Did my first WordPress upgrade this morning. It went without a hitch (yippee!). Contemplated getting rid of most of the categories for blog links and sticking the majority under “More Blogs”, with Highland Park Blogs still existing. Decided to leave as is for now. Hint: two of the bloggers under “Jewish Blogs” are also Highland [...]

“Shemot is the best parsha in the universe!” declares my daughter. And no wonder…it’s action-packed, with women heroes, defiance of a totalitarian dictator, and the Children of Israel enslaved, but not for long. For her, the best part is how little Moshe is taken from the water by the daughter of Pharaoh. Miriam is standing [...]

When I was a kid, I used to be afraid to answer the phone. And I never liked making phone calls. I have this early memory of answering the phone and not being sure what to say. Someone at the other end must have thought I was very cute. For stumbling. And the person laughed. [...]

In an illuminating essay on Rashi by Elie Wiesel, Wiesel cites a Hasidic text that claims that Rashi did not die a natural death; rather, he ascended to heaven alive.

No, this is not a post about the importance of eating your veggies (although you probably should). It’s about the huge amount of waste produced from those styrofoam take-out containers. It’s a real pet-peeve of mine and I actually go so far as to bring my own containers! The wait staff usually rolls their eyes, [...]

Attention local history buffs! Here’s a book you won’t want to miss: Voices of Etz Ahaim. Nathan Reiss and Seth Rubenstein paired up to create a wonderful collection of biographies of many of the diverse congregants of Congregation Etz Ahaim, a Sephardi Orthodox synagogue in Highland Park, New Jersey. Learn about how Rabbi David Bassous [...]