Passover Shabbat Bris for baby Zev Zahavy

We welcomed Barak and Miriam's son, Elana and Maya's Brother, Shaiel, Yair, Gavi and Eitan's cousin, Yitz and Julie's nephew, our grandson Zev Mendel Zahavy, at his Passover Shabbat Bris today in Brooklyn, where he was named after my father Zev of blessed memory, who passed away 11 months a...

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Free at Last from Friday through Sunday: Six People You Meet in Synagogue

For the Passover holidays, the Talmudic Blog and Talmudic Books is giving away a new book:  Six People You Meet in Synagogue.In this book, the author, Tzvee Zahavy, presents six ideal personalities of Jewish prayer and their respective prayers. This is a condensed version of the author's previous work, God's Favorite Prayers (Talmudic Books, 2011) where he first developed the notion of the six distinct prayer archetypes: the performer,...

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No to the NYTimes Op-Ed: The Talmud is not a Valid Diet Book

From The New York Times: OP-ED CONTRIBUTOR Rabbi Jonathan Crane: The Talmud and Other Diet Books suggests that, "When Mayor Michael Bloomberg's anti-obesity programs fail, look to God and the ancient Greeks." And it suggests that local ordinances are not the way to resolve the obesity problem. "...Perhaps a different approach can be considered, one that begins from within. Instead of fixating on indulgence and excess, as do so many top-down and...

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Free Passover Seder Haggadah Online Download

Here are several of the best places you can go online to download a Passover Haggadah for your Seder.The Jewish Agency Haggadah LinksAbout.com Online Haggadah LinksWikisource Hebrew Haggadah PageThe Union Haggadah (CCAR Classical Reform)Haggadah According to the Rite of Yemen: with the Arabic-HebrewThe Kol Menachem Haggadah: Nusach Haarizal, by Chaim MillerWe give Chabad credit for a great resource if you want a wide selection of Hebrew Haggadahs....

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Free Passover Books

This one is $.99 the rest are free for Passover from Talmudic Books - Soncino Babylonian Talmud PesahimBabylonian Talmud Pesahim deals with regulations for the Passover holiday, prohibitions of leavened food and prescriptions for the Paschal lamb. It is the third treatise of the order Mo'ed. It is divided into ten chapters.Chapter ten deals with the Seder meal eaten on the evening of Passover; the four cups of wine, and the benedictions pronounced...

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Search for Chametz Android Smart Phone App

Originally for iPhone, this year there is an android app in the Google Play store for the search for chametz.The No Chametz app helps Jews go through the process of searching, cleaning, destroying and selling their chametz prior to the Passover holiday.Having Chametz in your possession can be a serious halachic issue. This app will help you make sure you properly remove any chametz under your ownershipThe app helps you search for Chametz, the...

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Is Hawk Kosher?

Hawk is not kosher. It is a bird of prey. Proof: Video above of a hawk eating its prey outside of the window of my den in Teaneck.Check Out Talmudic BooksSee the Kindle Talmud in EnglishPonder the Questions of Whence and WhereforeExperience God's Favorite Prayers...

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Top Ten List for Seder Leaders

Passover is coming... Time for our top ten tips for your Seder...Most folks consider preparing and eating the festive meal to be the central focus of their Passover Seder. There's not much advice that we can offer to help improve upon that.However, we have always had fun conducting the reading of the Haggadah. We learned this art as a child by watching our father masterfully conduct the communal synagogue Seders as the rabbi of the Park East Synagogue...

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The Sarajevo Haggadah -- the most Expensive Haggadah in the World

We have posted here about all of the free Haggadahs for Passover Seders that are available on the Internet. That led us to consider asking -- what is the most expensive Haggadah in the world?The answer is -- the rare illuminated Sarajevo Haggadah which also is said to be one of the most beautiful manuscripts and one of the most valuable books in existence.Our facsimile of The Sarajevo Haggadah that we bought a while back is awesome.If you...

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Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik's Haggadah for the Passover Seder by Rabbi M. Genack

Rabbi Menahem Genack published, The Seder Night: An Exalted Evening: The Passover Haggadah: With a Commentary Based on the Teachings of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik. A Haggadah in English and Hebrew (2009).We think it's a great book and happily added it both to our collection of Haggadahs and to our library of works about the teachings of my teacher, the Rav, Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik. It is a handsome and professional volume, clearly written...

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Is Julius Genachowski Jewish?

Yes, Julius Genachowski is a Jew.Barack Obama named Genachowski as Head of the Federal Communications Commission in 2009. He announced his intention to resign in March, 2013.Several news reports confirmed that, "Mr. Genachowski, attended yeshiva through high school and studied in yeshiva in Israel before going to Columbia... His parents are immigrants who survived the Holocaust."Calling him a "Talmud Ace," The Forward reported:Julius Genachowski...

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Is the Daily Beast Kosher?

Used to be Newsweek, now it is the Daily Beast. It is a news site not an animal. So it cannot be kosher in the narrow sense of the word, that is permissible for physical consumption. Is it permissible to read the Daily Beast? We suppose it is kosher.Here are some of the salient points about the site, mainly from Wikipedia (with our comments):The Daily Beast was launched on October 6, 2008, and is owned by IAC (Barry Diller, the chairman). Edward...

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Is sportscaster Marv Albert Jewish?

Yes, the always dynamic and sometimes controversial Marv Albert is a Jew.According to Wikipedia, he was born Marvin Philip Aufrichtig on June 12, 1941 to a Jewish family in Brooklyn, where he went to Abraham Lincoln High School. Members of Albert's family owned a grocery store on Brighton Beach Avenue between 3rd and 4th streets known as Aufrichtig's.Now did you know that Marv moonlights as a psychotherapist? The piece by New Yorker's Jesse Eisenberg:...

