Category Archives: shabbat shalom

some thoughts for shabbat

Closing Beresheet – the Torah portion of Vayechi

The editor of the Talmud chose to place Tractate Chulin, literally meaning mundane, ordinary, inside the order of Kodashim, holy matters, which might have been his very (very!) subtle way of telling us how the two remain an inseparable part … Continue reading

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Not Buying Skirts for my Boys!

Vignettes: New sounds have entered my East Coast experience, beyond the usual bells and Christmas songs of this season (which are almost completely absent from Riverdale): The heater pipes in the walls with their’ ticks, clicks, knocks and sudden bangs, … Continue reading

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Sukkot: The Holiday of Temporary Housing and More

Sukkot: Vignettes On chol hamo’ed – the intermediary days of – Sukkot, I do what all Israelis do: go out to nature. Bear Mountain is less than an hour away with trees in unbelievable fall colors, beautiful lakes and stunning … Continue reading

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CA Girl in NY, Week 4: Vignettes from Yeshiva Life before Rosh Hashana

Vignette When I packed my “shmates” – assorted loosely fitting clothes, more than a few acquired as treasures in second hand and thrift stores – many ended up in the giveaway bag because “that’s not how people dress in NY”. … Continue reading

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California Girl in NY – Week 2: Vignettes and Torah

Choices I’ve never had to make: When I walk out of the Yeshiva this afternoon, the morning clear, beautiful, blue sky gives way to glorious thick, dark, grey clouds. Within minutes, torrents gush down the streets. I’m drenched and hurry … Continue reading

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Don’t do nothing – Parashat Shoftim

For now, I am fortunate to walk to school in the mornings. The weather is actually very much a reminder of my Haifa childhood. There are magnificent, tall maple and other so green trees that enjoy and benefit from the … Continue reading

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Counting…

Mother Goose is “counting” her eggs, and while we don’t know if she’s actually “counting”, regardless, we look at it and smile. There’s something about that image that portrays a feeling of care, maybe because counting is an act of … Continue reading

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Four Shorts and a Fifth for Passover

(1) The Passover Haggada is a big on “four”: four cups, four questions, four sons. And yet, each one of these fours, has a hidden, less obvious fifth. The most obvious one is that there is a fifth cup on … Continue reading

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Holy Trash

The whole idea of “sacrifices”… I can make sense of it etymologically, finding some meaning in the fact that “korban” (sacrifice) comes from k.r.v., “coming close”, and I do believe that the two are related; that becoming “close” can be … Continue reading

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To Remember & Forget

I step out of my neighbor’s house and something about the evening air, angle of dim streetlights, and the general silence around, reminds me of the last time I was on the same stone steps. Back then, this past fall, … Continue reading

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