Chametz. Leaven. Food containing one of the five species of grain (wheat, spelt, barley, oats, rye) that is mixed with water and left to rise for more than 18 minutes. Chametz’s antithesis of course is matzah, namely non-leavened food made from those same five species of grain mixed with water but left to rise for...
The Bank of United States. No, not Bank of America. No, also not Alexander Hamilton’s First or Second Bank of the United States for our AP American History scholars. The grammatically problematic but very real The Bank of United States got its start in 1913 and failed spectacularly 18 years later ushering in a series...
***If you have photos/video from the Purim party especially of the spontaneous dancing circle, please reply to this e-mail*** 12 years ago this Shabbat, a devastating earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster rocked Tōhoku and Japan in an event whose fear and destruction became so deeply ingrained in the culture that its commemoration is marked simply...
׃A Benjaminite ran from the battlefield and reached Shiloh the same day; his clothes were rent and there was earth on his head.-Samuel 1 4:12 500 years before Pheidippides ran from Marathon to Athens, an unnamed man from the Tribe of Benjamin trekked 42km from the battlefield at Eben Ezer/Rosh Ha’ayin to Eli the Prophet...
100 years ago this week, the Jewish Community of Nagasaki put their building up for sale. For us in Tokyo and the even earlier Jewish Community of Kobe, Japan’s original Jewish community in Nagasaki is viewed mostly as an esoteric oddity, a historical anomaly. Who were these Jews of Kyushu? Did they debate over which...
Mishenichnas Adar Marbin b’SimchaAt the onset of the month of Adar, our joy increases. So teaches the Talmud in an otherwise quite dour section centering on the destruction of the Temple. Beyond dealing with the astrological and astronomical implications of such a statement, a controversy has recently arisen about the popular tune sung throughout the world. Many popular Jewish...
The Whole Megillah/Scroll of Esther begins with “It happened in the days of Ahasuerus (Xerxes)…who reigned over 127 provinces from India to Ethiopia” before moving onto a description of an epic seven-day rager the King threw that people still talk about today. Hence why the best parties are described as being ‘of biblical proportions.’ In...
The tragic, untimely passing of Lisa Marie Presley, may her memory be for a blessing, provides us a moment to reflect on the enduring legacy of the Presley Family and their relationship with the Jewish Community of Memphis. Those who have paid homage to the King at Graceland, and if you haven’t you really should,...
As the JCC gears up to celebrate our 70th anniversary Platinum Jubilee, we reflect on the immense spiritual significance of the number 70 in Judaism. We read in the Torah a few weeks ago that Jacob’s House of 70 went down to Egypt leading to the exile and eventual exodus. The Sanhedrin, Judaism’s original (arguably...
In a sign of rapidly warming ties between Japan and Israel, Tel Avivnikim flocked to Dizengoff Center this week for the opening of the Jewish State’s first 7-11. The humble konbini, while unlikely to offer kosher nana-chiki and ikura onigiri, began serving insulin-inducing slurpees and gastronomically precarious roller-heated hot dogs, a long way from the...