Mixed Multitudes

Best Of The Week

Jeremy Moses — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:12:24 +0000

Shabbat is starting earlier and earlier. Someone please stop the sun. It is on a reign of terror that I just can’t handle right now. Then again, ending Shabbat at 5:15 in the afternoon isn’t such a bad thing either. So…I guess…keep doin’ your thing sun (and no one write me with that whole “it’s [...]

Full of Hate, or Too Nice?

Tamar Fox — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:05:42 +0000

A few days ago a friend sent me a link to this site, and my head has been spinning ever since. There is a lot to see at The Geulah Company, but so far my favorite thing is the button I was originally directed to. The Geulah Company suggests other things that you may want to [...]

Wise Fridays: The Perils of High Office

Haskel and Deah — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:52:25 +0000

Rabbi Judah ben Tabai said: If anyone had said to me before I entered high office, “Assume that office,” my only wish would have been to hound him to death. Now that I have entered high office, if anyone were to tell me, “Give it up,” I would pour a kettle of boiling water on [...]

You Sound Like You Are From New York

Meredith Kesner Lewis — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 22:16:05 +0000

One of my favorite college classes was Introduction to Linguistics. A particular class stands out in my mind. Our professor put up a picture of this object: People were then asked to find other people who called the object the same thing as them and sit together. Quickly a “bucket” group and a “pail” group emerged. She [...]

TED Talks in Hebrew

Tamar Fox — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 21:50:33 +0000

The TED Conferences (Technology Entertainment Design) are a pretty big deal with big names of all kinds gathering to share insights and deep thoughts. Most of the talks are available online for free, and now, many of them have been translated into Hebrew by a group of volunteer translators. There’s some pretty cool stuff up [...]

We Should Be More Original

Jeremy Moses — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 21:35:38 +0000

Think of your stereotypical, Eastern European looking Jewish man. Whether you like it or not, Jews will forever be linked with the beard. We can’t help it. From Hasidim in Crown Heights, to Modern Orthodox rabbis on Pico/Robertson, to my dad, Jews just have beards. There’s no getting around it. Which leads me to this question. [...]

Esther: The Whole (Operatic) Megillah

Jake Marmer — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 19:17:38 +0000

This season, New York City Opera brought back on stage the late Hugo Weisgall’s Esther, a contemporary work based on the biblical story of mortal danger and miraculous survival. Set in ancient Persia, the opera engages questions of destiny and assimilation, violence and victory, thus making it relevant to contemporary audiences. Plot Synopsis The plot of the [...]

Bob Dylan’s Christmas Album: What Good Is It? (Part 4)

Seth Rogovoy — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:26:36 +0000

Seth Rogovoy, author of Bob Dylan: Prophet, Mystic, Poet, wrote about Bob Dylan’s Judaism, Jews who write Christmas music, and the album itself. He is guest-blogging all week for MyJewishLearning and the Jewish Book Council. When I first heard the songs on Bob Dylan’s Christmas in the Heart, I thought, not only is this the worst [...]

Jewish Life on Orchard Street

matthue — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:14:44 +0000

Maya Escobar, a Jewish Latina video director, performance artist, and creator of shomer negiah panties, has previously worked with young Jews, multiethnic Jews, and Jews in reunited Berlin to create works of art. For her newest project, Maya enlisted a new and unexpected collaborator: her father. Here’s what she had to say about it. When I [...]

30 Days Since You Died

matthue — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 17:55:32 +0000

In Jewish practice, on the thirtieth day after a person dies, the mourners observe sheloshim — a lessening in severity of the mourning practices. It’s kind of weird how we have different prescribed levels for Tonight and today is the sheloshim for Shula Swerdlov, a 3-year-old girl who was killed in a horrific hit-and-run in [...]