Dreidel trivia: According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the most dreidels spinning simultaneously for at least 10 seconds is 820. The longest dreidel spin is one minute, 29.93 seconds. And the galactic record for longest dreidel spin is held by Jeff Hoffman, a NASA astronaut, when he spun his dreidel on a space …
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As we look forward to the celebration of Hanukkah, three words tend to dominate: gifts, lights, and miracles. We search for presents for our children and grandchildren. We clean our menorahs, restock our supply of Hanukkah candles, and rehearse the blessings upon lighting the candles. We retell the miracle of Hanukkah, when oil necessary for …
In 1860, there were 150,000 Jews living in the United States. How did this small minority, comprised mostly of recent immigrants, react to the fierce national debate over slavery? Richard Kreitner explores this question in his excellent and engrossing book, Fear No Pharaoh: American Jews, The Civil War, and the Fight to End Slavery. Kreitner profiles six …
Thank God. Thank God the hostages are home. If we had not gotten them back now, two weeks ago as of this writing, I certainly would have been here speaking about the freedom they so desperately dreamed of for over 700 days. As it happens, I just finished Eli Sharabi’s book, Hostage, which details the …
President Theodore (“Teddy”) Roosevelt (1858-1919) is famous as a conservationist, a “trust-buster” of business monopolies, an advocate for consumer protections, and the inspiration for the beloved stuffed toy, the teddy bear. Yet historian Andrew Porwancher has chosen to explore a lesser-known area of Roosevelt’s legacy. Porwancher’s American Maccabee: Theodore Roosevelt & the Jews, focuses on Roosevelt’s …
The iconic World War II film, The Train, asks whether it is moral to risk human lives to save art. In an early scene, a French Resistance leader initially refuses to send his men on a dangerous mission to prevent a train of looted art from reaching Germany. “I won’t waste lives on paintings,” he tells the …
Parshat Noach – 2 parshiot down, only 52 more to go! This week we have another well-loved story from Genesis – Noach (Noah). The parsha includes the story of Noah’s ark and his multiple animal pairs. When the floods end, God gives Noah a rainbow as a symbol of his covenant that he will …
New year – renewed initiative! Because life so often happens around food, we are again spending a year exploring the weekly parshiot and finding connections to each week’s Shabbat dinner/Shabbat afternoon offerings. This parsha-inspired recipes project grew from a shared desire to spend a year exploring the weekly Torah portions in a fun, modern way, …
Because life so often happens around food, we spent the year exploring the weekly parshiot and finding connections to each week’s Shabbat menu. This week we complete the 54th and final parsha! In VeZot HaBerakhah, Moses bids the Israelites a final farewell, giving each tribe a unique blessing. He then climbs Mount Nebo where God …
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