Rabbi’s Musings & Amusings

One night just before Tu BiSh’vat, our five-year-old son Gavriel asked for an apple. My wife cut up the apple into pieces for him to eat, but he insisted that sh

I once read that a real friend is someone who asks you how you’re doing and sticks around to hear the answer.

I can’t say I know much about Yeshiva University’s sports teams. I also don’t really understand what it means to be part of Division 3. I never really liked math in school, and division was always a particular weakness. The truth is, until the last few weeks, I don’t even know if I would have realized the difference between the YU basketball team, the Maccabees, and the noted music group, which began in YU, the Maccabeats.

A few weeks ago, at the end of November, I had the pleasure of attending the therapist track at the Agudah Convention. On Thursday and Friday of the convention weekend, there were lectures and presentations specifically geared for therapists. It was also an opportunity to network and meet colleagues in the field.

Try to tell a child today that when you were a kid you used to write letters, and he will look at you strangely. He may even ask you if you wrote a, b, or c?

This week, the highest volcano on Indonesia’s most densely populated island erupted, sending smoldering debris and thick mud in all directions. The sudden eruption spewed thick columns of ash more than 40,000 feet into the air, causing searing gas and lava to flow uninhibitedly down its slopes. Several villages were blanketed with falling ash, and people were advised to stay over three miles away from the crater’s mouth. At least 13 people died and 57 more were hospitalized, including 16 in critical condition with burn injuries.