The Rambam (Maimonides) suggests that our character is not fixed, but that our actions shape our character. We have free will, and we choose what activities and actions we take. “Some traits are not innate but have been learned from other people, or are self-originated as the result of an idea that has entered the person’s mind, ...
Shavuot, “the feast of weeks”, unlike all of our other festivals, is given no calendrical date; rather, we arrive at this holiday by counting “seven full weeks” from a particular starting time. But even the starting time is ambiguous: “From the day after the Sabbath”. Which Sabbath? And why is there a ...
Over the weekend, I was watching a video on the computer, and the ad that played before the video was about purchasing new appliances in honor of Earth Day. We've done it. The epidome of reaching the social consciousness in America is the department store sales in honor of a calendar date or holiday. And we now have Earth Day sales. ...
Spring is the season when we start to see new life after the cold, dark winter months. Many start preparing ground for growing gardens while others begin rifling through closets to dispose of the clutter. Regardless of the task, we can use these seasonal projects commonly referred to as “spring cleaning” as a means to elevate our ...
Hopefully we’ve all been recycling (or exposed to recycling) long enough to recognize the symbol that has become synonymous with the act: the triangle with the 3 arrows, moving in the same direction, creating a closed loop. Those 3 arrows actually stand for different acts, only one of which is recycle. This symbol is actually the ...
I was recently speaking with a colleague about how much more green and sustainable we were in the “good old days.” Growing up in the Great Depression, many of our relatives integrated the lessons of conservation because economics dictated that they do so. How many of our bubbes would keep the house thermostat low in the winter and ...
Mi She Nichnas Adar, Marbim B’simcha!
Whoever Ushers in (the month of) Adar, (Their) Joy Shall Increase!
In just a week and a half we look forward to the jubilant holiday of Purim. Megilah, costumes, groggers, skits/shpiels, Purim baskets/mishloach manot – Jewish kids and adults alike look forward to letting ...
(adapted from an article written by Aleeza Oshry for the Baltimore Jewish Times)
In my freshman year of high school, I remember this new sensation sweeping store shelves and crowding the airwaves and filling magazine ad space: Lunchables. Remember those? When every school kid who was “cool” toted one to the lunchro...
