Religion

Rosh Hashanah (ראש השנה) is Tomorrow Night

Where has the time gone? (Yea, that sounds old) It is a new year already! Rosh Hashanah is tomorrow night. I am going to the in-laws for the holidays. There will be no blogging from me starting tomorrow night until probably Monday. If you can, don’t email me, don’t call me, don’t mail me anything.

Religion

High Holiday Seats Going for $1.8 Million

Wednesday night is Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. It is a popular time for all Jews to attend synagogue (shuls). Typically, synagogues sell seats for the high holidays (Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur) to their members. Seats can be free to typically a few hundred dollars. But sometimes much more, as I learned… Synagogue

Just InterestingReligion

Live Longer By Going To Synagogue Often

Evidence suggests that people who attend synagogue live longer from Haaretz reports on a recent study released by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The study showed that “the death rate was 75 percent higher among the group that did not attend synagogue than it was among the group that attended synagogue regularly.” In 1997 the

FamilyReligion

Cost of Being an Observant Jew

The whole doctor being poor post got me thinking a bit about costs. Specifically, what it costs to be what is called a “Modern Orthodox Jew” in the New York Tri-State area. Now, I do not have a family yet, so I don’t have these costs. I also do not know exactly how much each

Religion

iPhone סידור – Jewish Prayers on iPhone

Update: I have launched an iPhone Siddur for the iPhone / iPod Touch 2.0 software. More at http://www.rustybrick.com/iphone-siddur.php or search at the Apple iTunes store for Siddur. Practicing Jew? Got an iPhone? Stuck in an airport without a pocket Siddur (prayer book)? No worries. Say your תפלות on your iPhone סידור by just going to

FoodReligion

Disgruntled Dunkin Donuts Customer Mad About Kosher

The other day, I went to the new Kosher Dunkin Donuts by my office. This woman comes in and orders a muffin. She then immediately asks for a manager. The person behind the counter got nervous. He asked, “was there something I did?” She said no, not you. The manager comes out and she explains

Religion

Kvatter at Brit Milah בְרִית מִילָה

This morning, a friend of mine had a Brit Milah בְרִית מִילָה for his new son. They honored my wife and I with the “kovod” (honor) of being the Kvatter. What is a Brit Milah or Bris? Basically a circumcision, but with a religious ceremony around it. It is kind of funny watching a bris.

ReligionRustyBrick

Famous Jewish Book Author, Hanoch Teller, Visiting Me

The phone rings and I pick up and this guy named Hanoch Teller introduces himself. I am thinking, is that the famous Hanoch Teller or some other guy? He then describes that he has a web site at HanochTeller.com that gets virtually no traffic. I take a quick look and quickly see why. To make

Religion

Shavuot (שבועות) Is Tonight: Offline Wednesday & Thursday

This is a heads up that the holiday of Shavuot (שבועות) starts tonight and ends late Thursday night. I wont be reachable or blogging those days. Tamar and I do have several posts scheduled to go live at the Search Engine Roundtable tomorrow and the day after, but they won’t be live posts. Ben will

Religion

Charity Link Meme – צדקה Tzedakah Meme

There is a Charity Link Meme going around. I think I was “tagged” for it three times. David Wallace tagged me, Donna tagged me and AIM Clear taggedme. So where do I give charity to? Well, by Jewish law, I have to give at least 10% of my income to charity. Where does that go?