Every once in a while while checking Google News one stumbles upon some wack-ness with Jewish content. Case in point is this from recording artist/performance artist Erykah Badu. What is with this cheeky Bet? A reference to a B-side? A reference to Bereshit? A reference to the mystical teaching “do not look at what is behind, above, or below, but only what is ahead”? A play on “Badu”? Do we have another celebrity kabbalist on our hands? Apparently the Dallas…
How to Search for Chometz the foamy spray of oven cleanersnap of rubber glovessqueak of Brillo pad against caked on shmutz creak of refrigerator wheels on their once a year trek wish-washy of the mop splish-splashy of scalding watervrum-vrumy of the vacuum smack – the carpet runner that leads from the front door to the back hall is taken outside and whipped like a Hebrew slave This is how you search for chometz, humming the soundtrack of freedom.
Bizarro day. First, I’m in the airport in Newark at the gate getting ready to board the plane to New Orleans and Kareem Abdul Jabar walks up behind me, slips into the elite access lane and then ducks his head under the door and heads to the plane, bent over. Then I’m at Bon Temps Roule seeing the always amazing Soul Rebels and Mos Def walks beside me, gently pushing my friend out of the way to get closer to…
Below is an audio only version of the talk I gave in Charlotte: Going Retro? The Next Generation’s Search for Jewish Authenticity
This event has been rescheduled for tomorrow night — Tuesday, March 2nd – come on down! Rabbi Brenner to speak at Jewish Federation eventCampaign kickoff is Feb. 21One of the nation’s most influential rabbis will speak at the Jewish Federation of Greater Charlotte’s 2010 campaign kickoff event at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 21 at Temple Israel.Rabbi Daniel Brenner, executive director of BirthrighBy Joe MarusakPosted: Monday, Feb. 08, 2010 One of the nation’s most influential rabbis will speak at the Jewish Federation’s…
My father-in-law, Dr. Mel Silberman was one of the most amazing men I have ever met. He passed away this past Shabbat, after a thirteen year battle with cancer. We have posted eulogies and other memories at Remembering Mel
Sorry folks, this header has nothing to do with the late 70s Gay club scene. Machismo, though, is a great topic. I just crafted a piece for the New Jersey Jewish News. “Professor Daniel Boyarin’s 1997 work Unheroic Conduct: the Rise of Heterosexuality and the Invention of the Jewish Man was the counter-text to the Zionist typology of the new Jewish man as farm laborer and warrior. Boyarin sparked a new intellectual movement which sought instead to preserve and reinvent…
thanks to the fine archivists over at NYU, someday a researcher might stumble upon some of my scribbles. They have 23 of my essays up on this page. And a ton of searchable other stuff. Wow. Go BJPA!
A Jewish Star: Nissen Brenenson from COLlive.com on Vimeo. This right here folks is my cousin Nissen Brenenson singing his heart out. Nissen is a Chabad rabbi and is the educational director of the Jewish Childrens’ Museum. I’ve seen him rock out at a Karaoke bar in the basement of a Days Inn. This is a bit more polished and sans boa.
Grenade-throwing days are recalled in this sweet write-up. 🙂 THE MAIN EVENT OF THE 2010 ANNUAL CAMPAIGNFeaturing Rabbi Daniel Brenner The Jewish Federation’s 2010 Annual Campaign will officially kick-off on Sunday, February 21, 2010 during The Main Event featuring special guest speaker Rabbi Daniel Brenner, Executive Director of Birthright Israel Next, who was recently named by Newsweek Magazine as one of the 50 most influential rabbis in America. Brenner’s speech entitled “Going Retro? The Next Generation’s Search for Jewish Authenticity”…