MyJewishLearning is running a High Holiday Poetry Contest--and you're invited to participate.
Submitted poems "can be funny, or serious, or both. They can rhyme. They can be long (though we are from the Internet short-attention-span-generation). We want to be entertained, and we want to be inspired."
Submit by August 25. Winning entries will be published online in time for Rosh Hashanah.
There will be prizes!
For more info, check MyJewishLearning.
(via the Jewish Book Council)
Showing posts with label Holidays. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Holidays. Show all posts
August 9, 2010
June 7, 2010
One Week After Memorial Day: Remembering Jewish Military Chaplains
As I mentioned last week, on Memorial Day, I attended a very moving ceremony at a local synagogue. And among the participants were several Jewish military chaplains.
I have to admit that this was hard for me. The last time I'd been in a temple to honor a Jewish military chaplain, I was attending the funeral of my family's beloved Rabbi Barry H. Greene. Military chaplaincy was among Rabbi Greene's many causes. He was himself a proud military chaplain; his coffin (it still feels terrible to write those two words) was flag-draped, and the director of the Jewish Chaplains Council spoke at the funeral.
It was in Rabbi Greene's memory that I began contributing to the Jewish Welfare Board (JWB) Jewish Chaplains Council. Last Chanukah, instead of buying gifts for all of my adult family members (the kids still got their packages to tear open), I wrote a check to support the Council's Torahs for the Troops project, which, happily, is now very much under way, with a first Torah recently completed and brought to the Persian Gulf.
Now there's another project I want to support. When I returned home from the Memorial Day ceremony, I picked up the summer edition of Reform Judaism magazine. A letter to the editor described an effort to raise funds for a memorial to Jewish chaplains in Arlington Cemetery. That letter is not available online, but I've found some articles that describe it further.
For instance, the Jewish Journal reported earlier this spring:
I have to admit that this was hard for me. The last time I'd been in a temple to honor a Jewish military chaplain, I was attending the funeral of my family's beloved Rabbi Barry H. Greene. Military chaplaincy was among Rabbi Greene's many causes. He was himself a proud military chaplain; his coffin (it still feels terrible to write those two words) was flag-draped, and the director of the Jewish Chaplains Council spoke at the funeral.
It was in Rabbi Greene's memory that I began contributing to the Jewish Welfare Board (JWB) Jewish Chaplains Council. Last Chanukah, instead of buying gifts for all of my adult family members (the kids still got their packages to tear open), I wrote a check to support the Council's Torahs for the Troops project, which, happily, is now very much under way, with a first Torah recently completed and brought to the Persian Gulf.
Now there's another project I want to support. When I returned home from the Memorial Day ceremony, I picked up the summer edition of Reform Judaism magazine. A letter to the editor described an effort to raise funds for a memorial to Jewish chaplains in Arlington Cemetery. That letter is not available online, but I've found some articles that describe it further.
For instance, the Jewish Journal reported earlier this spring:
"Of the 311 Jewish chaplains who served during World War II, eight rabbis died. Two rabbis lost their lives in the Vietnam War. No Jewish chaplains are known to have died while serving during the World War I or the Korean War, although research is still being done to confirm that.I'm going to contact the JWB and contribute to this very worthy project. Perhaps you will, too?
Sol Moglen, an activist in New York who is leading the effort....has already raised $17,000 of the $30,000 needed to build the memorial, a granite slab that will be erected on Chaplains Hill at Arlington, where memorials for Protestant and Catholic clergy already stand."
May 19, 2010
Hebrew Lessons Online
Via H-Net.org
Haven't tried it yet myself, but it looks interesting.
"Hebrew Lessons Online is a recently launched website with resources for learning Hebrew. The Web site is at http://hebrewlessonsonline.com. The site has an on-line Hebrew Level test to determine your level and get personalized self-study recommendations.
The site has links to on-line dictionaries and recommendations, a newsletter focused on Jewish holidays, and coming soon an online HebrewPedia -- a visual dictionary.
This new website is a great resource for anyone interested in learning or teaching Hebrew. Please forward this announcement to anyone who might be interested.
Haven't tried it yet myself, but it looks interesting.
April 11, 2010
On Yom HaShoah
Today is Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day. And, as is customary this time of year, the Jewish press has been offering us a great deal of Holocaust-related material to read and consider. For me, one of this year's most important contributions is The Jewish Week's article (by staff writer Steve Lipman) on financially needy Holocaust survivors.
