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...

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.

My recent posts...רֶגַע שֶׁל עִבְרִית regga shel ivrit: A moment of Hebrew The summer of 1970, I was one of 250 teens in Israel with Camp Ramah. (Ellie was on the same program, but we didn’t meet then.) I got an outsized pleasure of riding an Egged public bus in...

Yesterday afternoon, Ellie and I were privileged to attend the Ceremonial Swearing-In of Honorable Irina G. Ehrlich as Judge in the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County. Irina and her husband Charlie Ehrlich, 15 years a judge in the same court, are members of Shirat Hayam.

My recent posts...843 Days Ran Gvili, an Israeli police officer, was killed by Hamas terrorists who invaded Israel on October 7, 2023. His body was taken into Gaza to be used as a pawn in the terrorists’ anticipated negotiations with Israel and as a tool for waging...

My recent posts...Arson in Mississippi Click here to help rebuild Beth Israel. The Beth Israel Congregation in Jackson, Mississippi, was founded in 1860 by German Jewish immigrants, and soon after purchased land for a cemetery. By the end of 1862, fifteen Jewish...

A complete shiv’a (Hebrew for “seven”) is really four whole days. The day of the funeral counts as one, as does the morning of the seventh day. One day will be Shabbat, with no outward observance of mourning. Just four full days.

My recent posts...The headline could have read: Worst Massacre Since the Previous Massacre Waking up to news of a mass shooting at a Chabad-organized Hanukkah event in Sydney, Australia, I checked some online news sources. Associated Press reported that the Australian...

My recent posts...Simchat Torah 5786 Oh, how we danced, we laughed, we sang, celebrated, snacked and schnapped — it was Simchat Torah! Still, on Tuesday night, even with the exuberance and levity, even with the Torah scrolled to the very end (which is actually a new...

My recent posts...This letter is not likely to appear in The New York Times, to which it is addressed. "Free Palestine" To the Editor: The keys to a state of Palestine — without preconditions, negotiations or genuine expectations — are being handed to a putative...

My recent posts...This piece appeared in the recent issue of "Voice at the Shore." What Does “Good” Mean to You? I happily accepted the invitation to write a few words for the Rosh Hashana issue of Voice at the Shore. Then, I paused — there is so much to write about,...