The sheer beauty of Tel Dan is a sight to behold, particularly in the winter and especially in the morning. The crisp, cool air and the rush of water from the underground tributaries to the Jordan River are just great. For anyone who’s never visited this site–home to some of the oldest archaeological […]
Today was all about the Greco-Roman and Jewish encounter–from Herod’s Caesaria to Zippori in the Galilee. Each was a geographic place marker for what it means for the Jew to engage or resist the dominant culture and what happens as a result of the choices that are made.
Caesaria was more about Herod’s vision […]
In the late 1930s, a group of idealistic young scouts from the kibbutz movement were drafted for a special mission: to build an underground munitions factory on a farm site in Rehovot, right under the nose of the British. Weapons and munitions were hard to come by and would be necessary once the […]
Okay, let’s just put this on the table.
In the beginning, God made breakfast. In my personal theology, especially as it’s effected by the the Land of Israel, that breakfast consists of a couple different yogurts, fresh avocado, feta cheese, zatar spices, arugula and fresh tomato salad, fresh bread, olives, and coffee. You […]
I am looking out on evening falling in Tel Aviv.
On the far left of the picture is the Dolphinarium Disco, former site of a horrific suicide bombing in 2001. On the far right is an old Tel Aviv mosque, its minaret lit in florescent green at dusk. Just north is the beach, where […]
Two articles, very much worth reading.
The Obama piece, by Andrew Sullivan in the December Atlantic, has been making the rounds via email over the past month.
If you’ve not read it, give it a look.
The Clinton piece, from today’s Times, is a good hard look at the claim on experience that Senator Clinton makes. For […]
In less than twenty-four hours, I’ll be on a plane with 36 members of CBE, heading to Israel for our first congregational trip in a decade.
We represent kids, young adults, parents of kids, and a some grandparents as well–a real multi-generational expression of our Shul.
We’ll see Tel Aviv, the Galilee, the Golan, and then head […]
The first step was the Chinese Food. “Two?” said the hostess at the entrance but I heard, “Jew?” And why not? One quick look around the restaurant indicated that the two tribes most represented last night were the Judeans and the Cantonese.
“Where are all these people from, serving us the Chinese food?” my […]
Edward Rothstein writes about Abraham Joshua Heschel in his Connections column today, providing an interesting synopsis of Heschel’s career and mission as a rabbi. It raises a series of interesting questions that impact upon our current politics and the the degree to which the prophetic voice has a roll to play in making change […]
A good piece of reporting in today’s Metro Section of the Times points out a great Jewish dilemma with regards to both labor and immigration practice in New York City.
Fresh Direct, whose grocery footprint for busy urban shoppers demands our attention, is engaged in a two-pronged assault on Jewish ethics: One, union busting. […]