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Oct 7th in the Sukkah (2025)

It so happens that in 2025, October 7th falls on the first day of Sukkot, a festive joyous holiday and not a time for sadness. That’s why the formal commemorations of October 7th this  year are postponed in Israel until … Read the rest

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Chicken Salad Bar and First Day of Lulav

It so happens that we served a Chicken-Salad Bar with all type of veggies. fillers, toppings and dressings, for lunch in the Sukkah on the first day of Sukkot this year.

How fitting for the first day of Lulav!

A … Read the rest

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Now We’re Actually In the Sukkah!

This Sukkot 5786/2025 we got a nice Sukkot donation from alumnus Matt B. (of “Matt’s Media Messages” fame) along with this caption that really caught our eye (and our hearts). Matt wrote: “Now we’re actually in the Sukkah!”

Matt’s referring … Read the rest

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Zeide Piekarski’s Little Porch Sukkah

So from age 10 to 20 I lived with my grandparents Piekarski in their President & Utica home while attending Yeshiva in Crown Heights near the Rebbe. I’ve shared several posts of memories about my Zeide Michel and Bubbe Risha: … Read the rest

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YK: The Frankie Focus Yom Kippur Appeal 5786/2025

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.

As we Read the rest

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Government Shutdown? We’re not!

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

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The Many Small Windows at UAlbany

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.

The … Read the rest

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The Whole Freezer and Nothing But The Freezer

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

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Lorenz Krauz 2025 TV Confession of Parents Murder in 2017

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

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NYSWI Book Festival on Shabbos Shuvah

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

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