Well, for my family, it isn't an entirely unknown problem. We have supported The Blue Card, one of the resource organizations cited alongside the article, for years. My sister has served on The Blue Card's board. As I've mentioned, I plan to donate portions of proceeds from the sale of my story collection, Quiet Americans, to The Blue Card, too.
But there is so much need. This article just reminded me. Whether you're also being reminded, or you're learning about the plight of these elderly people for the first time, won't you please consider, today, contributing to one of the organizations mentioned by The Jewish Week?
Thank you.
"On the streets of Jerusalem, their plight is well chronicled, and even debated in the corridors of power in the Knesset. It is a well-told story across Eastern Europe and in the former Soviet Union, too, where a frayed social safety net affords little protection.
But here in New York, probably the world’s wealthiest Jewish community, the story of needy Holocaust survivors exists beyond the media’s glare. The overall level of Jewish poverty here — exacerbated by the economic downturn — has come into much sharper relief of late in the wider Jewish community. Soup kitchens have opened, UJA-Federation has launched a major recession-fighting initiative and reports have trumpeted unprecedented numbers of Jews living a paycheck or two from financial ruin.
Yet the plight of Shoah survivors — most of them in Brooklyn — struggling to eke out an existence remains stubbornly out of view. 'It is a totally unknown problem,” says Louise Greilsheimer, senior vice president for agency and external relations at UJA-Federation.'"
Well, for my family, it isn't an entirely unknown problem. We have supported The Blue Card, one of the resource organizations cited alongside the article, for years. My sister has served on The Blue Card's board. As I've mentioned, I plan to donate portions of proceeds from the sale of my story collection, Quiet Americans, to The Blue Card, too.
But there is so much need. This article just reminded me. Whether you're also being reminded, or you're learning about the plight of these elderly people for the first time, won't you please consider, today, contributing to one of the organizations mentioned by The Jewish Week?
"The Conference on Material Jewish Claims against Germany ([646] 536-9100; claimscon.org) funds more than 100 Jewish organizations, primarily Jewish family and children’s service agencies, in more than 20 states.
In the last decade, the Claims Conference came under attack from survivors, who complained about its lack of transparency and accountability, and its funding of educational programs at the expense of survivors’ immediate needs. In response to the criticisms, the Claims Conference has changed many of its operating procedures, decreasing the amount of its annual grants to educational projects from 20 percent to about 13 percent.
The Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty ([212] 453-9500; metcouncil.org) coordinates services for survivors provided by a local network of Jewish community councils and other agencies. These services include kosher food programs, minor home repairs, transportation and home care.
The Blue Card ([212] 239-2251; bluecardfund.org) was founded to assist indigent refugees from Nazi Europe and now provides modest stipends to nearly 1,900 indigent survivors each month, 80 percent in the New York area.
Selfhelp Community Services ([866] 735-1234; selfhelp.net) is the largest provider of services to survivors in North America, offering 'enhanced case management services' for home health care, guardianship and financial management, and assistance accessing benefits and government entitlements.
iVolunteer, ([646] 461-7748; ivolunteerny.com) coordinates a visitation-companionship program for survivors.
The New York Legal Assistance Group ([212]613-5000; nylag.org) has a Holocaust Compensation Assistance Program that helps survivors obtain legal information about various benefits.
The Project for Holocaust Survivors of the Bikur Cholim of Boro Park ([718] 438-2020; info@bikurcholimbp.com) has a special outreach to childless survivors.
Project Dorot ([212]769-2850; dorotusa.org) on the Upper West Side and Project Ezra ([212]982-4124; projectezra.org) on the Lower East Side number several Holocaust survivors among their elderly clients."
Thank you.
March 25, 2010
Notes from Around the Web
Some big news of my own: My short story collection, Quiet Americans, will be published in early 2011 by Last Light Studio books. Expect to hear much more about this here!
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New discovery: "Olah-la is a contemporary, online meeting place for writers, artists, and people interested in or connected to Israel." Accepts writing in English and French. (via placesforwriters.com)
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Lovely blog post on "Teaching Tots About Shabbat", by Linda K. Wertheimer.
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Remarkable account of "Mourner's Kaddish in Mumbai," set shortly after the terrorist attack of November 2008, by Akiva Freidlin in Witness.
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Allegra Goodman has another novel coming, and it has received a starred review from Publishers Weekly!
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And just in time for Passover readings, Jonathan Kirsch introduces us to poet Edward Hirsch's latest book.
