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YK: The Yom Kippur Crane

The prayer services for Yom Kippur 2022 at UAlbany was held in CC Room 375, facing east on the third floor of the Campus Center. It so happens that UAlbany is in midst of an extensive repair of the Podium … Read the rest

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The Composite Shabbos Shuva Drasha 2022

It’s an old custom for Rabbis to give a long sermon on Shabbos Shuva – the Shabbos between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. It’s become a tradition at UAlbany to do a “composite” Shabbos Shuva sermon (aka “drasha”) with the Read the rest

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MBC Song about Jerusalem, or about….

Around the high holidays of 2022 there’s been a wild (and totally unexpected) online TikTok craze of millions of people (mostly non-Jews) getting excited and into old Miami Boys Choir (MBC) videos, dance moves, soloists and songs. It sparked a … Read the rest

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Shofar as a Disrupter

TBH, most years I focus on the Shofar’s inner-core and connective properties, especially as seen in a Chassidic light. See our post Modern Shofar Meditations for Shofar thoughts in that vein.

But this year, Rosh Hashanah 5783/2022, the Shofar hit … Read the rest

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New (Fruit) = Nu?

Each year on the second night of Rosh Hashanah we bring to the table a plated assortment of exotic fruits, unusual hard-to-get or little-eaten fruits from around the world. Often to find them locally we have to go to the … Read the rest

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The Napkin Effect

When we’re preparing for elegant affairs using paper goods, Raizy will sometimes seek out a napkin design and color that will blend or support the various colors on the table. You might question the Napkin Effect, as I have, after … Read the rest

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The Beef Jerky Symbolism

Early morning on the eve of Rosh Hashanah I was online with an alum serving abroad in Iraq discussing how he could best keep Rosh Hashanah under the circumstances out there, being the only Jew on base, far away from … Read the rest

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Alessandro’s Encyclopedia – and the Machzor

On Erev Rosh Hashanah 2022 I was driving around doing last-minute errands and while driving in the car heard a segment of a story told over WAMC radio as part of their Sunday ‘Selected Shorts” a short story titled “Books … Read the rest

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Let Go and Open Up A Little…

In the Torah reading of Netzavim, read every year on the Shabbos before Rosh Hashanah, there’s a line about “circumcising our hearts.” This isn’t a physical procedure like the better known circumfusion, rather an effort (that will ultimately be done … Read the rest

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Would Solar Panels Help Puerto Rico?

Just before the last Shabbat of the Jewish year 5782 Raizy and I (separately, in separate cars) listened to the car-radio, not only that, but we happened to listen to the same radio station and hear the same piece of … Read the rest

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