Month 8
Yesterday, I did something for only the second time in my life. I went to a regular season football game at MetLife Stadium. To raise the stakes, as a native Philadelphian, it was an Eagles-Giants...
View ArticleMourning Month 9
In the prelapsarian days before COVID, one could say kaddish and see the world. It was common for people to create a scrapbook of pictures showing all of the places where they had said kaddish, on...
View ArticleMonth 10
It measures 4×48”. It is monochromatic (tan) and has the same stitching pattern from top to bottom. It has no special border or internal design like a cable. It is a scarf, one of the very last things...
View ArticleMonth 11.1
According to Einstein’s theory of relativity, as your travel velocity approaches the speed of light, time slows down. As I near the completion of the period of aveilut for my mother, I can reassure you...
View ArticleMonth 12
The year of aveilut for my mother officially ended a few days ago. As I said mincha on that last day, it felt the same as the previous 354 days. The finality of it all will be more palpable on a random...
View ArticleScience and religion: A Halakhic resolution
Prior to modernity, there was no perceived conflict between science and religion. Religious explanations for natural phenomena were not questioned because there were no viable alternatives. This was...
View ArticleContinuing With Hanukkah
When people are asked to rank their favorite Jewish holidays, Hanukkah always polls high if not at the top of the list. However, if the question is which holiday is the most important, the results are...
View Article30
Thursday December 28, 2022 was a normal quiet winter vacation day. The news was the usual mix of jockeying for position in the formation of the new Israel government, investigation of Trump’s taxes,...
View ArticleFinding Words
You are enjoying a nice afternoon outing with your family and your young children. Everything seems to be going along just fine until suddenly one of the 2-year-olds explodes into howls of protest and...
View ArticleUncertainty and certainty
I was in Philadelphia during the first weekend in November to attend Kidney Week. That is the PR name given to the annual meeting of the American Society of Nephrology. I attend the conference just...
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