest day in the Jewish calendar filled with halachic and practical tasks to eliminate all chametz (unleavened bread) from our homes and prepare for the Seder tonight. This year we also commemorate an event that takes place once every 28 years. According to the Torah the sun was created on the fourth day of the week. The sages calculated that since the sun takes 365 and a quarter days to do a full rotation, it returns to its original position every 28 years (4 years to make up an entire day, times seven cycles to get back to Wednesday). The text of the recited blessing is the same as that said upon seeing other natural phenomena, like … [Read more...]
Rabbi Ovadia’s Surprising Ruling: Women Can Read Megillah for Men
March 1, 2009 by 18 Comments
The secular newspapers like to report on the weekly talks of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, the leading rabbinic arbiter of the Sephardi/Mizrachi community in Israel. Occasionally he says outrageous things, but this time he made a ruling likely to please a more liberal readership. On the upcoming holiday of Purim both men and women are required by Jewish law to hear the entire reading of the biblical book of Esther, known as a Megillah (scroll) twice-- once in the evening and once the next morning. It is almost always read by a man in the synagogue. But since most rabbinic authorities agree that women can fulfill their obligation by hearing a woman read, it's common for communities to hold … [Read more...]
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