As synagogues do, our campus congregation at UAlbany has an annual Yom Kippur appeal. Only that ours isn’t about money, this appeal is usually for a mitzvah or mindset to try to focus on especially this coming year.
On the eve of Yom Kippur we sent an email to alumni, parents and friends, wishing them a good year and sharing some links to inspiration and Yom Kippur enrichment. It was the first day of the current Government Shutdown … Read the rest
We usually pray Yom Kippur in Campus Center Room 375, some years in Assembly Hall on 2nd floor. But no matter, given UAlbany’s main campus design – nearly all of its rooms have this same feature: MANY THIN WINDOWS.
We got a call on the day before Erev Yom Kippur this 2025 about a Jewish summer-camp closing up and they needed to empty their walk-in freezer. It still had plenty of product. They asked if we could come down … Read the rest
As it turns out, the bizarre story of Lorenz Kraus killing his elderly parents Franz and Theresia Kraus in 2017 and burying them in their own backyard, on Crestwood court near Whitehall Road just a few blocks from the Albany … Read the rest
This 2025, the annual NYSWI (New York State Writers Institute)’s Book Festival at UAlbany falls on Shabbos Shuvah, the Shabbat between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.
The obvious tie-in is “being inscribed in the Book of Life” and as President … Read the rest
Rosh Hashanah, even in Israel, has two nights (and days) of holiday. Each of the nights, aside for all the delicious festive foods, has a specific type of food addition.
We’re going with an emojis to illustrate the concept of reaction and response, and you know how we crave and cherish a response, even a gesture as simple as a like – but the truth is it cuts a lot … Read the rest
This week leading up to Rosh Hashanah 5786/2025 there’s been lots of mention of “Turning Point” in the news following the shooting of Charlie Kirk which shook (and in some ways also divided) the nation. Locally, I found many of … Read the rest
We’re going with an emojis to illustrate the concept of reaction and response, and you know how we crave and cherish a response, even a gesture as simple as a like – but the truth is it cuts a lot … Read the rest