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Post-Independence Day
(Crossposted to Jewschool.) On April 28, 2001 (Shabbat Tazria-Metzora), about 60 people crowded into an apartment on the Upper West Side of Manhattan to participate in a new egalitarian Shabbat morning...
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Baby Boom
Baby Boomers are generally defined as people born between 1946 and 1964. This graph illustrates the Baby Boom:As you can see, the Baby Boomer population more than doubled in a single year, from 1946...
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In defense of autonomy
(Crossposted to Jewschool.) The article making the rounds this week is Rabbi Leon Morris’s oped in the JTA, “Reform Judaism must move beyond ‘personal choice’”. In past blog posts, I have both agreed...
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Tax me!
(Crossposted to Jewschool.) In the District of Columbia, the highest income tax bracket begins at $40,000. You read that right: a person making $40,000/year and a person making $40,000,000/year are...
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Judgment Day November 14?
(Crossposted to Jewschool.) So the world didn’t end yesterday. To be fair, they weren’t actually predicting the end of the world until October 21, at the conclusion of five months of torment for those...
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NEW YORK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
If you miss me in Connecticut, and you can't find me nowhere...
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One person one vote?
Like many jurisdictions across the country, the District of Columbia is redistricting this year, to make sure its 8 wards continue to have roughly equal populations following the 2010 Census. This...
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The Wedding...: omnibus edition
If you got here via the "Kiddushin Meets 21st-Century Egalitarianism" course, welcome! Here are the links to Mah Rabu's wedding series, all in one place:Part 1Part 2Part 3Part 4Part 5For everyone...
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Triage
In a democracy, the people are sovereign. Our elected representatives work for us. This org chart for the New York City government has it right: the various city departments are underneath the...
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It's a trap!
This morning on the bus, I picked up a copy of the Washington Examiner (a free conservative local paper) that had been left on my seat.On page 2, there is an editorial saying that the "debt-ceiling...
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Reform surrender
(Crossposted to Jewschool.)Happy 5772! Another year, another blog post I don’t really want to write. But I’m writing it anyway, because who else will? Criticizing the Reform movement on its own terms...
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#OccupytheMinyanConference
(Crossposted to Jewschool.) This past weekend, the great city of Washington DC played host to Mechon Hadar’s fourth (approximately sesquiannual) Minyan Conference. Unlike the previous conferences, this...
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Darkness falls across the land
Happy solstice festivals! This year (as every year, but more so for some reason), a number of people have been asking this question: Why isn’t the earliest sunset on the date of the solstice? Indeed,...
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The other question everyone is asking
Q: Is Parshat Mikeitz ever not read during Chanukah?A: Yes, in 353- or 383-day years beginning on Shabbat. The Shabbat start means that Bereishit isn't read until a full week after Shemini Atzeret (so...
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Winter is coming
In honor of Rosh Chodesh Tevet. (You'll see why!)Every Hebrew calendar geek knows the "ATBaSh" parlor trick, where if you know the day of the week of (almost) any Jewish holiday, you can quickly...
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Shall the rich pay more?
As noted previously on this blog, I always try to file my taxes by Rosh Chodesh Adar. This year, that means sending in the return before the National Havurah Committee Chesapeake Retreat (February...
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The War on Tu Bishvat
It's less than three weeks away, and you've started getting emails about Tu Bishvat events. You're probably also getting emails about Tu B'Shvat and Tu B'Shevat, whatever those are. This blog has...
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Tu Bishvat Halls of Fame and Shame
(NOTE: This post will continue to update through the end of Tree Year 5771.) Last week was D-Day in the War on Tu Bishvat. This week, as the New Year of the Trees gets closer, it's time to publicize...
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Hazon sinks deeper into the hall of shame
Hazon has numerous accomplishments to its name: perhaps more than any other organization, it is responsible for bringing an environmental consciousness to the American Jewish community, from promoting...
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Yo voté
Before today, I had voted in three presidential elections. Not only had I never voted for a primary candidate who won the nomination, I had an 0-for-3 record in voting for candidates in the primary...
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