A more eloquent review of "Ya'alili"

Martin Bodek writes a much more detailed and critical review of "Ya'alili" worth a read.

Ya'alili = What you make of it

We have been hearing this song every day at Ramah Day Camp in Nyack, where we are spending our July days and where the campers dance to this song every day (it is one of this summer's theme songs that is to be performed at July's zimriyah).

If this isn't a celebration of Jewish unity, we don't know what is! Loving the blend of different cultures within the Jewish world. Not simply when the band, 8th Day, sing, "Ashkenazi and Sephardi" but when they say "Tanz tanz tanz habibi," a blend of Yiddish for "dance" and Israeli/Arabic slang for "my sweet friend."




The Whole Phamily that is gathered in this video (which, sadly, ends of being a bit of a promo for the Brooklyn kosher food store Pomegranate, which to tell you the truth we were not terribly impressed by contrary to mainstream opinion, although the marketing and cleanliness of the store we recognize is superb) is really a joy to watch!

Great performance, tune, and overall message, 8th Day!

It don't hoit that the Marcus brothers are Lubavitchers...the Rebbe has done his holy work yet again.

Modesty is a virtue

Jewish women and men practice "tznius" which is a way of saying modesty.  Modest in dress and behavior, these will ultimately lead to great blessing and a good life.

Just listen to what Chaya Sari says. Is she going viral in the Jewish world?




Love the blend of Yiddish and English.
Love the whatevers.
Love the story about shoes.
Love the daquiri reference...yes they have "a bissel bronfen" (liquor) in them.
Love that Miami is a beautiful content. Indeed, the geography is just stunning.
Love the tuna salad sandwiches. Mamish like a picnic.

It's Adar, let's get super happy

Not only is today the new moon...

(And in case you didn't already read why this is a Jewish holiday especially for the women-folk, check out that old post of ours just one 'mo time...)

...It's the Jewish month of Adar

That means Purim is sure around the corner!

So, exactly ***why*** did I do those 2 loads of laundry today?  I thought Rosh Chodesh was mama's day off...

Check out Reb Moshe of Tzfat's crazy Purim party last year. 

We believe this firmly...

Thank you to Josh Fleet for your wonderful piece about Phish and Judaism in yesterday's Huffington Post. We couldn't agree more!

Well worth your time.

Let this serve as a reminder to make sure you get in your ticket requests for the 1st leg of Summer Tour!




While you're at it, you can yank on your tunic and dangle your stash.

Jews can be organ donors

Just when you thought it wasn't a Jewish thing to donate your organs, think again.

Freiheit is the Birthright of Our People

Freiheit. Freedom in Dutch, German and other Germanic languages.

And there ain't much of it these days in Europe, according to the testimony of Geert Wilders of The Netherlands.

The Shoah is way behind us, folks.

The Shah (and similar militant Islamists of today) is not.

This is important stuff for peace-loving, world-unity and freedom loving Whole Phamily-niks.

That's right, the women are smarter

We have talked about Rosh Chodesh once so far on this blog.  What we didn't mention there was the reason for why women were given the holiday of the Jewish New Moon as a gift of their own.  The Jews were getting antsy and had the shpilkas.  Familiar story?  We are so anxious and nervous and chatty and just don't know how to wait and listen.  See Woody Allen for more on that.  Anyway, yeah so we just couldn't wait any more when Moses was up on Mount Sinai getting the holy words of the Torah from God.  Believe it or not, but the story goes that they decide to build an edifice of their own.  Forget you, God, essentially is what they were saying, and they built the Golden Calf.  All the gold they had was thrown in to the bubbling pot.  They danced and sang around their very own creation.  Better than waiting, right?

Umm...wait a second, throw in your precious jewelry?  To build an idol?  A God-like symbol?

No, no, said the women.  We will not part with our adornments!  What foolish women would do such a thing?  Not us Jewesses.  No way!  We keep our jewels, God or not.

So the women kept their gold and their mirrors.  They had patience.  They knew that God would eventually deliver.  Just take a deep breath and rely on your intuition.  And, indeed, Moses eventually appears with the written words.  The women are gifted the holiday of the New Moon.

The Independent Prayer Group aka Minyan

Ritually speaking, perhaps the biggest grassroots occurrance within the Jewish community in the past ten years is the Independent Minyan. Folks wanting traditional Hebrew liturgy without the structure of the large synagogue have formed their own prayer groups throughout the States and in Israel.

We are big fans.

We love the Hadar Shavout Retreat.

We'll avert any further writing responsibilities on the topic (since our Journalism degree didn't help us much with our writing skills) and leave it for you to check out this recent blog post on Jewschool about the trend.

And for some more fun, check out Kehillat Hadar's recent move:

And You Should be a Blessing

Two weeks ago, the Jewish world lost one of its most prominent musicians of our generation:  Debbie Friedman.  We didn't grow up with her songs, but it has become apparent to us over the past days that many others have, especially those who grew up in the Reform movement. We had the privilege of attending one of her women's seders in Manhattan in 1999.

Here is one of her more familiar songs:




She didn't just sing Jewish-themed songs. Here is her Thanksgiving Song:




May Debbie Friedman's memory be a blessing.