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Mitch Albom Receives Honorary Degree from JTS

Mitch Albom received a Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa, from my alma mater the Jewish Theological Seminary last Thursday. This was not Mitch’s first time at JTS, as he has been a guest speaker there several times in the past.I grew up in Metro Detroit reading Mitch Albom’s columns in the sports section of the Detroit Free Press. Before going to school each ...

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Mission Accomplished (although I am not wearing an air force jumpsuit)

It has been far too long since I have posted on this website, but I do visit the site regularly and I am proud to have had a small part in facilitating the rich and meaningful discussions on Beyond Teshuva a number of years ago when Mark and David were launching the websiteI am pleased to inform you that I ...

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Miriam and the Passover Story

I’m sure I’m not alone when I say that Passover is my favorite holiday. It’s special for a number of reasons (when else are we commanded to drink four cups of wine?) but two reasons in particular stand out.The first is that the story of the Exodus features the leadership of Miriam, perhaps the only woman in the bible who ...

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Mincha: a love/hate relationship

When the rabbi in San Jose spoke about mincha this past week in shul, he tried to pump us full of mussar and convince us to show up for  the 4:30pm mincha which will be starting after the clocks change in a week or so. Yitzchak invented mincha, I wonder if there was mechitza where he was davening to separate ...

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Millet & Quinoa Vegetable Casserole (A Healthful Alternative To Potato Kugel!)

We are finally getting some winter weather, and I haven’t been able to photograph some of the projects I’ve been working on for Tu B’Shevat, so I thought I’d share with you some of my creative adventures in the kitchen! (This photo was taken very quickly on the sill outside my kitchen window as the clouds parted for just a ...

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Milestones to Muse On

Yenta Boy posted this as his Facebook update recently: “So…life.”Click to EnlargeThose two words and the ellipses radiate a weariness that seems rather precocious for a 10 year-old, nu?Though I do remember being 10, wondering when I could move out and have my own apartment so I could stay up as late as I wanted and read things like Judy ...

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Mikvah Etiquette

You ever give a friendly hello to someone in the mikvah you think you recognize, but he doesn’t smile back because it’s probably not the same guy, and now you just hit on another man while you’re both naked, and you feel really awkward until he leaves? Me too! Funny you should mention it, because something similar happened to me ...

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Micro-Loans in Israel

Andrea Kruchik Krell became a believer in microfinance at the tender age of 5. As a little girl growing up in Uruguay, she once visited a neighborhood grocery shop where a poor boy approached her. “Can you buy me candies?” he asked. With the little pocket money she had, she bought him a few treats. Instead of thanking her, he ...

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Michael Medved Hates the New York Times

Rhetoric is reality for the extremist right wing ideologue Michael Medved. The man pretends that he does not know the difference between metaphor and fact. In his reeking blog screed, The New York Times as Substitute for Religion, Medved reaches new lows,  in a snarky attack on the new editor of the NY Times.It’s amazing the Daily Beast would publish this ...

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Michael Jordan Is Not A Nazi

Slow news week I guess. You know not much is going on (even though SO much is going on) when it’s big news that Michael Jordan is sporting a Hitler mustache. But let me tell you something, even if Michael Jordan wanted to be a Nazi, I don’t think he would be chosen in the frat. He isn’t your “prototypical” ...

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Message to the World – The Power of Prayer

Imagine you’re in a room full of Jewish addicts. And you’re volunteering to lead a group on Tuesday evenings. The group is called “Spirituality.” What would you talk about? This week I decided to ask them what they would talk about. I tossed out a question that I had heard a rabbi ask at the time the Super Bowl was ...

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Mesilat Yesharim- Perishut: Controlling Your Desires

The Chovet Halevovot writes in Shaar Haprishut that there is a nishmat chaim, a living breath, within each of us that is a chelek Elokai mi’maal, a part of Hashem from above. Because we are spiritual beings, Hashem wants our minds to prevail over our selfish desires. The mishna in Avot states, “Who is mighty? One who conquers his evil inclination.” Sin starts with taavah (desire). ...

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