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Balak & Bilaam’s Perspective

by Shaun Z. (Class of 2001)

Shaun Z. (Class of 2001) came back with his wife Michelle and two kids for a summer Shabbos at Shabbos House. Back in the day, Shaun was always up for a Dvar Torah, sharing Read the rest

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Seinfeld and Shabbos

July 5th 2014, marks the 25th anniversary since the first episode of “Seinfeld”. What’s the Jewish message?

Actually, Dr. Laura N. (Class of 2007) prepared an in-depth Torah-Tues class on this very topic in 2006, but here’s another message, thought … Read the rest

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Australian Dollars & Rands for the Rebbe

I heard this story from Rabbi Yossi Lew of Chabad of Peachtree Georgia at the recent Chabad on Campus Conference.

At the time Rabbi Lew was part of the first group of Yeshiva students being sent by the Rebbe as … Read the rest

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Telushkin’s Book and the Exercise Bike

TelushkinRebbeBookA number of fine biography-type books have recently been published about the Lubavitcher Rebbe in connection with his 20th yartzeit, prominent among them is Joseph Telushkin’s “Rebbe” book, which has been best-selling in Amazon and Barnes and Nobles. This book … Read the rest

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Challah and Tzitzit – and Thumbs Up!

The Torah portion of Shlach highlights two Mitzvot: Challah and Tzitzit.  What do they have in common?

Challah is that small piece of dough removed and set aside for the Kohain (nowadays we burn it in the oven after reciting … Read the rest

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3 Fears of Our Generation

3FearsofOurGenerationThis image was posted to a family WhatsApp, its a cute joke. It would fall right under the #firstworldproblems hashtag. After all, we’re not living under the threat of war, and most aren’t going hungry at night. But then it … Read the rest

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Rebbe’s Note on Thought-Placement

RebbePowerofThoughtI came across a book of the Rebbe’s Maamorim (Chassidic discourses, which are an elevated spiritual exploration journey, quite different than most of the Rebbe’s talks and writings) and found this note in the introduction. The editors had trouble understanding … Read the rest

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UAlbany Class of 2014: The Old Fountain & The New

Here’s something unique about the UAlbany Class of 2014 experience. The old fountain was still operating in your freshman year, then it turned off for major reconstruction for two years when you were sophomores and juniors, and came back – … Read the rest

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Jeremiah’s Purchase and the Louisiana Purchase

There’s the Louisiana Purchase, and then there’s Jeremiah’s Purchase in the Haftorah reading for Behar. True, these purchases took place many generations apart, were half-way across the world from each other, and while the Lousiana Purchase was thousands of miles … Read the rest

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The Great Blue Heron on the Synagogue Wall

The Jewish Chapel at the Interfaith Center at UAlbany, formerly known as Chapel House, has a mural painted along its southern wall. Probably around 2005 or so, UAlbany Hillel got a grant from Avodah Arts to send up an artist … Read the rest

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