Oh, San Fernando Valley, to quote Merril Streep in The Devil Wears Prada…”You dissapoint me!” Usually I cite you as the paragon of all things KLP, or at least most stores have a rockin’ KLP section. Please explain to me how your KLP supplies are worse than Portland, Oregon, which, I have to admit, THE … More In search of phantom horseradish the night before a Seder
Saturday, September 30, 2017, Yom Kippur morning, I was sitting in my usual place in Shul, having just completed my Torah reading. The person honored with Hagbah (the lifting of the Torah) was sitting rather uncomfortably with some back spasms. Our Cantor motioned to me and asked if I could relieve him and sit with … More The road to to Ceske Budejovice: Silent witnesses from our second Czech Sefer Torah
One morning after the newly Kosher scroll was returned to the Aron Kodesh in Olomouc and I think we’re all still processing what this historic occasion meant. At least I know I am. I was honored to play some small part in this joyous simcha. Most of us have scattered to the four corners of … More At last! Mission Accomplished!
I just found this charming for several reasons, not the least of which, because Mina is a friend of mine and her father is the iconic former LA city council member (and founding editor of “HaAm” the UCLA Jewish student newspaper) Zev Yaroslavsky. I also thought back to a couple of things. First of all … More Shiva and the Rose Parade
I can’t tell you how frustrating it was to have to deal with insurance companies to get approval for a medication that my doctor wanted to put me on. There’s a lot of nonsense that patients have to go through in our current health care system to get required medication approved by insurance companies, it’s … More My saga with Industrialized Health Care
Our society in the US is nothing if not divided. Everybody knows it. It’s no secret. And in particular, over the last year or so, we have had a startling amount of political violence directed on both the political left and the political right. I don’t need to bore you with a recitation of the … More “How much evil are we expected to swallow?” (כמה רוע אפשר לבלוע?)
Today, I read Torah for the Second Day of Rosh Hashanah, probably one of the most dramatic lines in all of Torah from the famous “Akedah,” or Abraham’s near sacrific of his son, Isaac on Mount Moriah. There’s some deliberate dramatic embellishment that use. (Genesis 22:11) וַיִּקְרָ֨א אֵלָ֜יו מַלְאַ֤ךְ יְהוָה֙ מִן־הַשָּׁמַ֔יִם וַיֹּ֖אמֶר אַבְרָהָ֣ם ׀ אַבְרָהָ֑ם … More Dramatic License: Chanting “Akeidat Yitzhak”
Not exactly the hit Netflix TV series… During the repetition of the Musaf Amidah on Rosh HaShanah, there are 3 themes: “Malchuyot” (Soverignty), “Zichronot” (Memories) and Shofarot (Blasts of the Shofar). In this year’s rendition, there were three big moments for me, today. The first came during the reading of the Haftarah for the First … More Keter Melucha (The “Crown”)
Charlie Kirk’s murder was a tragedy for our nation. Nearly every Democratic leader that I saw condemned political violence and stopped right there. And yet Trump showed his true stripes last night with that horrid speech that he made condemning political violence, yes, but then attempting to blame it on others, namely, his perception of … More Trump’s awful reaction to Charlie Kirk’s murder
Honestly, before Sunday night, I’d never heard of Hannah Einbinder. Today i’m commenting about her and her ridiculous speech at the Emmys. “Separating Jews from Israel” can’t possibly be what you meant. It’s a nonsense statement. Israel and the Jewish people are inexorably intertwined. Maybe you misspoke and what you meant to say is that … More Who is Hannah Einbinder and why should I care?
The Tao of Steve 