The art of welcoming Shabat | The art of the Shabat welcome

I’ve been back at Drew since Tuesday. I arrived early to help our school newspaper, The Acorn, cover the days of freshmen orientation. In my spare time, I’ve been discovering a complex debate in my head.
As anyone who knows me, or any avid reader of this blog will know, I haven’t had the best relationship, [...]

How to further revolutionize your Jewish life, using Google

It’s no secret to readers of this blog and RJ.org that I’ve got a little obsession with Jewish time of late. I counted the Omer here at the Shuckle earlier this year and I’ve just hung my Heeb Magazine Ladies of ‘69 Israeli models Hebrew calendar in my dorm room.

Sefer Ha-Bloggadah: Let it Begin!

On Monday, our two-year daf yomi-style study of  Sefer Ha-Aggadah began at Sefer Ha-Bloggadah. The project and the blog have been organized by Ben Dreyfus. In reality, my day to blog is every other friday, but today’s reading in the book got me excited, so I jumped the gun a tad. Read my first real post on the Bloggadah here.
If you’d like to join us, purchase the book, and check out our schedule.

T’hilim 134:2, silverware, New Jersey

I’m back in New Jersey, back at Drew University for a second year of college. The banner for the blog, accordingly has been changed.
On a toally different subject:
Never will you find a business more exemplary of the Keep Austin Weird movement, than Chuy’s. It’s the most eclectic tex-mex restaurant in the world. One location includes the (in)famous Underwater Elvis Shrine.

Could we all please delete the term Neo-Orthodox from our vocabularies?

The other day, RJ.org become home to a post by Rabbi Howard A. Berman about the Society for Classical Reform Judaism. Okay, fine. Then I posted this post, in which I parsed out some of his argumentation. I also argued that the differences between Classical Reform and mainline contemporary Reform are largely cosmetic and totally [...]

YouTube – Matisyahu

This is supremely strange. It’s a Kenneth Cole ad. With Matisyahu?
YouTube – Matisyahu.

What are they defending?

In his recent post at RJ.org, Rabbi Howard A. Berman, the Executive Director of the Society for Classical Reform Judaism, attempts to prove that Classical Reform is not an “’early historic chapter’ of our Movement’s development.” Instead, Rabbi Berman would have us believe that Classical Reform is “a vital and viable position within the diverse [...]

Shabos Zmiros: Jew Da Maccabi

Here’s some Shabos Zmiros for ya!
There’s been plenty of attention on the quality wordplay of J-rappers Y Love and Matisyahu in recent years and, but this guy is straight up top-40 style not-quite-rap, not-quite-R&B. I don’t like it, but my jaw is on the floor nonetheless after seeing this video!
YouTube – Jewda – Israelites – Jewish Music Video Jew Da Maccabi Rap.

“I am a poem”

Thursdays at 10 Minutes of Torah are all about prayer. This Thursday’s 10 Minutes of Torah, by Rabbi Edwin C. Goldberg, was about the left-hand-side-of-the-page (not the mention the left of the ritual spectrum) reading on page 41 of Mishkan T’filah. The reading serves as an alternatative option for what our Reform liturgists have aptly [...]

YouTube – Cookin’ With Coolio #1: Coolio Caprese Salad

So WordPress has this feature where I can add this button to my browser that says “Press This.” When I click on Press This, whatever page I’m on appears as a link in this little window thing where I can post it directly to the blog. I’m testing that feature out [...]