Talmud of America
My recent posts..."Talmud of America" Pardes Institute, a non-denominational study center based in Jerusalem, offers immersive Jewish learning around the world. One project is “Talmud of America,” which aims to illuminate and interpret, through Jewish eyes, some...
Twilight Zone
My recent posts...Twilight Zone בֵּין הַשְׁמָשׁוֹת Bein hashemashot, literally, between the suns. בֵּין הַשְׁמָשׁוֹת A twilight zone of time, or rather, out of time, between one day and the next. Our sages of old used this concept to explain certain miraculous...
When to Pray Yizkor
My recent posts...My edited comments from this past final day of Pesach. Ellie’s mom, Julia Helfman, died on her 95th birthday, December 24, 2025. This was the first Yizkor service Ellie feels obligated to attend. She said, “I’m now a member of a club I was not eager...
Timing
It had become a Kremer household Pesach tradition, or rather, a pre-Pesach tradition. Somewhere within a couple of days prior the first seder and noon on erev Pesach, something would go awry in the kitchen.
From wherever You dwell…
You may be aware that I compose melodies for liturgy, including a couple (Ashrei and Harofei/The Healer) that are commonly used in our services. I’ve also been writing a number of original songs, some inspired by the political upheaval that coincided with the COVID lockdown and others by … life.
The other week, on an unseasonably warm Sunday, I was weeding part of our garden in anticipation of planting tomatoes. While appreciating nature’s tenacity as I wrestled the weeds’ tangled, massed roots from the soil, my mind wandered to part of the kedusha section of the Shabbat morning amida. Why that then I cannot say.
As I repeated the opening words over and over, a new-to-me melody appeared. And it stuck. You can listen to what came of that initial inspiration further down this page
The text speaks of our people’s millennia-long yearning for God to restore divine authority over Jerusalem, and our hope to witness it. (A fraught message today, perhaps, given current events, but certainly expressive of the historic connection we feel to that holy city.)
Join us Shabbat morning. You’ll know some of the melodies and, maybe, learn a new one … or two.
Shabbat shalom ! שבת שלום
