Recently I had to obtain a new badge at Los Alamos National Laboratory, my primary employer, to replace one that was expiring after its normal five years. The clerk reviewed various statistics that are coded onto the chip – height,…
Blog Archives
From the Lows to the Highs
(This message was originally composed prior to the horrific shooting in Pittsburgh with the intention of sending an early November e-blast. Following the shooting, I spent time with the Los Alamos High School cast and crew of Neil Simon’s “Brighton…
Posted in Rabbi Jack's Quarterly
Remarks at vigil after the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting
Four lessons that my mother, Shirley Shlachter of blessed memory, taught me. My mother taught me to say thanks. So let me begin by thanking the Los Alamos Jewish Center for organizing this event, for providing me with a slot…
Posted in Uncategorized
Marking the Passage of Time
This seems to be a season of anniversaries. My reading list (below) includes Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosney, which recounts the horrific Vélodrome d’Hiver roundup in Paris on July 16, 1942. Over 10,000 Jews were arrested, the majority being…
Posted in Rabbi Jack's Quarterly
Buildings Without Congregations – Congregations Without Buildings
It’s no surprise that there exist synagogue buildings without congregations of Jews – we are a wandering people who have picked up and left our homes, sometimes in search of a better economic environment and sometimes under duress. Last month,…
Posted in Rabbi Jack's Quarterly
Happy New Year for 20“Chai”
I am thankful to be able to write yet another quarterly Rabbinic message (I’m actually particularly thankful to be writing this today because I’m getting over a bug which could have been much worse). The Talmud (B. Men. 43b) quotes…
Posted in Rabbi Jack's Quarterly
Carpe Diem – “And if not now, then when?” (Pirkei Avoth 1:14)
“While your fire is burning, roast your pumpkin.” So said Rabbi Yohanan somewhat cryptically in Talmudic Tractate Sanhedrin (33b), but whatever he meant, I don’t think he was referring to a non-Jewish holiday at the end of October. It is…
Posted in Rabbi Jack's Quarterly
To Life-L’Chayim
An anonymous rabbi in the Talmud is quoted as saying, “I don’t want to achieve immortality through my work; I want to achieve immortality through not dying.” OK, maybe that’s not in the Talmud but rather attributed to Woody Allen.…
Posted in Rabbi Jack's Quarterly
A Truly Crumby Holiday
I’ve always thought that Passover was a crumby holiday. Indeed, the floor is now littered with shards of matzah as I write this quarterly message on Day 6. I love the family aspects of the seder and the opportunity to…
Posted in Rabbi Jack's Quarterly
Brooklyn’s in the House
This quarterly rabbi message is dedicated to the Jews of Brooklyn (and Beverly and I do own a copy of the book of that name edited by Ilana Abramovitch and Sean Galvin). Sadly, Beverly’s mother, Justine Flora Post, passed away…
Posted in Rabbi Jack's Quarterly