Build It And They Will Come

The story of Noah and the ark has something for everyone: there are cute animals for the little ones, a lesson in architecture for older readers, and some bawdy details for adults …. as well as a couple of serious issues of respect for one’s elders and by way of midrash, respect for the earth.

However, it’s those cute animals or the rainbow that most often become the focus. Pass a preschool classroom and you might hear a chorus of bass and moos when Noah is introduced or children drawing brightly colored rainbows. Continue reading

The Season of Our Rejoicing

How time flies! It’s Sukkot again. And why should I be surprised? We just celebrated the High Holidays. Turn, Turn, Turn…the seasons come and go.

While Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur reading for both adults and kids has a decidedly solemn bent, there’s mostly pure joy in the Sukkot and Simhat Torah books.

We rejoice in the bounty of the land and the natural beauty of the land and sky; we revel in the holy words of the Torah.

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Reflections on This Time of Year

The poet, T.S. Eliot, wrote that April is the cruelest month, a quote often taken out of context.

But I think that in the cycle of the year, September may be the cruelest month. Although it is a month of beginning for those who never seem to shake the shackles of a school schedule, it often coincides with Tishrei which marks the beginning of our religious year, and is beautiful with full greening of the trees and bursts of color from the dahlias, marigolds and mums, the month is the last gasp before the slow decline to winter. Continue reading

Not By Brains Alone

Through the ages, Jews have established a reputation as being brainy. Look at the Nobel Prize winners; Jews are overrepresented as a group.

BUT Jews have accomplished great feats in athletics, too. Just look at all the Jews involved in modern professional and amateur sports today – Jews who don’t feel the need to hide their Jewishness, be it religious or cultural. Continue reading

Kudos to the Lampert Library

At the 59th annual conference of the Association of Jewish Libraries held in San Diego this week, the Alan Lampert Memorial Library of Congregation Shomrei Emunah received accreditation from the SSCPL division of the Association. Accreditation means that the library has done a self-study and meets the Association’s standard for an effective library. Continue reading

Guess Who?

March is Women’s History Month. To expand your horizons beyond women named Ruth or Anne, here’s a match-up quiz of accomplished but lesser-known women.

The library is a resource for information about many of them, either through single biographies, collected biographies or reference works such as Jewish Women in America which are updated on the Jewish Women’s Archive website (jwa.org).

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Days of Remembrance

We Jews have so many holidays and days of remembrance. From Nissan 1, the first day of Passover, marking the beginning of the year (Yes, Nissan actually is the first month of the Hebrew calendar) through Purim in the month of Adar, there are scores of holidays – and four new years. Then there is the weekly Shabbat celebration. I’d estimate that at least 100 days are marked in some special way. Continue reading

Reflection on the Civil Rights Trip: Personal Highlights

When I was a kid and drove with my father from our hometown of Lowell, Mass to the orthodontist in Boston, we would go through the streets of Cambridge. I would notice the rather decrepit looking triple deckers, the small apartment buildings, the dirty streets – and the dark faces. I remember questioning my father and asking why people had to live that way. Continue reading