Larry Kagan’s fascinating “Shadow Art” exhibit is on display at the Albany Institute of History and Art until June 2019. I have been so taken by the brilliance and depth and its meaningful relevance that I have gone there first … Read the rest

The biblical “Machtzit HaShekel” Half-Shekel contribution to the Mishkan tabernacle is a special seasonal Torah reading in the weeks leading up to Purim. It’s a half-coin piece, in America it would be something like a 50 cent piece. I was … Read the rest

There’s a popular Jewish camp song (sung also at Hebrew schools and JCC’s etc) that seems to have been mistakenly attributed to Albert Camus, and author is (presently) unknown. It goes something like this (with a few variations):

Don’t walk … Read the rest

Pro football isn’t just a sport, they are in it to win. We, too, should try to triumph! – AJ T. 

Football is about having goals and reaching them. What are your goals? What are you doing to get there? … Read the rest

For our Hakhel Halftime project, we like to come up with meaningful Jewish Superbowl/Football connections and insights that people can share at their Superbowl parties. 

We already have a bunch of ideas and insights from past years, see this … Read the rest

OK, we’re using “halachot” (Jewish laws) in jest, but think of these Sports Fan “halachot” as a meaningful parable for Jewish involvement:

1) Knowledge

Good fans know their teams. They are aware of their playing schedules, know their rosters, have … Read the rest

Be Like Onion!

This is a Chassidic story and expression from our daughter’s Sara’s Bas-Mitzvah art project & booklet:

The Mitteler Rebbe encouraged his Chassidim to make a special effort to stop in villages and towns along their journeys to … Read the rest

“…These Days a Chassid is a Baal Teshuvah…”

by Rabbi Shlomo Galperin

This memory of my uncle goes back to my school days in Tashkent, Russia in the 1960’s. It’s about a conversation we had before dinner one school night … Read the rest

The third night of Chanukah (2018) BeLev Echad IDF wounded veterans soldiers talk at our Modern-Day Maccabee event was more meaningful & personal than I expected. 

A key issue they shared was how their mental & emotional rehabilitation was harder … Read the rest

One of the big cultural differences between the Greeks and the Jews in the background of the Chanukah story was how to view physical beauty. The Greeks were very much into it, it was a noble thing for them, they … Read the rest