I just learned about this one-week learning program (in July) at Yeshivat Hadar, an egalitarian yeshiva in Manhattan. The classes sound really engaging and meaty (click through for descriptions). Here's what they say is a typical day ( Read more... )

This is nothing new, but in recent months I have become more attuned ( Read more... )

Having completed the first pass at digitizing or replacing our folk music on old media (we still need to do some proof-listening), Dani and I are merging our iTunes libraries so this might be easier going forward. Oof. We're up to "S" so far. "T" is big because it includes all the "The"s. Tracking changes (e.g. to tagging) going forward is ( Read more... )

I bought a new calendar today and, to my surprise, among the candle-lighting times on each page it lists Pittsburgh. (Usually we don't make the cut.) While looking at this I noticed that sunset in September is moving by about 12 minutes per week, but that in March it only moves by about 8 minutes a week. Shouldn't it be symmetrical? (The delta ( Read more... )

It's summer, the time when people at my synagogue traditionally think about plans for adult education for the coming year. I've realized that there is something I could teach, that I am atypically qualified to teach -- but I have no idea if it would reach the right people (or be seen as interesting).
Over the course of a year we see a fair number ( Read more... )

LJ tags are spiffy but not as fully-featured as I'd like, and I probably haven't figured out the best way to use them yet. So this entry is something of a cross-reference; if you got here via one of the tags on this entry you might also be interested in some of the others. I'll try to update this entry over time, and eventually will create ( Read more... )

I'm going to go to the National Havurah Committee's summer institute this year. I have to choose classes at registration time, so I'm trying to decide. (The registration form calls for me to rank my top three choices in each time slot.) Input welcome. Classes meet every day for the week and I can take two. The full list is here.
For the ( Read more... )

After dithering for a while, I've decided not to go to the program at Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem this year. It was going to be expensive before the dollar tanked (let alone now), and I haven't been able to find out a lot about it, and I figure I can wait for a review from the fellow congregant who's going and re-evaluate for next year.
( Read more... )

Airfare to Israel these days costs how much?! This may require more thought ( Read more... )

My rabbi recommended the Lay Leadership Summer Study Retreat, which I am strongly considering going to this year. From what I've read so far, it sounds like an excellent learning opportunity. I learned this Shabbat that a fellow congregant is definitely going, which would reduce some of my "travelling alone in a far-away place" jitters (it's in ( Read more... )