I composed this quarterly rabbinic message immediately after dismantling our sukkah, and there is nothing quite like making me feel that the extended fall holiday season has come to an end as packing up the sukkah kit. Several years ago,…
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Our Defects Make Us Interesting
I was asked to write a blog post for “Sinai and Synapses” about my being both a rabbi and a scientist. When I was five years old, I received a Newtonian reflecting telescope as a Hanukkah present from my parents.…
Posted in Uncategorized
Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like an etrog
It seems like we just celebrated Pesach and now I’m starting to panic about High Holiday preparations; how time flies! Beverly hosted a home seder for 14 people ranging in age from 4 to 80 (and everyone seemed to survive…
Posted in Rabbi Jack's Quarterly
Hair Today–Gone Tomorrow
On February 25 (16 Adar I) my mother, Shirley Shlachter, “breathed her last…and was gathered to her kin.” The Torah uses such phrases to describe the death of Abraham at the end of Parashat Chayei Sarah, a weekly reading that…
Posted in Rabbi Jack's Quarterly
Special and General Relatives
I think I’ve finally solved my book storage problem! Over Thanksgiving I visited daughter Orli who is spending an exchange year abroad in Dublin, Ireland, and my sightseeing included the Trinity College Library Long Room. Nearly 65 meters in length,…
Posted in Rabbi Jack's Quarterly
A Blessing for the Czar?
Traditional prayer books often include a listing of blessings for various occasions. With this quarterly message, I’d like to introduce you to some you may wish to use when the opportunity arises. On seeing the wonders of nature – Praised…
Posted in Rabbi Jack's Quarterly
Turn, turn, turn…read, read, read
For this quarterly message I have chosen to draw from a traditional text of this season, Pirke Avot. Ben Zoma taught: Who is strong? Those who overpower their inclinations. My inclination these past months was to curl up with a…
Posted in Rabbi Jack's Quarterly
Why is every night different?
Many of you reading this quarterly rabbinic missive celebrated Passover last month, the most widely observed holiday on the Jewish calendar. Regardless of how abridged your seder was, I suspect you recited the familiar passage “Why is this night different?”…
Posted in Rabbi Jack's Quarterly
Double X Chromosome Jews
Rabbi Elazar said in the name of Rabbi Yose ben Zimra, “Greater powers of understanding were given to women than to men (Midrash Bereshit Rabbah 18:1).” This quarterly installment of my rabbinic musings is dedicated to women in general, and…
Posted in Rabbi Jack's Quarterly
High Holidays in Beijing
What do you get when you combine jet lag induced by a shift of 14 time zones, sleep deprivation from weeks of High Holiday preparation, and immersion in a foreign culture with a totally unfamiliar language? In the middle of…
Posted in Rabbi Jack's Quarterly