Category Archives: Uncategorized

The Dilemma of the Oaklandish – Israeli Expat and more

Posted on June 20, 2015 by Michal Kohane מיכל כהנא

The Dilemma of the Oaklandish-Israeli Expat Due to family circumstance, I ended up this past Tuesday evening, in one of Oakland’s “taverns”. The place, reeking of deep fried oils, meat and beer, was packed with “loud and proud” Golden State … Continue reading →

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Shabbat before Shavu’ot – זמן מתן תורה

Posted on May 23, 2015 by Michal Kohane מיכל כהנא

It’s a few minutes to Shabbat which will run into a holiday. The cashier at the grocery store wonders if we’re getting extra challah for Memorial Day weekend. We tell her, it happens to also be – Chag Shavuot. Shavuot … Continue reading →

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FOMO & Pesach Sheni

Posted on May 3, 2015 by Michal Kohane מיכל כהנא

Turns out, people suffered from FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) already in Torah time. Numbers 9:6-14 gives us the details: “those people” came and asked Moses: What if, through no fault of our own, we didn’t get to bring the … Continue reading →

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skin, clothing, house-walls, what?

Posted on April 25, 2015 by Michal Kohane מיכל כהנא

What is the meaning of a sickness that affects a house? Tzara’at, the strange condition which we often erroneously translate as leprosy, affects human skin, clothing and dwellings, but only of the houses in the Land of Israel. The midrash … Continue reading →

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Thoughts on Pesach Cleaning and Tzav; Shabbat Hagadol and even The Elections

Posted on March 27, 2015 by Michal Kohane מיכל כהנא

Pesach is here, and with it, the cleaning panic. Everywhere I look there is “stuff”, and in every bit of the stuff, there could be chametz!! The prospect is daunting. It seems like we should spend every wakeful second with … Continue reading →

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Start Learning Here?

Posted on March 20, 2015 by Michal Kohane מיכל כהנא

Imagine: you are about the start teaching Torah in kindergarten, and you have to pick where to start them. Which story would it be? Abraham’s journey, Rachel at the well, Joseph’s coat, Miriam watching Moses gloating in the basket, perhaps … Continue reading →

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Getting Together

Posted on March 13, 2015 by Michal Kohane מיכל כהנא

What is the goal of a journey? To see places, to acquire new experiences? If we look at the Book of Exodus in its totality, maybe it’s all about connecting. We started with shmot, “names”, a list of separated individuals, … Continue reading →

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More Than Israel Kept Shabbat…

Posted on March 7, 2015 by Michal Kohane מיכל כהנא

After spending long chapters in measuring beams, building tables, preparing coatings of gold, fashioning a lamp and other details such as tying loops around the curtains, making olive oil and sewing fancy clothing for the Priest, the Torah portion os … Continue reading →

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Tetzave 2015

Posted on February 28, 2015 by Michal Kohane מיכל כהנא

It is the closing ceremony / party of my daughter’s Garin Tzabar. Garin Tzabar – literally translated as “cactus seed” – is a platform created by the Israeli Scouts, Jewish Agency and others, to accommodate young Jews from around the … Continue reading →

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Traveling Light, Going Up

Posted on February 19, 2015 by Michal Kohane מיכל כהנא

We often refer to Abraham as the “first monotheist”, erroneously, I might add. First, we have no such word in Hebrew – מאמין באל אחד so that should make us already suspicious as to its origin, and second, we might … Continue reading →

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