I’m not a marathon runner, but I know that most marathon runners will say that running 26.2 miles the day after fasting for 25 hours isn’t a walk in the park. But that’s precisely what Jewish runners in the Windy City will have to do if they plan to abstain from eating and drinking on…
On the final day of the AIPAC Policy Conference in Washington, thousands of conference attendees descend on Capitol Hill to lobby members of Congress on issues important to the State of Israel. A few years ago I joined other pro-Israel Michiganders and lobbied Representative Dave Camp. The congressman wasn’t available to meet with us and…
As the first decade of the new millennium comes to a close, I thought I would pay tribute to the teachers who have influenced me most during these ten formative years of my life. Like many, I feel nostalgic on New Year’s Eve as another year becomes history, and I feel especially nostalgic as the…
In the past couple weeks there have been a couple of high profile death penalty decisions in our country. These rulings were not handed down by a judge or jury, but by a former presidential candidate and a cable news talking head. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee was caught on video at a book signing…
Is Justin Bieber Jewish? Is Natalie Portman’s fiancee, Benjamin Millepied, Jewish? Based on my Web research, neither one is Jewish. However, there are many people wondering these questions and doing what curious people do in the Digital Age — turning to Google. There are two components to blogging I enjoy most. First, I love writing….
Is Benjamin Millepied Jewish? That seems to be the question of the day. Natalie Portman, who starred in “Black Swan” along with three other Jewish actresses all playing ballerinas (Mila Kunis, Winona Ryder and Barbara Hershey), will marry Benjamin Millepied and have his baby. Perez Hilton broke the news earlier today that not only is…
Cross-posted to the Jewish Techs blog at The Jewish Week The more I blog, the thicker my skin gets. Overtime, I’ve learned to prepare myself before reading the comment section at the bottom of my posts. With great inventions, we have to take the bad with the good. It’s been wonderful that newspapers and magazines…
Mitch Albom has been writing more eulogies lately than most rabbis. I was deeply moved Sunday after reading Albom’s beautiful memorial for his sister (technically his wife’s sister, but he lovingly removed the “in-law” title), who died after battling breast cancer recently. Yesterday, Albom traveled to New York City with Reverend Henry Covington to appear…
Cross-posted to the Jewish Techs blog at The Jewish Week Tech gadgets have changed our lives. And they will change our lives even more in the future. For Sabbath observant Jews, tech gadgets pose some lingering questions about their usage on Shabbat. My teacher, Rabbi Daniel Nevins, is a member of the Committee on Jewish…
Here’s my recent post for the Jewish Techs blog at The Jewish WeekWhen I first logged on to Facebook in 2004 none of my real life friends had accounts yet. At that stage in the social networking site’s development, a Facebook account was only for university students (or at least anyone with a university email…