Jewish Blogs

The Past Isn’t Buried

I’m catching up on the last season of one of my favorite shows, Friday Night Lights, and in an episode I recently watched, one of the characters reacted to his father’s sudden death. Aside from the trauma that one can pretty much always assume comes with a parent’s death, this guy’s dad was kind of a jerk. Not a bad ...

The Pain Post

To be human is to feel pain. Show me a soul that has walked this earth, that has lived and died unscathed, unscarred—physically and emotionally.I am writing this post to you from home, in bed, and in pain. Physical pain. A lot of it. And emotional pain too, because of that deep, mind-body connection we hear so much about.I can ...

The Origin of Russian for Lovers

Marina Biltshteyn is the author of the new poetry chapbook Russian for Lovers. She will be blogging all week for the Jewish Book Council and MyJewishLearning.It was my first semester in the MFA program and I was having a hard time, as can be the case. I was in the shower one day and it occurred to me I wanted to ...

The Orange on the Seder Plate and Miriam’s Cup: Foregrounding Women at your Seder

Just before we drink the second cup of wine in the Passover seder, we speak of three symbols considered indispensible to the holiday’s meaning: the shank bone, the matzah, and the bitter herbs. However, in many homes, other symbols are added to this section, from the egg (which sits on the seder place but has no formal mention in traditional ...

The Octopus Messiah

Anyone see Last Comic Standing this summer? Because if you did, you probably caught the incredibly intelligent and funny Myq Kaplan blowing the minds of his audiences.Well now, he is blowing my mind (and hopefully yours) with this animated version of one of his stand up routines. It makes watching stand up all the more exciting when you see Jesus running on water ...

The Octopus Against the Dictator

Normally, in a battle of man vs. animal, I would take man. However, I wouldn’t bet against this animal, especially with its track record. You wouldn’t expect Paul the Octopus to gain too many enemies. But after the German octopus correctly predicted eight consecutive World Cup matches, one Mahmoud Ahmadinejad decided that Paul wasn’t his cup of tea.Read More: @ myjewishlearning.comReaders ...

The New Maxwell House Haggadah Has a Teaneck Connection

Our block, Milford Terrace in Teaneck, is a talented block boasting artists, doctors, nurses, rabbis, lawyers, teachers, professors, engineers, businesspersons and more.One of our neighbors has written a new translation for the most classic Haggadah of all time – the Maxwell House haggadah.The Jewish Week has covered this new edition with a lovely feature story.Read More: @ tzvee.blogspot.comReaders found more information ...

The never ending towel and other gross yeshiva musings

There are some pretty disgusting things that go on yeshivas, but what else do you expect when you throw a bunch of ill mannered frum guys who never learn how to clean up after themselves into a yeshiva dorm together? This post isn’t even about the guys who’s rooms smelled so bad, that no artificial aerosol stuff could have saved ...

The Never Ending Book

On Monday, C. Alexander London wrote about being an accidental adventurer. He will be blogging all week for the Jewish Book Council and MyJewishLearning‘s Author Blog.By the far the question I am asked most often by my young readers is, as well as by teachers and librarians: “When does the next Accidental Adventures book come out?”It’s a flattering question for an author, and one of the ...

The Nest Is Half-Empty

I’m feeling kind of mopey after dropping Yenta Boy off at camp yesterday. I know I shouldn’t be. After all, a three-and-half week reprieve from a pre-adolescent smartmouth who’s obsessed with his hair contains a multitude of positives: No bickering! Half the laundry! Only having to cook for the one child who eats everything! No one stealing the good hair ...

The Mystery of Death – Short Parsha Vort

Parshat Chukat begins with the verse, “Zot chukat haTorah asher tzivah Hashem.” The Targum translates the words zot chukat as, “This is the divine dictum.” The Torah refers to the enigmatic chok of parah adumah (red heifer) which purifies those that are impure and defiles those that are pure.Rav Soloveitchik notes that chukat doesn’t merely refer to the performance of a ritual, but to the mystery of death. ...

The Most Jewish Show on TV?

I have some news for you. Curb Your Enthusiasm may not be the most Jewish show out there. That title has to go to Adult Swim’s Delocated.For those of you who don’t know what Delocated is, I’ll fill you in quickly on one of the weirdest comedies in history. “Jon” played by Jon Glaser, is being hunted down by the Russian mafia, ...