A couple of weeks ago, before the Space Shuttle launch, Israeli Astronaut Ilan Ramon had a televised conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. He said, “I call upon every Jew in the world to plant a tree in the land of Israel during the coming year. I would like to see at least 13 […]
Category: Judaism
Mishe-nichnas Adar…
Today is Rosh Chodesh Adar I. Since Purim is right around the corner, this is supposed to be a very happy time, but something seems terribly off in the universe. Part of me really just wants to block out the rest of the world and just sing the song of the season: משנכנס אדר מרבים […]
70% considered low voter turnout?
Israeli polls opened about half an hour ago (they’re voting for Prime Minister). There’s little doubt that incumbent Ariel Sharon will beat Amram Mitzna in the election. The cover of last week’s Los Angeles Jewish Journal put it bluntly: Sure, He’ll Win the Election. But Can He Make Peace? Skimming Ha’aretz for some news on […]
Hebcal blog
I have started keeping a separate blog for my Hebcal Interactive Jewish Calendar Tools website.
Hebcal by Phone beta
Well, it turns out it wasn’t that hard. After just a couple of hours of playing around with VoiceXML, I managed to create a Tellme extension that works. Call Tellme at 1-800-555-TELL Say extensions Dial 00613 Dial or say your 5-digit zipcode Listen to the candle-lighting times for your area If you want to see […]
VoiceXML for Hebcal
I just thought of a new project for my Jewish Calendar website. I want to create a Tellme extension so people can call an 800 number to get candle-lighting times. Over the past 4 years, I have used my hebcal.com site as an experimental test-bed for various web technologies. It all started when I wanted […]
Chanukah joke
A woman went to the post office to buy stamps for her Chanukah cards. She said to the clerk, “May I please have 50 Chanukah stamps?” The clerk asked, “What denomination?” The woman replied, “O my G-d, has it come to this? O.K. – give me 1 Haredi, 2 Hasidim, 8 Orthodox, 12 Conservative, 16 […]
Thanksgiving and Chanukah back-to-back
I’m quoted in today’s issue of Newsday in an article entitled Twice As Much Stuffing: Hearty appetites will be thankful for back-to-back holiday feasts. The story, written by Erica Marcus, is entertaining and well-researched. She even spoke to my favorite Jewish Holidays expert: Rabbi Michael Strassfeld (author of The Jewish Holidays: A Guide & Commentary). […]
Israelis love “West Wing”
We have many friends living in Israel this year. Last year we used to have a regular gathering on Wednesday evenings to watch The West Wing on our projection TV. Now they’ve gotta wait months for someone to send ’em a tape from the States. They recently got together to watch a couple of hours […]
Torahthon: the Zealotry of Pinchas
The second session I attended at Temple Beth Am’s Torahthon was Dr. Ron Reisberg’s class on “The Zealotry of Pinchas”. He advertised the title of his session as “Good Tefila, Bad Tefila”, but acknowledged at the beginning of his teaching that he decided to change the subject. Instead, much to my pleasant surprise, we did […]