This week’s haftorah chronicles the birth of Samson to the childless Manoah and his wife of Tribe Dan. A visiting angel informs the mother-to-be that her son is to be a lifetime Nazirite, and as such, forbade her from taking part in food or wine forbidden [...]
Author’s note: I’ve been deeply involved in Jewish communal life in several different communities in three different states. Over the next few months, I will be sharing my insider observations about how synagogues function and why we need a new model. I’m “Jane Doe” because if I say who I am, there will be massive [...]
I have a confession to make: I have math dyslexia. It’s never been diagnosed formally, but I have always had a sense of it. Sometimes, when I read math problems, the numbers mix up in my head. A clock that says 7:30PM looks like 3:70PM. Although I am the Executive Director of PunkTorah, I don’t [...]
Imagine a mountainous buffet of ice cream, cookies, blintzes, cheesecake and pie. Imagine dozens of people sitting around, slamming coffee, cola and energy drinks, feverously debating Jewish law, telling fantastical stories from the Torah and Talmud, breaking into discussions about contemporary issues like Israel and the state of Jews around the world. Imagine yourself there. [...]
Harvard http://www.businessinsider.com/grant-study-reveals-what-makes-us-happy-2013-4 spent seventy five years to find out what makes a happy life. It’s one of the longest-running studies on human development, and recently, George Vaillant, who directed the study for over thirty of the seventy five years, published Triumphs of Experience, a summary of everything researchers learned in the study. Some of [...]
