To Fast or Not to Fast—That is the Question
Yom Kippur is that day to look within, to inspect your deeds and see if you have lived a moral life in the previous year.
Elul: A Time for Introspection
A writer looks back over his life for better understanding during Elul, the month before the Jewish High Holidays.
A Covid-19 Chanukah
Like the Maccabean Revolt against the Seleucid Empire, Jews today have their own 2020 oppressor–Covid-19. With a few smart choices, we can lick this villain, too. v
Jewish Values Grandma Taught Me
My grandma taught me Jewish values that can provide a moral compass for us all.
Book Reviews | Books | Judaism | Mysteries | mystery | series | series books
The Rabbi and the Cross
Rabbi Small and his wife decide to spend their summer in Israel only to find a young man from back home in trouble with the Israeli police.
The Year Passover (Easter and Ramadan) Was Cancelled
The coronavirus epidemic has cancelled Passover, Easter, and Ramadan. What can Jews, Christians, and Muslims do?
In the Loop
Here’s how one deaf man stays in the loop during the Passover holiday.
Book Reviews | Books | Bullies | Historical Fiction | Judaism | New Adult | School | Teen Books | YA Books | YA fiction
The Merry-Go-Round Man: A Metaphor on Life
In 1954, while still in elementary school, best friends Lee Esner, Jimmy Wiggins, and Johnny Roth create a game: “Whoever gets there [top of the merry-go-round] first is the real King of the Mountain. Whoever wins is Champ for life. For the rest of his life he’s on Easy Street!” Lee was the handsome one,…
American Sign Language | Deaf | Disabilities | education | History | Hunger | Judaism
Deaf Jews and the Holocaust
On November 9, 2019 Valley Beth Shalom, in Encino, California hosted a program in commemoration of the 81stAnniversary of Kristallnacht entitled “Rescuing History: Kristallnacht and ‘The Holocaust Through the Eyes of Deaf Jews’.” (Kristallnacht was two nights of violence perpetrated against the Jewish communities of Germany and Austria on November 9-10, 1938.) It was a…