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The Very Quiet Cricket and a Relationships Test

TheVeryQuietCricketEricCarleEveryone knows “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” with the holes in the pages of the various foods the caterpillar eats, but there are many other Eric Carle books with his distinctive illustrations and kid-friendly text.

This week we went to the … Read the rest

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Ofen Pripitchek: much depth within the Alphabet

Ben Z. an UAlbany and Shabbos House alumnus walked down to the Chuppah to the melody of “Oyfen Pripitchek” an old classic Yiddish song that at one time every Eastern European Jew knew well. The melody is beautiful, it is … Read the rest

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The Mirror – a childhood story, adult message

“The Mirror” is a classic story in “The Call of the Shofar” by Chana Sharfstein, one of the earliest Kehot (or any publisher) Jewish children’s books. I read that story, that book, over and over as a child and it … Read the rest

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Mishpatim, Shekalim, Adar… & Feb 14th?

This Shabbos is a special trifecta. (1) We read the weekly Torah portion of Mishpatim which deals with much civil law regarding damages and monetary matters, (2) we read the special reading of Shekalim about the half-Shekel coin contributed by … Read the rest

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The Clipptity-Clop Hoofbeats Niggun

It’s actually a half-Niggun. See below for more on that. This Hoofbeats Niggun is about life journeys, frustration and fulfillment.

Years ago, in my early teens, my classmates would get together to learn Chassidic melodies with two of the parents … Read the rest

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A Lesson from Twins for all of us

We came up with the idea of doing a “Twin-Shabbat” theme because there are currently 4 pairs of twins, that both the twins go to UAlbany who are active in the Jewish campus community, plus there are quite a few … Read the rest

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Superbowl 49 Football Inspiration

At Shabbos lunch before Superbowl Sunday we asked students to share some football inspiration or life messages. Students shared some wonderful things, we hope to remember and share most of it here.

YONATON A.

It’s no easy feat getting to … Read the rest

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A Mishna Mitzvah

This Friday was “Yud-Shvat” the 10th of Shvat which is the yartzeit of Rebbe Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn (1880-1950) who was the 6th Rebbe of Chabad-Lubavitch. He is known as the Rebbe of Mesiras Nefesh (self-sacrifice) because of his fearless dedication … Read the rest

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Optimum Football Inflation

Without getting into the whole #DeflateGate scandal about the deflated footballs in the title game that sent the New England Patriots to the 49th Superbowl, and whether Coach Bill Belichek or QB Tom Brady are responsible, one thing I did … Read the rest

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