“While your fire is burning, roast your pumpkin.” So said Rabbi Yohanan somewhat cryptically in Talmudic Tractate Sanhedrin (33b), but whatever he meant, I don’t think he was referring to a non-Jewish holiday at the end of October. It is…
Blog Archives
To Life-L’Chayim
An anonymous rabbi in the Talmud is quoted as saying, “I don’t want to achieve immortality through my work; I want to achieve immortality through not dying.” OK, maybe that’s not in the Talmud but rather attributed to Woody Allen.…
Posted in Rabbi Jack's Quarterly
A Truly Crumby Holiday
I’ve always thought that Passover was a crumby holiday. Indeed, the floor is now littered with shards of matzah as I write this quarterly message on Day 6. I love the family aspects of the seder and the opportunity to…
Posted in Rabbi Jack's Quarterly
Brooklyn’s in the House
This quarterly rabbi message is dedicated to the Jews of Brooklyn (and Beverly and I do own a copy of the book of that name edited by Ilana Abramovitch and Sean Galvin). Sadly, Beverly’s mother, Justine Flora Post, passed away…
Posted in Rabbi Jack's Quarterly
(Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Your Lulav
I composed this quarterly rabbinic message immediately after dismantling our sukkah, and there is nothing quite like making me feel that the extended fall holiday season has come to an end as packing up the sukkah kit. Several years ago,…
Posted in Rabbi Jack's Quarterly
Our Defects Make Us Interesting
I was asked to write a blog post for “Sinai and Synapses” about my being both a rabbi and a scientist. When I was five years old, I received a Newtonian reflecting telescope as a Hanukkah present from my parents.…
Posted in Uncategorized
Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like an etrog
It seems like we just celebrated Pesach and now I’m starting to panic about High Holiday preparations; how time flies! Beverly hosted a home seder for 14 people ranging in age from 4 to 80 (and everyone seemed to survive…
Posted in Rabbi Jack's Quarterly
Hair Today–Gone Tomorrow
On February 25 (16 Adar I) my mother, Shirley Shlachter, “breathed her last…and was gathered to her kin.” The Torah uses such phrases to describe the death of Abraham at the end of Parashat Chayei Sarah, a weekly reading that…
Posted in Rabbi Jack's Quarterly
Special and General Relatives
I think I’ve finally solved my book storage problem! Over Thanksgiving I visited daughter Orli who is spending an exchange year abroad in Dublin, Ireland, and my sightseeing included the Trinity College Library Long Room. Nearly 65 meters in length,…
Posted in Rabbi Jack's Quarterly
A Blessing for the Czar?
Traditional prayer books often include a listing of blessings for various occasions. With this quarterly message, I’d like to introduce you to some you may wish to use when the opportunity arises. On seeing the wonders of nature – Praised…
Posted in Rabbi Jack's Quarterly