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A few years ago when I was working on the annual ceremony for Yom Hazikaron, in my usual zeal and enthusiasm, I invited, begged and twisted every arm around me to attend. For the Israelis among us Yom Hazikaron, the … Continue reading →

As far as I can remember, I’ve had one association with the 14th of Iyar: It’s the day my father, Aharon Kohane z”l, passed away. He was only 48 years old and died from ALS, a horrible debilitating disease. As … Continue reading →

Yom Hazikaron & Yom Ha’atzmaut: Yom Hazikaron begins here not with sunset the day of, but with the first note of somber Israeli music, broadcasted from 9000 miles away, 10 extra hours earlier. Obsessively, I listen to galgalatz (Israeli music … Continue reading →

If by any chance you forgot one of the Torah holidays, fear not! There is one chapter where you can find them all: Leviticus 23, in the heart of the Torah portion of Emor. All together – seven (7) holidays, … Continue reading →

I still like reading to my kids, though they are all pretty much grown up with excellent reading skills of their own. So it was a recent late Shabbat when the timer on the light had another hour to go, … Continue reading →

Pesach is a holiday of songs: we make our youngest stand on a chair and sing the ma nishtana; we stay up late into the night singing songs we barely understand (please feel free to share a satisfying explanation to … Continue reading →

On Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish year, while we are wrapped in prayers, quivering with remorse, begging forgiveness, and promising to be oh so good in the upcoming year, the high priest faces two “se’irim”, fairy he-goats: … Continue reading →

What do we think about Mozilla’s CEO stepping down?Brendan Eich is widely known for a number of major contributions to the evolution of the Web, including inventing JavaScript and being the co-founder of mozilla.org. Last Thursday he had to step … Continue reading →

Ignaz Philipp Semmelweis (1818–1865) was a Hungarian physician of German extraction, (and some say of Jewish heritage). In the mid 1800’ he discovered that the incredibly high mortality rate among the birthing mothers (10-35%) could be drastically cut by the … Continue reading →