Food plays a major role in Judaism. Whether it is the foods that we are required to eat (e.g., matzah and marror on Passover), or foods that are customary to eat (e.g., latkes on Chanukah, cholent on Shabbos), in Judaism many a morsel has a meaning. But so does refraining from eating. One unique food prohibition is that of the sciatic …
Question: What do children look forward to most? A) School ; B) Playing at home; or C) A family vacation to Disney World? “Survey says”: C – by a landslide. Another question: During which of the above activities are children most likely to fight, “kvetch,” and complain? The surprising answer to this question is very …
Have you ever fallen in love? You know, the head-over-heels, sweaty palms, heart pounding, can-think-of-nothing-else kind of love? If you have, it is sadly somewhat likely that you also have fallen out of love. While there are wonderful couples who manage to keep the love going strong for the long term, the fifty-plus-percent divorce rate …
The Irish-American writer John O’Hara opens his novel Appointment in Samarra with the following passage from British novelist Somerset Maugham: DEATH SPEAKS: There was a merchant in Bagdad who sent his servant to market to buy provisions and in a little while the servant came back, white and trembling, and said, Master, just now when I was …
“Let them eat cake!” Popularly attributed to Marie Antoinette, this quote has entered our lexicon as an expression of the callousness and obliviousness of the royalty and upper class to those less fortunate. Although the attribution to Marie Antoinette is doubtful, the concern that those in power not lose touch with the masses is an …
A corpse. A corpse on Union Street, New Orleans. It is seven years later and I still cannot get the vision out of my mind. In the tragic aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the New York Times ran a story* about a corpse that remained on the street for days, without anybody giving it much more than a …
“I don’t care what anyone else thinks, I do what I know is right!” Ever come across someone with this attitude? Have any friends or relatives like that? Strong minded. Not easily swayed by trends and fads. A person of principle. While such people are usually not exactly the warm and fuzzy types, making them …
Parshas Re’eh – Doing What’s Good and What’s Right Read More »
As someone with a lousy (read: nonexistent) sense of direction, a GPS is one of the best gifts I ever received. However, even the GPS was no match for my poor (read: nonexistent) sense of direction – I still managed to “outsmart” it and get lost; though it admittedly occurred with less frequency. So I …
I write these words from somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean, as I return home to New Jersey from a week-long trip to Israel. But am I really returning home? On the one hand the answer is a resounding yes. I long to reunite with my wonderful family back in NJ, can’t wait to get back …
“Cast your bread upon the waters, for after many days you will find it” (Koheles 11:1). In this week’s Torah portion, we find the Jewish people, in their fortieth year of wandering through the desert, arriving at an area called Kadesh and realizing that there is no water to be found. They are (understandably) not …