On Sunday night “The Amazing Race” whittled down from 4 teams to the final 3 in a race around the world. This leg of the race took place entirely in Prague, Czech Republic. As is customary on The Amazing Race, the roadblocks and detours along the way were part of the local culture.
One cannot speak [...]
Posts under ‘My Links’
The Golem: Jewish Mythology or Kabbalistic Robot?
Go To The Ant, Sluggard, See Her Ways And Become Wise (Proverbs 6:6)
The book of Proverbs has so many great lessons for life. One very well known lesson is that we can learn from so many people, animals and things useful tools for life. The ant provides a great lesson in industriousness. An ant can lift things many times more than its body weight. Ants work hard [...]
The Good Wife: Unorthodox, From a Rabbi / Law Student Perspective
The Good Wife is a new legal drama on CBS. The show is great. Usually the legal issues are portrayed correctly (at least from a law student’s perspective) and the character development of the main character has been superb.
This week’s episode revolved around a chasidic couple living in Chicago who were responsible to fix a [...]
Matisyahu, NBC and The Olympic Winter Games Make A Great Team
I first heard of Matisyahu while working as a Campus Rabbi at USC. The Jewish students on campus were really into his music (this was ~5 years ago) and some of my students invited me to join them at a Matisyahu concert.
He was performing at the Knitting Factory in Hollywood which was right near my [...]
Mad Men Era Lives On in the White House
Has the White House traveled back in time and space to the Mad Men era? To a place in time where women are 2nd class citizens and were refused equal opportunities?
Most people would say, “of course not”. But there are those who disagree.
Just ask Terry O’Neill the president for the National Organizatin of Women (NOW) [...]
iTalmud English Edition: Review
I love technology and I love Talmud. So imagine how excited I was when I found out that I could learn Talmud on my iPhone!
For the last few weeks I have been testing an incredible iPhone app. iTalmud English Edition (warning: link will open iTunes) is one the best apps I have ever used on [...]
Venice Historical Society Visits Pacific Jewish Center at the Shul on the Beach
The Pacific Jewish Center Shul on the Beach has hosted many, many guest. Jews and non-Jews from all over the world have come through its doors marveling at its charm and aura.
This morning the Pacific Jewish Center hosted a special group of visitors. Friend of the Shul, Harry Medved is an active member of the [...]
Repost: Where the Wild Things Are
The much anticipated movie based on the great book by Maurice Sendak opens today.
When the trailer was released I cried. The trailer was so amazing that I wrote a post all about it.
I have only written one other post about a trailer, that was the LeBron Teamwork trailer.
This one is better and the original post [...]
Too Smart For Their Own Good
While the blog was down a very interesting Op-Ed appeared in the New York Times.
A journalist had a discussion with a man who could explain how the financial industry collapsed last year in one sentence.
Intrigued, the journalist pressed the man to explain. The answer? Wall Street got too smart.
In the old days, the Wall Street [...]
President Obama’s New Hardware: Nobel Peace Prize
Wow, two semi-political posts in a row. For a non-partisan blog that is a lot.
But once again, it would be impossible to ignore this elephant in the room.
Optimistic at best presumptuous at worse, President Obama’s recent Nobel Peace Prize award really pushes the envelope of credibilty.
NASA Spending Millions To Find Water On The Moon
Am I missing something?
Normally I stay out of politics. But I think this issue transcends politics.
Friday October 9, 2009 at approximately 7:31 AM EST NASA is going to bomb the moon. This is an exercise designed to confirm or deny the existence of water on the moon. Video of the anticipated explosion is below.
The cost [...]
Happy Sukkos
Sukkos is here and that means Jewish people eat in a small hut outdoors called a Sukkah. We also will be holding 4 types of vegetation called a lulav, esrog, hadasim and aravos. Sukkos is also called the “Time of Joy” holiday.
On behalf of myself, my family and the entire Pacific Jewish Center Community, I wish [...]
