Getting Into The Swing of It?

Updated at: 2:25 PM. by Prevent Blackheads
Under Category: birds,halacha,kapporos,Religion,Tzedakah

I'm a thinkin' I hear sum cuntry music a playin'. So are you ready to grab your partner and swing some chicken? KAPPOROS are the...More...

Fasting

Updated at: 1:21 PM. by Prevent Blackheads
Under Category: holidays,perspective,Religion

So what do you think about all day when you fast? Do you inspect the errors of your ways and plan to modify your behavior? Or do you do what...More...

Tisha B'av Excellent Adventure

Updated at: 10:01 AM. by Prevent Blackheads
Under Category: exile,holidays,perspective,Religion,temple

For only $19.95 you too can have a temple to the Lord!.. As I sat on my floor, legs akimbo, my mind contemplated the great words of our sage...More...

God of the Gaps

Updated at: 9:10 AM. by Prevent Blackheads
Under Category: evolution,exercise,Religion

A poll of the average shopper has clearly identified the God of the Gaps as the force behind extreme sales initiatives and marketing in th...More...

Round The Cauldron

Updated at: 8:33 AM. by Prevent Blackheads
Under Category: psychology,Religion,segula,superstition

As a guy, I shouldn't be expected to know that challahs have nothing to do with cauldrons but I believe the connection here is more on t...More...

Our Man In Mosque-ow

Updated at: 10:06 AM. by Prevent Blackheads
Under Category: Islam,Rabbi Frand,Religion

Last night I heard a shiur from R. Frand about whether it was permissible to enter a mosque . It is forbiden to enter a house of avodah zara...More...

Let's Mix It Up

Updated at: 1:12 PM. by Prevent Blackheads
Under Category: Archaeology,Religion

Gloria London in Nov/Dec. BAR takes a stab at why we don't mix meat and milk . Maimonides suggest that boiling animals in their mother...More...

Antigonus and Tradition

Updated at: 9:05 PM. by Prevent Blackheads
Under Category: anecdote,halacha,Religion,tradition

Before I get to Antigonus, I need to do a bit on Chanukah. My daughter came over to me last night and asked me a question. She asked if we k...More...

It Shouldn't Happen To Chicken

Updated at: 8:18 AM. by Prevent Blackheads
Under Category: birds,halacha,kapporos,Religion,Tzedakah

I meant to do this post a while back but my feathers were all ruffled by life's challenges. Apparently, there is a custom before Yom Kip...More...

Experiencing Sinai

Updated at: 9:19 PM. by Prevent Blackheads
Under Category: halacha,mental representations,perspective,psychology,relationships,Religion,Sinai

Rabbi Wolfe from Isralight was an amazing addition to the Saw You At Sinai back to camp Labor Day weekend. Aside from good humor, good natu...More...

A Quick Passover Rant

Updated at: 11:18 AM. by Prevent Blackheads
Under Category: anecdote,Passover,rant,Religion

Passover soap. As far as I know, soap is basically a Base. Bread is not one of its active ingredients or even a trace component. Although I...More...

Post Rabbinic Post

Updated at: 1:57 PM. by Prevent Blackheads
Under Category: perspective,Religion,Religious Journey,Torah,truth,writing

OK, so you graduated college and you think you'll never be bothered by another boring lecture. But there I go and shatter your illusions...More...

Road to Rabbinic Rule

Updated at: 4:15 PM. by Prevent Blackheads
Under Category: creation,origins,redemption,Religion,Torah,writing

Two years ago the now defunct Recovering Orthodox Jew blogger recommended I read The Roots of Rabbinic Judaism by Gabriele Boccaccini. It w...More...

Prelude To A Preface

Updated at: 1:30 PM. by Prevent Blackheads
Under Category: Heschel,Koontz,Religion,TV/BOOK Review

(Updated quote at end) Sometimes I feel like I have been robbed of a portion of my spirituality. Skeptic groups with their meticulous disse...More...

Can You Dig It?

Updated at: 8:20 AM. by Prevent Blackheads
Under Category: Archaeology,perspective,Religion

Last night I attended a biblical archaeology lecture at Queens College given by Dr. Ann Killebrew of Penn State. I won't bore you with t...More...

Triumph of Life

Updated at: 9:23 AM. by Prevent Blackheads
Under Category: convenant,creation,death,feminism,redemption,Religion

Rabbi Irving Greenberg, president of the Jewish Life Network/Steinhardt Foundation, gave an interesting lecture last night at Queens College...More...

Kabbalah After Forty

Updated at: 3:25 PM. by Prevent Blackheads
Under Category: Religion,writing

When I was somewhat younger, I took affront to the stipulation that Kabbalah should only be studied after the age of forty. I should be able...More...

Fifth (??) Book of the Shulchan Aruch

Updated at: 12:04 PM. by Prevent Blackheads
Under Category: psychology,Religion

My child brought home a weekly Parsha sheet with its Mitzvah of the week. I expected to read the latest edition of the chumrah-of-the-week c...More...

Is God Green?

Updated at: 12:27 PM. by Prevent Blackheads
Under Category: global warming,Religion

Last night on PBS, Bill Moyers had a special about the recent break in the ranks of Evangelical Christians from their all-or-nothing approa...More...

Why Oral?

Updated at: 4:11 PM. by Prevent Blackheads
Under Category: Religion,writing

PBS had an excellent series ‘On Faith and Reason with Bill Moyers,’ which can be viewed on pbs.org. He interviewed Margaret Atwood who made...More...