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.
It’s Pilpul*! It’s Poetry! It’s Purim!
Two writes don’t make a wrong.
Two wrongs don’t make a right.
No right on red, don’t lose your head.
Three stars do make a night.
Three rights might make a left,
try not to lose your mind.
Don’t get ahead of your own self,
you might be left behind.
Purim is on fourteen Adar,
but if ancient wall surrounds the city of your house and car,
on the morrow, grogger sounds!
Give alms to poor,
gifts of food to friends,
and hear the story: how Esther and Mordechai — oh, how good! — saved the Jews and rose to glory.
Festively feast until you’re sated,
dress up as clown or lemur.
Be joyful, be happily inebriated!
— Rabbi Jonathan & Ellie Kremer *Pilpul: rabbinic sillygism