Category: Jewish Stories
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Over Shabbat I was trying to walk. All I could master was a few blocks to Ocean Parkway, where I found no relief and the same few blocks back home. All I could think of was my walk to the Grand Synagogue of Jerusalem two summers ago. The heat was much worse. The air was…
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This is a Parshah of choices. To go right or left. To live or to die. To walk straight or in curved lines. כו רְאֵה, אָנֹכִי נֹתֵן לִפְנֵיכֶם–הַיּוֹם: בְּרָכָה, וּקְלָלָה. 26 Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse: כז אֶת-הַבְּרָכָה–אֲשֶׁר תִּשְׁמְעוּ, אֶל-מִצְוֹת יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם, אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי מְצַוֶּה אֶתְכֶם, הַיּוֹם. 27 the blessing, if ye…
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Originally posted on scriptoris: Whilst the world is understandably distracted by the brinkmanship of the North Korean dictator, it is worth noting that the real threat comes from Iran and its proxies, notably Hezbollah. One might say that is so for Israel, but not so for the US or even Europe. But wait, one matter…
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I decided to re-blog this article about a historical shul. Pretty Amazing! CARPENTRAS, France (JTA) — The synagogue in this Provence town is Western Europe’s oldest functioning Jewish house of worship — and one of the prettiest on the continent. The Synagogue of Carpentras, which this year is celebrating its 650th anniversary, has a Baroque-style interior…
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So today is Tu bi Av. Lovely to spend it alone, feeling miserable and listening to the sound of the rain outside, isn’t it? So the whole day I was working on my computer feeling like you know what. Finally, I realized that I had to do something therapeutic. So I decided to make the…
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This past Shabbat we have said “Be Strong, Be Strong, Let Us Be Strengthened – חזק, חזק,להתחזק for the Book of בְּמִדְבַּר – Numbers. This week, we are starting to read the last cycle of the year – the book of Deuteronomy – דְּבָרִים. For me, this is a momentous Shabbat. My younger daughter is leaving to…
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This Shabbat we read the two last Torah portions of the book “Bamidbar / Numbers”. And here’s how they start: ב וַיְדַבֵּר מֹשֶׁה אֶל-רָאשֵׁי הַמַּטּוֹת, לִבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל לֵאמֹר: זֶה הַדָּבָר, אֲשֶׁר צִוָּה יְהוָה. 2 And Moses spoke unto the heads of the tribes of the children of Israel, saying: This is the thing which the…
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There are plenty of great comments on this Parshah. I am just going to direct you to one of them, from Rabbi Alex Israel. He teaches at Pardes Institute. There are many more if you’d like to read about Pinchas and the census. For me, this Parshah is all about the women, and how they have…
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Just saw this scary information. While most of the species mentioned I don’t eat at all due to kashrut restrictions, there’s still enough to scare me into not eating not-so-reliable sushi anymore. Stay healthy!
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I love this Parshah! Almost until the very end of it, it talks about the beauty and strength of Israel, almost to the point of modern Anti-Semites saying that “Jews own everything”. Israelites’ flight from Egypt and miraculous things that happened to them in the desert instilled such fear in the neighbouring nations that they…
Noshing Across the Nation 