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New discovery: "Olah-la is a contemporary, online meeting place for writers, artists, and people interested in or connected to Israel." Accepts writing in English and French. (via placesforwriters.com)
==========
Lovely blog post on "Teaching Tots About Shabbat", by Linda K. Wertheimer.
==========
Remarkable account of "Mourner's Kaddish in Mumbai," set shortly after the terrorist attack of November 2008, by Akiva Freidlin in Witness.
==========
Allegra Goodman has another novel coming, and it has received a starred review from Publishers Weekly!
==========
And just in time for Passover readings, Jonathan Kirsch introduces us to poet Edward Hirsch's latest book.
March 18, 2010
Notes from Around the Web
Love this treasure from Tablet: excerpts from nine fiction writers revealing literary treatment of the Sabbath. The nine? Elisa Albert, Shalom Auslander, David Bezmozgis, Nathan Englander, Tova Mirvis, Lev Raphael, Jonathan Rosen, Philip Roth, and Isaac Bashevis Singer. What prompted this feature? Judith Shulevitz's new book, The Sabbath World.
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The Forward reports on another upcoming literary event: the second International Writers Festival in Jerusalem, which will run May 2-May 6.
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Linda K. Wertheimer describes how a recent writing workshop triggered a memory of being (along with her brothers) the only Jew(s) in school.
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Too much interesting and important material on Jeffrey Goldberg's blog to provide you with updates myself. Just be sure to go over there at least once in awhile. If you have limited time, be sure to read this post first.
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The Forward reports on another upcoming literary event: the second International Writers Festival in Jerusalem, which will run May 2-May 6.
==========
Linda K. Wertheimer describes how a recent writing workshop triggered a memory of being (along with her brothers) the only Jew(s) in school.
==========
Too much interesting and important material on Jeffrey Goldberg's blog to provide you with updates myself. Just be sure to go over there at least once in awhile. If you have limited time, be sure to read this post first.
February 23, 2010
Jewish Book Week 2010: Guest Post by Andrew Sanger
Jewish Book Week 2010
by Andrew Sanger
This year, London's Jewish Book Week coincides with Purim. Plenty of extra fun is promised as an unlikely band of comedians and academics get together to put on a Purim Spiel "with a contemporary twist and some all-new conspiracy theories."
Jewish Book Week is not just Europe's biggest festival of writing for, about and by Jews. It's a highlight of the UK’s non-Jewish literary calendar, too. Few other events in Britain attract so many highbrow and high-profile speakers. In fact, the modest billing as a "book week" doesn't do justice to a culture-fest delving the whole eclectic mix of arts, science, politics and ideas.
The venue is surprisingly low-key – three conference rooms in a dated 3-star hotel in the heart of Bloomsbury, traditionally London's literary district – and in the typically British way there's nothing slick about it and no razzmatazz.
Yet during the course of the week, as many as 10,000 visitors come to browse, buy and, most of all, attend a succession of talks and debates with an astonishing array of leading journalists, novelists, historians, philosophers, playwrights, actors and broadcasters.
There are quite a few non-Jews among them. The 2010 programme includes talks by the popular mathematician Professor Marcus du Sautoy and former Sixties activist and present-day Leftist political writer Tariq Ali (who is of Pakistani Muslim origin).
Of course, the "Jewish" in Jewish Book Week covers the whole spectrum, from militantly secular to devoutly Orthodox. Among this year's speakers are the anti-Zionist novelist Will Self, the fertility expert Professor Robert Winston (who manages to combine being a leading scientist and a lord with being an observant Jew) and Britain's Orthodox Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks.
The biggest names are usually scheduled for 7 p.m. and 8.30 p.m., but the show is open all day long. There's something going on all the time.
Up-and-coming authors can often be heard at lunchtime talks. I was lucky enough to be a speaker myself last year, at a "Meet The Author" event. These take place in the early evening, when many people drop in after finishing work. An interview about my novel The J-Word was followed by comments and questions that turned into a terrific discussion on the issues the book raises about secular Jewish identity.
Friendly, intelligent and informal, talks usually end with a book signing, perhaps a chance to exchange a few thoughts of your own with the author or even to continue in the JBW café.
–––––
Andrew Sanger is a well-established travel writer living in London, England. He has contributed to a wide range of British newspapers and news-stand magazines, and is the author of more than 30 guidebooks. His first novel, The J-Word, published in England in 2009 to wide acclaim, has just been released in the United States.
by Andrew Sanger
This year, London's Jewish Book Week coincides with Purim. Plenty of extra fun is promised as an unlikely band of comedians and academics get together to put on a Purim Spiel "with a contemporary twist and some all-new conspiracy theories."
