Neal @ January 15, 2010 # No Comment Yet
Kicking a whale up a beach
Braiding grape jelly
Comforting the chronically afflicted.
(1/22/09 P.S. to RW: who asked “Why would you kick a whale?” The only reason I can think of is that 1) he’s down, and 2) you’re that sort of fellow.)
Neal @ October 19, 2005 # No Comment Yet
When Ann and I joined the small synagogue in our Northern California town back in 1998, it was with the understanding that we would get involved.
Neither of us had been, when we were younger. But especially since 2000, when I started teaching the b’nei mitzvah class and occasionally leading services, that involvement has (as anyone [...]
Neal @ April 24, 2001 # No Comment Yet
from a pre-Blogger blog
Conversation with a 12-year-old bat mitzva candidate, who I’m tutoring by probing the meaning of the prayers:
Okay, read me the first part of the Sh’ma in English.
“Hear O Israel, the Eternal is G-d, the Eternal is One.”
Okay… what’s that mean?
“Well, G-d is one.”
What else?
“Well, that monotheism is something Jews believe in.”
Okay. But [...]
Neal @ March 14, 2001 # No Comment Yet
from a pre-Blogger blog
One of the cool things about being a teacher is watching the students connect the dots I sprinkle, as happened Tuesday.
Our previous class touched on Shabbat observance, and my kids expressed disdain at the possibility of avoiding work (“That would mean you can’t even move a muscle to blink your eyes!” one [...]
