Zmirot (Songs of Shabbat)
Singing zmirot, songs of Shabbat, on Friday night not only expresses joy for the gift of Shabbat, but also offers praise to God. While many of the zmirot specifically speak of the beauty…
“If It Walks Like A Duck…”
There is a famous statement attributed to the American writer James Whitcomb Riley (1849 – 1916) that asserts: “When I see a bird that walks like a duck and swims like a duck and quacks…
This Land Is Our Land
“Rabbi Simeon ben Yochai said: ‘Three things are weighed equally, and they are earth, humans and rain.’ Rabbi Levi bar Hiyyata said: ‘... to teach you that without earth there would be no…
Wash and Dry
The miracles of modern science have made us aware of the vast world of micro-organisms that previous generations never knew existed. We now know that there are good bacteria that help us…
National Hermit Day
Judaism is not known for encouraging asceticism. While the Torah commands the Jewish people to “afflict” themselves on Yom Kippur by fasting and refraining from certain pleasurable…
The Thanksgiving Synagogue Service
While Thanksgiving is most certainly an American festival of gratitude, its founders prominently articulated its religious underpinnings, which ultimately find their source in Judaism.…
A Place For the Artists
Marcel Janco, who passed away on April 21, 1984, is best known as one of the founders of the Dada movement, an avant-garde art movement of the early twentieth century that rejected…
This Land Is Our Land
“Rabbi Simeon ben Yochai said: ‘Three things are weighed equally, and they are earth, humans and rain.’ Rabbi Levi bar Hiyyata said: ‘… to teach you that without earth there would be no…
Territorial Strife
The sages wisely noted in Pirkei Avot (Ethics of the Fathers 4:1) that a truly wealthy person is one who is happy with his/her lot. Alas, dissatisfaction, and the sense of being entitled…
National Hermit Day
Judaism is not known for encouraging asceticism. While the Torah commands the Jewish people to “afflict” themselves on Yom Kippur by fasting and refraining from certain pleasurable…