An Elephant Never Forgets But People Do
Every Friday night I wrap up services with a short Torah thought. Many weeks it is a question with food for thought that we discuss later on. Some weeks it is a complete idea with a take home message.
Last Friday Night I chose to present a variation of a famous parable from the Dubner Maggid. [...]
Women’s Happiness and Being a Parent
I just can’t kick this parenting thing. Every post I feel like writing is connected with parenting.
The last time this happened I was hooked on clothes. Those posts are all linked here, here, here, here, here and here. I recommend checking those out.
One of the most popular articles on NYTimes.com this week is an Op-Ed about [...]
Parenting: Unconditional Love
Parenting has been on my mind lately.
Earlier today I posted about Kim Clijsters and the sacrifices of working mothers.
It must be the impending Rosh Hashana that is influencing these thoughts of parents and children.
Parenting is tough job. There are no vacations. There is no financial remuneration. It is oftentimes thankless.
Also we are so clueless as [...]
Law School and Learning Ethics
Lawyers take the brunt of a lot of jokes and jabs questioning their ethics.
Believe it or not, Law Schools actually teach Ethical Lawyering and every student is required to pass that class prior to taking the bar.
Law blog Legal Geekery (recommended reading for law students) has an article criticizing the way Law Schools attempt to [...]
Authentic Judaism and Authentic Charity
This post is really two Public Service Announcements.
Please read both and if you are able to help in any way possible, it is much appreciated.
One great thing about blogging is the opportunity to connect with other people for the sake of an important cause. Today, I present you with two important causes.
Jewish iPhone Apps By RustyBrick
A few months ago I wrote a short post about the great Misheberach list in the iPhone Siddur.
Today, on DovBear I wrote a review of a few of the great Jewish iPhone Apps developed by RustyBrick.
Head over there to read the full review.
Family Outing to Huntington Gardens
We took the family on a Sunday trip to Pasadena to see the famous Huntington Gardens.
Esteemed Pacific Jewish Center, Board Member, Alan Lipman first told me about this landmark a few months back. He described Huntington Gardens as a place of natural beauty, educational value and cultural significance. I had been looking forward to seeing [...]
Confirming Our Suspicions That Jews Do Run The World
A few months ago, the New York Jets football team made headlines when they moved they 4 PM Sunday game on Erev (the day before) Yom Kippur to 1 PM. This time change would give Jewish people wishing to observe Yom Kippur the opportunity to be home before the start of Yom Kippur at sundown [...]
Book Review | The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook
Yesterday I flew from New York to Los Angeles. We got to the airport just under 3 hours before our flight. This is a direct result of missing a few flights in the last few years. We always err on the side of caution.
I stopped in a Hudson Books to peruse the available reading material. [...]
Weekly Jewish Blog Round-Up #231
Haveil Havalim #231 is being hosted at Esser Agaroth.
Check it out by clicking here for a variety of very interesting links from all around the J-blogosphere.
Thanks to Esser Agaroth for hosting and doing another super job!
(And thanks for linking my post on Brett Favre.)
Elul Begins With A Warning | Anonymous Bloggers Take Note: Google Knows Your Every Move
A little while back I contributed a decent post to DovBear that generated an impressive response from legions of commenters on DovBear. The post was a comparison of anonymous vs. onymous blogging.
I argued that by blogging about important things anonymously, they are less effective and only perpetuate the near censorship of right-wing Orthodox Judaism. Some [...]
A Jewish Black Woman's "Henry Gates" Situation
As a Law Student, there are things I find interesting that may not interest “clients” (non-Lawyers, hehe). The following article interests me and will probably interest any lawyer or law student, anyone Jewish, or anyone that has been following the Gates Saga.
I invite you to contribute your opinion in the comments.
The article originally appeared in [...]
How Many Is Too Many?
This post has been cross-posted to DovBear – more discussion there.
An article on Ynet.com featured on VIN caught my ire this afternoon.
The writer, a woman, calls upon all Orthodox Jews to reject “the evil feminists” of Kolech and “have as many children as possible, as soon as possible”. For there is no [...]
