Author Archives: howdoyoujew

Count your blessings

Tonight I get to go to sleep in my own bed, next to my wife, my only concern being how soon one of my children will wake up and need some attention (at worst, we’re talking a couple of times … Continue reading

Posted in education, Family, Health, life cycle, mitzvot, Parenting, webcomics | Tagged | 1 Comment

Remembering Marla

I didn’t know Marla Bennett personally, but I’ve gotten to know her mother Linda quite well over my years in San Diego. When the Gilad Shalit deal unfolded, and the “mastermind” of the Hebrew U bombing that killed Marla was … Continue reading

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Why I Love Hadag Nahash – למה אני אוהב את הדג נחש

This is not an exhaustive list, but I’m immersing myself in old and new material (מקומי and otherwise) in preparation for tonight’s live show at Porter’s Pub at UCSD (link to Facebook event page; go there or ping me directly … Continue reading

Posted in Art, Commentary, entertainment, fun, Hillel, Israel, music, San Diego Jewish Community, UCSD, video | Leave a comment

Public speaking & published writing

My mom recently found my bar-mitzvah speech, written and delivered by my 13-year-old self, Oct. 17, 1982. I’m transcribing it here exactly the way it appears on the yellowed copy I used on the bimah: HONORED RABBIS, GUESTS, FAMILY, AND … Continue reading

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Those Were The Days

My beautiful, talented daughter had some time to create original art on Sunday. While I was doing something (monumentally important, I’m sure) she brought me this picture of “Ima’s house when she was little.” Lovely, right? We’ve been to that … Continue reading

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The Sound of Silence

Can you imagine every radio station in the country going silent for 24 hours? It’s hard, huh? But that is exactly what’s going on in Israel right now, on Yom Kippur. Every frequency, every format, every transmitter – silent. I … Continue reading

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Remember the Sunday Brunch and Keep It Holy

In a wonderful confluence of happy coincidences, today I discovered that I was born in the Year of the Chopped Liver. What, you didn’t know there’s a Jewish Zodiac? Well, let me tell you: there is. And it’s awesome. Let’s … Continue reading

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Looking forward, looking back

I delivered the d’var Torah this past Shabbat at Ohr Shalom. I had volunteered to do this months ago, but had completely forgotten about it, so when the rabbi emailed me on Thursday night to remind me, I emailed back … Continue reading

Posted in Arab-Israeli Conflict, Commentary, Israel, life cycle, mitzvot, religion, San Diego Jewish Community, Shabbat, tikkun olam, Torah Commentary | Leave a comment

Pre-school profundity

I had a profound, important conversation with my three-and-a-half-year-old daughter Sunday evening. We were visiting the home of a congregant from our synagogue for shiva minyan, the service held in a house of mourning. The friend (T), himself well past … Continue reading

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I love it when a plan comes together

I just successfully upgraded my WordPress installation, which powers this blog, to the latest version (3.0, called Thelonius – see the complete list of major WP releases, all named for jazz musicians). I did this with nary a bump, very … Continue reading

Posted in Blogging, books, education, Family, Good News, history, Life Online, music, News, productivity, technology | Tagged | 2 Comments