Jewish Book Week is not just Europe's biggest festival of writing for, about and by Jews. It's a highlight of the UK’s non-Jewish literary calendar, too. Few other events in Britain attract so many highbrow and high-profile speakers. In fact, the modest billing as a "book week" doesn't do justice to a culture-fest delving the whole eclectic mix of arts, science, politics and ideas.
The venue is surprisingly low-key – three conference rooms in a dated 3-star hotel in the heart of Bloomsbury, traditionally London's literary district – and in the typically British way there's nothing slick about it and no razzmatazz.
Yet during the course of the week, as many as 10,000 visitors come to browse, buy and, most of all, attend a succession of talks and debates with an astonishing array of leading journalists, novelists, historians, philosophers, playwrights, actors and broadcasters.
There are quite a few non-Jews among them. The 2010 programme includes talks by the popular mathematician Professor Marcus du Sautoy and former Sixties activist and present-day Leftist political writer Tariq Ali (who is of Pakistani Muslim origin).
Of course, the "Jewish" in Jewish Book Week covers the whole spectrum, from militantly secular to devoutly Orthodox. Among this year's speakers are the anti-Zionist novelist Will Self, the fertility expert Professor Robert Winston (who manages to combine being a leading scientist and a lord with being an observant Jew) and Britain's Orthodox Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks.
The biggest names are usually scheduled for 7 p.m. and 8.30 p.m., but the show is open all day long. There's something going on all the time.
Up-and-coming authors can often be heard at lunchtime talks. I was lucky enough to be a speaker myself last year, at a "Meet The Author" event. These take place in the early evening, when many people drop in after finishing work. An interview about my novel The J-Word was followed by comments and questions that turned into a terrific discussion on the issues the book raises about secular Jewish identity.
Friendly, intelligent and informal, talks usually end with a book signing, perhaps a chance to exchange a few thoughts of your own with the author or even to continue in the JBW café.
–––––
Andrew Sanger is a well-established travel writer living in London, England. He has contributed to a wide range of British newspapers and news-stand magazines, and is the author of more than 30 guidebooks. His first novel, The J-Word, published in England in 2009 to wide acclaim, has just been released in the United States.
December 11, 2009
Poems for Chanukah
As the lighting of the first Chanukah candle approaches, the Academy of American Poets provides Poems for Chanukah. Have a wonderful celebration!
November 27, 2009
Notes from Around the Web
In the Jewish Journal, Rob Eshman describes a recent encounter with Israeli author Amos Oz. (via Ten Minutes of Torah).
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Mark Robichaux reviews We Were Merchants, a new book that "recounts the journey of Erich and Lea Sternberg, Jewish immigrants who escaped with their daughter and two sons from the Nazi terror in Germany in the 1930s and, speaking no English, went into the department-store business in the Deep South. 'We Were Merchants' also describes how the Sternberg family— Erich and Lea would eventually be joined at work by their sons, Hans and Josef, and daughter, Insa—spent the next half-century building up what became the country's largest family-owned department store, acquiring other stores along the way."
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"The Jacob Rader Marcus Center of the American Jewish Archives is pleased to invite applications to its annual Fellowship Program for the 2010-2011 academic year. The Marcus Center's Fellowship Program provides recipients with month long fellowships for research and writing at The Jacob Rader Marcus Center of the American Jewish Archives, located on the Cincinnati campus of the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. Fellowship stipends will be sufficient to cover transportation and living expenses while in residence in Cincinnati. Applicants for the Marcus Center Fellowship program must be conducting serious research in some area relating to the history of North American Jewry." Deadline: March 18, 2010.
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Naomi Firestone shares news of the debut of YM Books, a new venture from Yaldah Magazine. YM Books will focus on books for Jewish girls. (Writers, take note: YM Books is open to queries.)
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And speaking of the younger set: Over on Literary Mama, Rebecca Steinitz offers holiday reading suggestions - and features a number of Jewish holiday titles.
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Finally, I can't tell you how great it was to open an e-mail from Lilith and find out that my friend Rachel Hall's story, "The Things We Do," has launched a new fiction podcast series. "The Things We Do" won Lilith's inaugural fiction contest and was originally published in fall 2001. Yay, Rachel!
