ANGER IN PERSPECTIVE Anger in current America appears to have transitioned from something felt to something expressed, perhaps the release of a population-wide id. Provocations predate recorded history, maybe beginning with losing a spear to a mammoth that got equally angry and charged that hungry human. Belligerence in some of…

Reopening Our Synagogue Covid-19 melted down the world at a very inopportune time in history. Just as medicine was getting a handle on previously intractable conditions, from sophisticated diabetes management to less invasive surgical procedures, a new threat that devastates our population with few good treatments overwhelms health care. Medical…

A Jewish Curmudgeon Gets Surveyed A Jewish Curmudgeon Gets Surveyed Every day some form of opinion poll results makes at least a news item, if not a headline, particularly in the early fall of every leap year. Nobody ever asked me my opinion for national presentation, at least not public…

My Deflating Shabbos Day Trip I had been looking forward to this outing for the longest time. Many years ago, an orthodox rabbi appeared on a Jewish channel for an interview. I took a liking to him both as a presence and an intellect. Since his synagogue was within driving…

Not long ago, a revered publication to which I subscribe did a feature on an online site known as Reddit, unknown to me before. The article noted that with minimal publicity, Reddit had enrolled tens of thousands of subscribers dedicated to a parallel theme of their publication. Apparently, rather than…

SETTING THE BEST TIME Six days work, seventh day suspend work. Not being permitted many of the week’s activities, including some of the most fulfilling ones, creates a special view of time. Most days I can create a list of what intermediate activities would prod me in the direction of…

I Wish My Jewish Experience was Better Synagogue has fallen short of what I aspire to of late. In parallel to other churches in America, synagogues have not attracted a lot of secular Jews, people like me fully immersed in the culture of America, prosperous via a blend of education…

Measuring 29 x 29 cm, my whiteboard has since its acquisition always held an honored place at my line of sight when I gaze left. In my final office before retiring, it suspended by its upper enclosed metallic ring surrounding a red plastic push-pin on my corkboard. I could see…

Other places around the world deal with shortages and inflation. Lines and rations happened in the Soviet Union and in leftist South America, a very compelling reason to avoid being leftist, one that sells in America today. Not that we haven’t had rationing of the World War II era or…