Would you set out on an important road trip if you only had enough gas for the first 20 miles and no forseeable way of filling your car up for a week? If you were a Maccabee you would. I recently started wondering why the Jews decided to light the menorah with the paltry sum of oil they found. Why bother lighting an eternal light that you […]
When Chanukah came on Tuesday night, I was drained like I haven’t been drained in quite some time. My baby had begun teething the night before and had woken up half a dozen times. My older son (who’s been screaming out randomly at night) also woke up several times. Despite barely sleeping, I had to […]
Several years ago during a holiday visit to my in-laws, I was in desperate need of can-openage, and my nephew, who was six at the time, was kind enough to show me where the household can opener resided. Although I’d been successfully opening cans for close to twenty years at the point, something about this […]
Since El Al flight 002 from New York to Tel Aviv diverted to Athens this past Friday in order to land before Shabbos, much ink has been spilled. As a “flying commuter,” I have taken numerous flights during this time slot for work. This flight was different, though, due to numerous delays. The stress level and frustration […]
I don’t remember exactly when I first learned about “shelo asani isha,” but I have to imagine that I wasn’t too happy about it. There is a section of the siddur called birkas hashachar (morning blessings), which is recited every morning by observant Jews. One of the blessings within birkas hashachar is said by men and blesses God for having not […]
This Shabbos morning began like any other. My husband gave the littlest kids their breakfast so that I could get a few extra minutes of sleep. After he left for shul, I got myself and the kids dressed, and we headed next door to our shul, PZ. The only excitement was that my oldest son […]