==========
Mark Robichaux reviews We Were Merchants, a new book that "recounts the journey of Erich and Lea Sternberg, Jewish immigrants who escaped with their daughter and two sons from the Nazi terror in Germany in the 1930s and, speaking no English, went into the department-store business in the Deep South. 'We Were Merchants' also describes how the Sternberg family— Erich and Lea would eventually be joined at work by their sons, Hans and Josef, and daughter, Insa—spent the next half-century building up what became the country's largest family-owned department store, acquiring other stores along the way."
==========
"The Jacob Rader Marcus Center of the American Jewish Archives is pleased to invite applications to its annual Fellowship Program for the 2010-2011 academic year. The Marcus Center's Fellowship Program provides recipients with month long fellowships for research and writing at The Jacob Rader Marcus Center of the American Jewish Archives, located on the Cincinnati campus of the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. Fellowship stipends will be sufficient to cover transportation and living expenses while in residence in Cincinnati. Applicants for the Marcus Center Fellowship program must be conducting serious research in some area relating to the history of North American Jewry." Deadline: March 18, 2010.
==========
Naomi Firestone shares news of the debut of YM Books, a new venture from Yaldah Magazine. YM Books will focus on books for Jewish girls. (Writers, take note: YM Books is open to queries.)
==========
And speaking of the younger set: Over on Literary Mama, Rebecca Steinitz offers holiday reading suggestions - and features a number of Jewish holiday titles.
==========
Finally, I can't tell you how great it was to open an e-mail from Lilith and find out that my friend Rachel Hall's story, "The Things We Do," has launched a new fiction podcast series. "The Things We Do" won Lilith's inaugural fiction contest and was originally published in fall 2001. Yay, Rachel!
November 8, 2009
Notes from Around the Web
The Jewish Week reports that author Jonathan Safran Foer is working on a Haggadah, which will also include contributions from other Jewish writers. Expect it to be available in time for Passover 2011, from Little, Brown.
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As Veterans' Day approaches, this column from Deborah Dash Moore reminds us of "The World That Jewish Veterans Built." And I am thinking especially of two Jewish veterans who remain in my heart: my grandfather, Sam Dreifus, and my rabbi and friend, Barry H. Greene.
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As a child, I read Esther Hautzig's The Endless Steppe, so I was saddened to read Hautzig's obituary earlier this week.
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Zeek's new Web site has gone live.
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As Veterans' Day approaches, this column from Deborah Dash Moore reminds us of "The World That Jewish Veterans Built." And I am thinking especially of two Jewish veterans who remain in my heart: my grandfather, Sam Dreifus, and my rabbi and friend, Barry H. Greene.
==========
As a child, I read Esther Hautzig's The Endless Steppe, so I was saddened to read Hautzig's obituary earlier this week.
==========
Zeek's new Web site has gone live.
September 21, 2009
"Reflections During the Days of Awe, 1989-5750"
Last Friday, I posted an essay from my personal archive on my other blog. Titled "Reflections During the Days of Awe, 1989-5750," the essay is 20 years old. I wrote it when I was enrolled in an undergraduate creative nonfiction workshop. It still means a lot to me, and it's definitely relevant for the Rosh Hashanah-Yom Kippur season. I hope you'll read (and enjoy) it.
September 17, 2009
Pre-Rosh Hashanah Notes from Around the Web
Here's a really lovely post about the connections between a temple-based writing group (located in Tuscon, Ariz.) and the Holy Days.
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Michelle Cameron, a self-described "writer of Jewish-themed books," guest-posts on my friend Lisa Romeo's blog.
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The aforementioned Scribblers on the Roof Web site has launched! Check it out. And look forward to a Q&A with founder/editor Kelly Hartog, right here on My Machberet, in the not-too-distant future.
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Jeffrey Goldberg links to an outrageously hilarious spoof of Mad Men (retitled for these purposes "Meshugene Men").
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Finally, and on a more somber note, the new issue of Brevity, which bills itself as "a journal of concise literary nonfiction," is online, featuring an amazing piece, "Somebody Else's Genocide," by author Sherman Alexie.
Shanah Tovah, everyone! See you back here in a few days.
==========
Michelle Cameron, a self-described "writer of Jewish-themed books," guest-posts on my friend Lisa Romeo's blog.
==========
The aforementioned Scribblers on the Roof Web site has launched! Check it out. And look forward to a Q&A with founder/editor Kelly Hartog, right here on My Machberet, in the not-too-distant future.
==========
Jeffrey Goldberg links to an outrageously hilarious spoof of Mad Men (retitled for these purposes "Meshugene Men").
==========
Finally, and on a more somber note, the new issue of Brevity, which bills itself as "a journal of concise literary nonfiction," is online, featuring an amazing piece, "Somebody Else's Genocide," by author Sherman Alexie.
