Rabbi Michael Green's Blog
60 Minutes, 22 Minutes, 2 Minutes. No Minutes Left?
We live in unprecedented times! With a click of a button you can communicate with practically anyone in the world, transfer funds seemingly instantaneously, and purchase items ranging from diapers to wine all on the internet. And so, gone are the days when the average American could dedicate sixty solid minutes to a sole television news magazine such as CBS’: 60 Minutes. While it still broadcasts into American homes each week, they have had to “spice it up” with additions to the staff such as CNN’s Anderson Cooper or Katie Couric (who really rose to fame on another network!). In all honesty, I don’t watch 60 Minutes, what with living in Jerusalem, not having a television and all, but I do enjoy hearing it in Podcast format. All you have to do is simply download it from iTunes (here) and you can enjoy the famous…
A Mussar Message from Steve Nash!
As a child, I was a resilient follower of my local sports teams. Frankly, that was an easy task as I grew up in Los Angeles, during an era in which the Dodgers won the World Series and the Lakers…have they ever been bad? Anyways, as time went on my interests began to wane. Nowadays, I would say that when I do tune in to sports I like to follow a different angle. Truth be told, YC noted my current interest in professional sports in this recent Tweet. That said, I’d be remiss to not mention how I’ve been inspired by the playing and preservance of the 36 year-old Steve Nash of the Phoenix Suns. Nash, a two time regular season MVP, (finally) led his team to the Western Conference Championships. However, from my prospective, win or loose, he has shown that he has a true love for the game, and by extension, a seemingly innate desire to act as a playmaker and win the NBA Title. In the previous round, in which his team defeated the San Antonio Spurs, Steve Nash was clobbered so badly that one of his eyes was swollen shut!
Life Lessons from 13 Year Old Jordan Romero
There are many great things that have come with the comforts of contemporary society. That said, there is a side effect that sweeps across children, tweens, teenagers, and even young adults. Namely, people are increasingly coddled. Indeed, in 2008 Newsweek Magazine dedicated an entire article entitled: How to Cope When Your Adult Kids Move Back Home! What’s more, there is even a television program that follows this phenomenon. The show is called, Bank of Mom and Dad and features parents attempting to help their children cope with the financial reality of living as an “adult.” Unfortunately many of the “kids” have gone wildly astray and are besieged with credit card debt and a lifestyle that they never could have ever afforded!
A Jewish Perspective on the Volcano, the iPad and Us!
Unless you’ve had your head stuck under a rock, you are aware of the Iceland volcano that began erupting on March 20th 2010, and for all intensive purposes shut down Europe (Flickr Pictures and YouTube Video here). Indeed, as reported here, President Obama, as well as many other leaders of the world where unable to fly in for the weekend funeral of Polish President Lech Kaczynsk, due to the volcanic ash cloud that disrupted European air traffic. Personally, I’m still aware of several bochurim as well as families that remain stuck in various parts of the world, because of the volcanic ash. Despite the fact that this volcano was located in Iceland, it affected the global economy in addition to families and businessman. All in all, the airline industry reported a loss of nearly 2 billion dollars due to the volcanic ash!
Educating the iGeneration: Hundreds of High Quality Free Fonts!
Introducing the iTalmud
Throughout the “Tech World” many people waited with anticipation to hear Steve Jobs introduce an Apple iTaplet. While Steve Jobs has now formally made his announcement, people have been miffed as to why the iTablet was not the name for their new device! Instead, Apple is calling their new device the iPad. Indeed, there have been more than a handful of critics who have not been so kind to the name of this Tablet device that Apple will soon release. Well, today I got to see not the iTablet, but the iTalmud for the very first time! Allow me to explain…During my years in Yeshiva, regardless of where I studied, be it in America or Israel, year in year out, it was necessary to have a bookbinder bind the Gemorah, the tractate of Talmud that the Yeshiva would be learning. And so, many Bachurim would not simply bind their Gemorah. Instead, many Bachurim take the opportunity to also have the binding of their Gemorah stand out and have a cool design. What’s more, while some people in contemporary society are proud of their tattoo or their shoes or what have you…
The Jewish Stairway to Heaven
On Sunday, we enter the Jewish month of Cheshvan. Our Sages however, refer to this month using the name: Mar Cheshvan. If you are thinking that the word Mar sounds a bit familiar, you are right! You probably recognize that it is ever so similar to the word Marror, the Bitter Herbs that we eat at the Pesach Seder.
Truth be told, our Sages relate that this month, is Mar, it’s bitter, because there are no holidays in this month. Indeed, there is not even a formal fast day!
The Windmill Sukkah
As illustrated in my Twitter Update here, I love Sukkos! Truth be told, the best place to celebrate this holiday is in the holy city of Yerushalayim. The weather is great, a spirit of Kedusha permeates the air, kids are off school, people are visiting from countries such as America to Argentina, the concerts are eclectic as well as legendary, and I could just go on and on…if you’ve never been here before for Sukkos, you’ve gotta come.
Thankfully, we have been doing a lot of walking around the city over the past couple of days. Indeed, we’ve walked from Ramat Eshkol to Shaarie Chessed on more than one occasion.
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