Blog Archives

potato latkes and a goat: A hanukah story

11/30/2018

Long ago, in a far-away village lived a simple family with few resources. Shortly before Hanukkah, the mother and father realized they had no money to purchase potatoes or oil for the holiday. This is how Isaac Bashevis Singer’s “Zlateh the Goat” begins.

It’s one of my favorite children’s stories. . . .

2 Comments

an unusual burial and unveiling for a synagogue congregation

11/14/2018

0 Comments

Much like living organisms, synagogue congregations are born, flourish, decline, and die. But it’s not often that they
self-consciously acknowledge when they are at the end of that life cycle. The 125-year-old Jewish community in New Castle, Pennsylvania has.

0 Comments

We have to make pragmatic decisions in the wake of pittsburgh

11/7/2018

1 Comment

This past week, America’s Jews mourned together in the wake of the attack on Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh. Yet despite unifying rallies meant to bring comfort, I feel deep unease. . . .

1 Comment