Shanah Tovah, everyone! See you back here in a few days.
September 13, 2009
Getting in the Holiday Spirit
Thanks to this amazing list of "Rosh Hashanah videos," I located a very funny (and for me, nostalgic) holiday remix of a favorite Muppets tune. Hope you enjoy it, too!
May 24, 2009
For the Kids: New Holiday Web Site from Behrman House
Just received this a couple of days ago from Behrman House, and I think it will be keeping my soon-to-be six-year-old niece busy for quite awhile!
We have just developed a new website, www.ElijahRocks.net, that can help you and your family learn about the Jewish holidays. The website provides fun, interactive computer games that explore concepts from our latest holiday book Jewish Holiday Treasure Trail, plus holiday blessings, dictionaries of key words, and word puzzles.
Just click on www.ElijahRocks.net, or type it into your web browser. After the site downloads (it will take about 20 seconds), select a holiday—Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Passover, and more. Then the fun and learning begin!
As you and your family surf the website, you’ll begin learning more and more about the Jewish holidays. By purchasing Jewish Holiday Treasure Trail, you’ll continue to build your family’s holiday knowledge and traditions. As an introductory offer, you can get FREE SHIPPING for one copy of this title. This special offer is only good through June 5, 2009, so act now! Please mention code: TREASURE when ordering.
We hope you’ll visit the website with your child throughout the year, and spend time together learning about the Jewish holidays.
April 8, 2009
Chag Pesach Sameach
Taking a few days off for Passover. Eager to see how my mom will appease/reward the little ones (we'll have seven of them under eight attending) after the afikoman hunt. Here's an image of a previous year's gift: All hail the Dancing Matzah Man!
March 12, 2009
Moment Magazine Introduces "Talk of the Table"
I can think of at least one of this blog's regular readers who will be very happy to hear this news from Moment Magazine: "Moment Magazine introduces Talk of the Table, a lively and intelligent look at Jewish food. In our inaugural section, we explore why charoset—the traditional blend of fruits, nuts and spices—landed on the Seder plate and how coffee giant Maxwell House got into the Haggadah business." Intrigued? Click here to read more.
January 15, 2009
Source of Comfort: Avinu Malkeinu
Lately, I've been seeking comfort by finding and listening to Hebrew prayers/music on the Internet. From time to time, I'll share some of my discoveries here. Today's offering: Barbra Streisand's rendition of the Avinu Malkeinu ("Our Father, Our King"), which is chanted during our High Holy Days. And for an alternate melody, but one that's equally familiar to me, listen to this clip from a cantorial concert.
You'll hear all Hebrew; I am looking for a complete translation online (something resembling what I'm used to seeing in the Gates of Repentance) prayerbook, but have not yet found one. Meantime, here's the best I can do.
You'll hear all Hebrew; I am looking for a complete translation online (something resembling what I'm used to seeing in the Gates of Repentance) prayerbook, but have not yet found one. Meantime, here's the best I can do.
January 6, 2009
Talmudist-in-Training
It's been a rough couple of days, for reasons I may explain another time, but I was cheered enormously this morning by a report from my sister about her daughter (my five-year-old niece), who is clearly receiving an excellent religious upbringing.
Unlike her younger brother (not to mention her Aunt Erika!), little R doesn't fall asleep very easily, and often chats with her various stuffed animals before drifting off. Last night, as my sister paused outside my niece's bedroom door, she heard R holding the following discussion with "Bunny" and peers:
"So when there are 3 stars in the sky on Saturday night, then Shabbat is over. But what, do you ask, happens when you can't see any stars at all? Then Shabbat would last forever....Hmmm. That really makes no sense."
I think we have a Talmudist on our hands.
Unlike her younger brother (not to mention her Aunt Erika!), little R doesn't fall asleep very easily, and often chats with her various stuffed animals before drifting off. Last night, as my sister paused outside my niece's bedroom door, she heard R holding the following discussion with "Bunny" and peers:
"So when there are 3 stars in the sky on Saturday night, then Shabbat is over. But what, do you ask, happens when you can't see any stars at all? Then Shabbat would last forever....Hmmm. That really makes no sense."
I think we have a Talmudist on our hands.
December 24, 2008
Poems for Chanukah
Looking for some Chanukah lit? Check out the collection of Chanukah poems (broadly defined) available on the Academy of American Poets Web site.
December 21, 2008
Something to Do Christmas Day in Chicago
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