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.
Jerusalem of…
Jerusalem of old, of older, day after day after night,
of sacred harmonies in disharmonious keys,
of messianic wishings and divine certainties.
Of conflict by factions for fractions of the whole
of conflicting feelings uplifting and roiling the soul.
Of adhan bells nigun sirens protest — a call
to worship to support to deny to defy — rise and fall.
Where heaven and earth collide with force
to be rhapsodized as the ultimate source
of connection to heart and mind — belief
that is consternation to some, to others, relief.
Jerusalem of our future and of our past —
for you, with you, we celebrate, we fast.
Through burning and yearning your colors soft and strong,
our bodies and spirits vibrate, transcendent, to your song.