Adin Steinsaltz is Coming to Town
Adin Steinsaltz will be speaking at Congregation Ahavas Achim in the middle of the day on Shabbat and at Congregation Etz Ahaim at 4:30 pm. I hope at least my husband will be able to hear him; there is a little chance that maybe if I can get my daughter to come with me and play with her friends, I can listen, too.
The Velveteen Rabbit
The Velveteen Rabbit will be showing at the newly re-opened Forum Theatre in Metuchen at 3 pm on Sunday. You can follow the Forum Theatre on Twitter (@ForumTheatreNJ). From the review of the Velveteen Rabbit on Facebook by Graham Gudgin:
I do not want to give too much away, but it was an extremely entertaining show. Steve Graham, playing Velveteen, was very engaging, and Maggie Graham played three roles, and played them very well. One thing I noticed especially was that while there were sad and scary parts, there were also funny and happy parts, and the whole thing was so very well structured and paced, that it held the youngsters’ interest throughout. I found that there was enough to keep the adults amused too, which always helps. In addition, the music, by Paul Farinella, was great.
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In this post I’ve juxtaposed two very different events, both of which interest me – ah, the beauty of eclectic interests! Have you seen the Velveteen Rabbit? Read the book? Have you heard Adin Steinsaltz speak? Read any of his books?
There is also a blood drive at a private home in Highland Park this Sunday.
Boy Peers Into Window of Jerusalem Pizza, Highland Park
No pizza served at any of these events, but I thought you might enjoy this photo of a boy peeking into Jerusalem Pizza on Raritan Avenue. Click to enlarge.
This bridge leads over the Raritan River into Highland Park from New Brunswick. It is hard to believe that in the 18th century one had to take a ferry to cross over the river. The bridge was named the Lincoln Highway Bridge in 1914 according to Jeanne Kolva, a local expert historian. You can find a timeline of when all the Highland Park bridges were built here.
I liked this shot of the bridge a little better than the top photo (do you see graffiti as art or as pollution or ?), but no water in this shot.
For more watery photos, visit Watery Wednesday:
Memorial Day in the U.S.A. is often a signal of the beginning of summer. What do you think of as a sign of summer’s start? I liked how this one marching girl from New Brunswick smiled at me as she passed us at the annual Memorial Day Parade in Highland Park.
I saw this photo of a kid with a big beach ball marching in the Israel Day Parade in New York City in honor of Tel Aviv, and I thought of Robin, who lives in Tel Aviv, and her summer stock meme. Another group had a sign that read “Life’s a Beach.” So is that what life is like in Tel Aviv, Robin?
Summer in New Jersey can also mean traffic. Here we are, stuck in traffic on the way to Sandy Hook. My son’s friend wanted to know why I was taking photos of traffic. My kids don’t ask; they know their mom.
So, is it all worth it? These folks on the beach seem to think so. Note: these beach photos were taken in April, on the first extra warm day of the year. Thankfully, the rest of the spring hasn’t been quite this warm.
For more summer fun, visit Robin’s Summer Stock Sunday.
In honor of Lag B’Omer, which starts tonight, here’s a post about the previous Jewish holiday, Yom HaAtzmaut. Maybe by Yom Yerushalayim, Jerusalem Day, I’ll have something to say about Lag B’Omer.
Two weeks ago was the annual RPRY (Rabbi Pesach Raymon Yeshiva) march around the block for Israeli Independence Day (Yom Ha’atzmaut). This “little” parade isn’t so little; with parents and neighbors in attendance, the numbers in the crowd may have reached 800.
One of people who came to the parade was Mayor of Edison Jun Choi. Here is RPRY Principal Rabbi Gross introducing Mayor Choi (wearing tan suit), as he calls Edison “best city in the world outside of Yerushalayim” (Jerusalem).
And here is Mayor Choi declaring Rabbi Gross his favorite Jewish day school principal, possibly his favorite educator. You could tell they were both enjoying each other.
There is an upcoming mayoral primary in Edison: you can find out more by visiting Jun Choi’s website and Antonia Ricigliano’s website. One of my son’s RPRY teachers, “Morah” Rachel Callen, is on Jun Choi’s campaign signs (it doesn’t say “morah” – teacher – on the sign, but that is how we think of her).
Not everyone who marched was a human being. This dog was quite popular.
Orange and yellow tulip in my garden, April 2009
On My Blog
Today’s Flowers: Grape Hyacinths and Creeping Phlox
Watery Wednesday at Sandy Hook
Sky Watch at Sandy Hook
Nature Notes: A Pictorial View of Sandy Hook
A Month of Modern Jewish Holidays
Delicious Pickled Radish
What is RT? (I’ll give you the answer now: it’s Re-Tweet! More on Twitter in future posts)
Upcoming in Highland Park: The Highland Park Public Library is once again having a book sale! (and my neighbors put a lot of energy into putting this together, so three cheers for them. You’ve seen their red bud, magnolia and dogwood trees on my blog). It’s the same weekend as the Annual Street Fair, which is on May 17. If you live in Central New Jersey, you can donate books from May 11 to 14.
Elsewhere on the Web
Coach Lisa on Payment vs. Exposure
From the article:
Some of you get paid to speak; others hope to get paid one day. One thing that we all face as paid speakers is the issue of payment vs. exposure. That is, we will be invited to speak pro bono, or will be offered less than our usual rate, and we’ll have to decide if it’s worth it to take less money in order to get exposure or visibility…only a few of my pro bono speaking engagements have paid off in clients or future speaking engagements. Read the rest.
How to Build Natural Immunity against Swine Flu
Rabbi Yoseph Breuer: the Rav of Frankfurt and Washington Heights (via G6)
Sandy Hook Sign, Poster, Map and Details
Signage for a beach plum: it says it blooms in mid-May.
Are the bushes in the foreground the “beach plums”?
Here’s a detail of what I’m guessing is a beach plum shrub?
On Cape May Times you can see beach plums in full bloom. Cape May is far south of Sandy Hook, at the bottom of the Jersey Shore instead of the top, so blooms start earlier.
Love photographing beach rocks; the smoothness beckons. Do you take beach rock photos?
Lots of gulls.
Detail from the photo above of a gull.
Maybe next time we’ll get a chance to walk this nature trail?
