To preface this post: The day of this Catskills outing was Tuesday of the Torah portion of Vaetchanan. The daily study of Chumash of that day ends off with this phrase: “Underneath/at the base of the waterfalls falling from the … Read the rest
It all began earlier this summer, mid-June, in the Israeli consulate in Manhattan. We were there to get a visa for our daughter to attend seminary in Israel. The line was especially long and the wait took hours, so we … Read the rest
One of the big player backstories (thanks to Ari L. for this tipoff) circulating before the much-anticipated FIFA World Cup Final 2026 (which will be played relatively in our backyard in the NJ Meadowlands) is the fact that while this … Read the rest
Once again, upstate NY summer (and summers in many areas of the northeast) have been upstaged by smoke from Canadian wildfires coming our way. The blurry haze, the eerie yellowish/orangey sky colors, the clouded horizons and shrouded skylines all diminish … Read the rest
Most of our daughters did Bas-Mitzvah projects relating to the time of year of their birthday. Rivka was born on the 25th of Tammuz, which always falls during “The Three Weeks” (usually July-August time) when we remember and focus on … Read the rest
As we approach America’s 250th, this July 4th, 2026, here’s a little list of some people and places, thoughts and things, as they pertain to early Jewish America, with relevance and lessons down to our current day (in no particular … Read the rest
This story goes back to the old house, when we had a much smaller gathering space for prayers and Shabbos meals. It did come to mind now, many years later, in the new, bigger and better Shabbos House, when we … Read the rest
Since Covid, despite no longer following any of those Covid-era distancing rules, UAlbany has continued the individualized scheduled slots for “stage-crossings” as a key component of the Graduation/Commencement experience.
This 5786/2026 year, the 27th of Iyar 2nd yartzeit of Reb Moshe Kotlarsky, the global ambassador for the Rebbe’s Shlichus endeavors, falls on Thursday, the 5th reading of Parsha Bamidbar.
Bamidbar Day 5 tells us the Levite tribe should be … Read the rest
