By Rabbi Rachel Esserman
My parents used to joke that the one thing they agreed on was that my brothers and I could have no pets. That meant not even a gerbil or a guinea pig in my room. (Frogs, toads and salamanders kept outside the house were fine. I still love all three.) My father was c…
By Rabbi Rachel Esserman
Poetry can be difficult to judge because each person’s reactions are so personal. It’s not just a matter of whether someone prefers rhyme and rhythm to prose poetry. Some people like to ponder the underlying message of a poem, while others want its meaning to be eas…
By Rabbi Rachel Esserman
Traditional vs. symbolic food: Is there a difference? Actually, yes, there is but most people don’t notice because there is an overlap between the two. For example, traditional food is the meal a family is accustomed to eating on the holiday; for many, that means br…
By Roz Antoun
Being that I am a person who doesn’t eat eggs, and won’t let an egg touch anything that I do eat, it never occurred to me to question the origin of my mom’s meatloaf with a hard boiled egg in the center. And now, 30 years since my mom cooked in her own kitchen, I can just pictu…
By Bill Simons
Recently, I was asked to share personal reflections about my synagogue, Temple Beth El of Oneonta (NY), upon observance of its 90th anniversary. Although details differ amongst individuals and shuls, I believe that most of us have experienced a merging of community, synagogue…