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The Fifth Question: Can we eat Legumes on Passover?

We endorse with enthusiasm Shammai Engelmayer's Passover rant in the Jewish Standard on the custom by some Jews to avoid legumes on the holiday.He brilliantly observes:...In Israel, several Orthodox rabbis have used this as a reason to abandon the ban on kitniyot — legumes and their derivatives (such as corn oil or peanut oil, for example). They note that the Land of Israel was inhabited by S’fardim and Mizrachi long before the Ashkenazim began their...

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New Yorker: At His Birthday Party Philip Roth talks of Death

New Yorker has been churning out amazing content in the past few issues. David Remnick continues that flow with his account of Philip Roth's eightieth birthday celebration in Newark.Remnick explains that death was Roth's main topic in his birthday remarks. An odd choice for a birthday festival for most folks but not for Roth.Now, we usually don't dwell on the subject of death in our thoughts. But today we conclude our recitation of Kaddish for our...

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Google Keep Kosher?

Keep Kosher?Yes we think that Google's newest service called "Keep" is glatt Kosher. It's a keeper.Here is what Google says about Keep:Quickly capture what’s on your mind and recall it easily wherever you are. Create a checklist, enter a voice note or snap a photo and annotate it. Everything you add is instantly available on all your devices – desktop and mobile.With Google Keep you can:• Keep track of your thoughts via notes, lists and photos• Have voice notes transcribed automatically• Use homescreen widgets to capture thoughts quickly• Color-code...

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Amazon.com: Incredible Free Album of Shabbat Music

Tzvee writes:15 track album, mostly guitar, incredible quality music, and free today. Craig Taubman Presents Acoustic Shabbat Various artists | Format: MP3 Music Price: $0.00 Download or play now in Cloud Player.   ...

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Is Haym Soloveitchik a hero?

Professor Haym Soloveitchik has stepped up yet again to "blow the whistle" on the "insufficiencies" of the scholarship of Professor Talia Fishman. Haym has raised his mission to the level of a crusade with his latest rejoinders and critiques, published here and here.Why the crusade? Haym explains his motives through a personal anecdote in his rejoinder on his web site: When Becoming the People of the Talmud appeared and then won the Jewish Book Council...

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Is Lena Dunham Jewish?

Yes, Lena Dunham is a Jew. She is creator and star of the controversial hit HBO series Girls, which "we hear" is edgy and entertaining. Wikipedia reports, "Dunham's father is Protestant, and according to Dunham, a Mayflower descendant; Dunham's mother is Jewish."Dunham told the Jewish Journal: “I went to Hebrew school for, like, two weeks, and then didn’t get the part I wanted in the play and quit,” she said. “But I’ve always had a great love of...

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Where Can You Find the Best Deals on Passover Wine?

We wanted to know where to get some wine for Passover. A friend showed us wine-searcher.com and we were impressed. Here is what the site claims about their wine search service:The Wine-Searcher search engine lists 5,554,710 wines and prices from 38,491 merchants around the world, making it easy to locate and purchase wine at the best available prices. The database grows day by day, and we use various procedures (both manual and automated) for...

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Is TV Kosher for Dogs?

Is TV kosher for dogs? Yes it is, now that the Israeli Dog Channel offering, DOGTV, is live in California, at $9.95 a month.TV channel for dogs launched in IsraelAn Israeli cable TV company has launched a television channel that is aimed primarily at dogs.The channel, available in Israel via the Yes satellite company was first launched last February in California's second-largest city San Diego, where it reached some 483,000 homes."DOGTV is scientifically...

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Is Niacin kosher for your heart?

No, niacin is not kosher for your heart.USA Today via Detroit Free Press alerts us to a new study that found, "Niacin doesn't help heart, may cause harm, study says."We knew this eleven years ago. After Lipitor gave us hepatitis and the cardiologist told us to take Niaspan, instead we looked it up and found no reason to believe that Niacin pills would be a benefit to us. After doing the math, we politely refused to take any cholesterol reducing medication....

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Is Punk Rock Jewish?

No, punk rock is not Jewish. Yes, there are a few Jewish punk rock musicians. The Times' story, The Orthodox Fringe Moshiach Oi! Merges Orthodox Judaism and Punk Rock, misses the point entirely.The fact is that both Orthodox Judaism and punk rock are quirky versions of their respective genres. And so the story of Orthodox-punk-rock is an account of quirkiness to the second power. Maybe nine people are involved in this globally. Get it? We don...

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Is Marijuana Kosher for Passover?

Via Earth Times with a big smile. Passover pot is not a problem for Sephardic Jews. Is cannabis kosher for Passover for Ashkenazic Jews?Is pot kitniyot? It's up to the rabbiJERUSALEM (UPI) In Israel, rabbis are trying to determine if hemp and its cousin, marijuana, are on the list of legumes that some Jews must abstain from during Passover.This year, the Green Leaf Party, which advocates legalization of marijuana, warned its members by e-mail that...

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Dramatic Video: NBC's Richard Engel Reports on the motives for the Pope's Resignation

This video from NBC's Rock Center with Brian Williams ("Exposing Vatican secrets a 'dangerous' mission, says Vatileaks journalist") raises many questions about the motives for the Pope's resignation."NBC News' Richard Engel talks to Gianluigi Nuzzi, one of Italy's top investigative journalists, about the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI. Nuzzi's interviews with Benedict's whistleblower butler led to the Vatileaks scandal. Nuzzi and others allege...

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