Music
- 5784, 5785, Bilhah, Days of Awe, Dissertation, Hagar, High Holidays, Hope, Ishmael, Keturah, Music, Parsha, Psalms, Reflection, Secondary Wives, Shofar, Yamim Noraim, Zilpah
Changing, Changing, Changing…Before the New Year
Life has changed for me in noticeable and yet-to-be-named ways in 5784. As my disappearance from this blog may be proof, I went into several months of reading, research, and writing for my…
- 5784, Aaron, Battle, Beshalach, Egypt, Exodus, Fear, Midbar, Miriam, Moses, Music, Parsha, Pharaoh, Philistines, Red Sea, Shemot, Songs, War, Wilderness
Fear of Battle, Praise of Miracles
At a time when we again feel the emotions of watching war, fighting, death, fear, loss of home and land, the first two verses of Parashat Beshalach resounded with me. וַיְהִ֗י בְּשַׁלַּ֣ח פַּרְעֹה֮ אֶת־הָעָם֒…
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תהו ובהו
For a week where words fail us…I wanted to reflect on the bookends of this parsha that speak to our despair and devastation. בְּרֵאשִׁ֖ית בָּרָ֣א אֱלֹהִ֑ים אֵ֥ת הַשָּׁמַ֖יִם וְאֵ֥ת הָאָֽרֶץ׃ When G!d began…
- 5783, 5784, Brooklyn, Chevrutah, Friends, High Holidays, Lifelong Learning, Music, New Year, New York, Relationship, Rosh Hoshannah, Talmud, YIVO
I’ll Stop the World & Melt With You…
A gut, gebentsht, zis, umbagrayflekh yor!! In the next few days, I hope to get into a few topics more deeply (like Hagar, sharing about my Yom Kippur learning session that will incorporate…
- 5782, Brooklyn, Chanukah, Chanumas, Clarinet, Cooking, Dreidel, Dreydl, Khanike, Klezmer, Menorah, Music, Wandering, Yiddish
Oy Khanike, Mir Geyen Esn…un Tantsn…un Lakhn!
Was there ever a Khanike as worthy of the record books as 5782 (MMXXI)? After a holiday season spent mostly alone or in small households, this year was a time to enjoy safely…
- 5781, 5782, Chevrutah, Clarinet, Culture, Dancing, Kishefmakhn, Klezmer, Music, NYC, Saxophone, Theatre, Yiddish, Yiddish Culture, Yiddishland
Yiddishland Mayses
If you wanna feel your bobe’s presence, just go to Sylvan Lake. Whether this is an idea full of emes or bupkes, my time in Yiddishland was fun der himl, full of glorious…
- Arbeter Ring, Baltimore, Brooklyn, Cincinnati, Cooking, History, Jewish Food, Klezmer, Libraries, Music, NCSSM, North Carolina, NYC, Shul, Travel, Williamsport, Yiddish, Yiddish Culture, Yiddishland
Zumer in the City
A long year in the unknown stretched into a spring and summer of hope with vaccinations, some travel, copious time spent with friends and family, and plenty of time outdoors. After receiving my…
- Agriculture, Archaeology, Beach, Dead Sea, Family, Galilee, Haifa, Hiking, IDF, Israel, Jerusalem, Museums, Music, Negev, Synagogues, Tel Aviv, Tel Gezer, Tel Hadid, Travel, Tzippori
Milk & Honey & Torah & Harvest
My family’s been in Israel long enough that I don’t remember a time when we weren’t wandering the trails through old crusader buildings, vineyards and olive groves, passing bus stops throughout our small…
- Amalek, Beshalach, Birthday, Egypt, Exodus, Moses, Music, Parsha, Pesach, Pharaoh, Praise, Prayer, Red Sea, Redemption, Salvation, Shabbat Shira, Songs, Tu Bishvat
Just Keep Singing!
This is a good weekend. Today is my sister’s birthday, coinciding with Tu Bishvat and Shabbat Shirah. The weather is warm, like the world knows we should be celebrating this auspicious day. During…
- Archaeology, Bagels, Beach, Cincinnati, HUC, Israel, Jerusalem, Jewish Food, Kibbutz, Museums, Music, New York, Shabbat, Shakshuka, Synagogues, Tel Aviv, Tel Dan, Travel
If Dan’s Walls Could Talk…
The last two weeks of our Tel Dan dig brought many new faces and the quick removal of a lot more dirt in Area T1 (near the High Place, where I was working).…
