Before we even start on this one, anybody else do a double-take at the name of this week’s parsha/haftorah? Bechawhaa? I looked it up and discovered it means, “when you step up,” and is the first distinctive word in the parsha portion. Turns out that all the names [...]
Buffets in general are just sleazy. Think about it: you’re eating piles and piles of cheap food while kids with sticky hands run around screaming and people with less than ideal hygiene sneeze, cough and manhandle the salad bar. That’s assuming you live in an industrialized nation where such a thing as a buffet could [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
