Oh, yeah — we hit it again. Two parking tickets this morning, and one’s more than $100. Man, this Rosh Hashana is shaping up to a great start. I flipped. It’s not pleasant to say, but I felt steam coming out of my nostrils and ears. There was a very small phone, and I started [...]

Francesca Lia Block changed the face of young adult publishing with her first novel, Weetzie Bat — a book that was mature (both in the “sophisticated” sense and the sense of mature themes) beyond anything else that was being published in the genre of children’s literature at the time, but never lost sight of its [...]

Gizmodo, one of my favorite tech blogs, recently profiled this conceptual refrigerator, intended for roommates sharing an apartment. It prevents roommates from having to encounter each other’s rotten food messes. But I think it would be another great appliance for kosher kitchens. One section for meat, one section for dairy, and one section for the [...]

Every year, thousands of men abandon their families on the High Holidays to prostrate the grave of Rebbe Nachman of Breslov in the Ukrainian town of Uman. Is there a moral or Halakhic problem with this practice? (Ynetnews) Israeli acute paralysis virus take aims at Rosh Hashanah observance. (Haaretz) A talk with Maurice Kamins, who [...]

With Rosh Hashanah around the corner, we here at My Jewish Learning are wondering what you will use as your new fruit on Tuesday night.  If you don’t know what I’m talking about, have Todd & God explain it to you. What is your new fruit going to be on Rosh Hashanah? ( polls)

Last night, Shimon Peres, the President of Israel spoke at NYU on the Globalization of Peace. Although President Peres spoke on major political and social issues, the caveat that interested me the most was his “midrashic” conclusion. President Peres told a story that he heard from a Muslim teacher: “The Rabbi asked: When does the [...]

When you’re an observant Jew and you have more than a passing interest in the non-observant world, it can cause more than a passing clash of values. For instance, Neil Gaiman, my favorite author in the world*, is doing two readings of his new, beautiful novel The Graveyard Book in New York and Philly — [...]

I’m not sure of many things.  But one thing I am sure of is that Natalie Portman and I are meant for each other.  Think about it. I’m Jewish.  She’s Jewish.  She speaks fluent Hebrew. I…well, I could use the practice.  She was in Garden State.  I’ve been to New Jersey many times.  I think [...]

A couple of days ago, we received this email: I am a Jew working in Antarctica as part of the US Antarctica Program. Are there any online HHD services that I can watch or other online ways to join other Jews in worship during Rosh Hashana & Yom Kippur? Thanks for helping out. We’ve been [...]

The idea of repentance always fills me with performance anxiety. Most of it’s due to the prayer service, which starts at 9 a.m. and doesn’t end till sunset (some congregations take a 1-hour break; mine usually does not, because they are zealot wackos). But there’s another reason, too — I wrote a memoir called Yom [...]