Writing
The Children of Time
Rabbi Samson Raphael hirsch once wrote: "The catechism of the Jew is his calendar."
The Month of Cheshvan
Akrav is a water sign. Cheshvan is the time of year when rain is plentiful in Israel.
The “i” of the World
The knowledge of my own existence is not an intellectual thing.
Nobody has to convince me that i exist, and no one can persuade me that i am not here. Knowing that i exist lies above and beyond any other knowledge that i have.
The Shadow
A shadow on the ground.
Look at the shadow. Itself without substance, ephemeral, yet the shadow reveals the existence of something somewhere else.
The Man in the Moon
In October 1608, the national government in The hague debated two patent applications - that of hans Lipperhey of Middelburg and that of Jacob Metius of Alkmaar. The application was for a device for "seeing faraway things as though nearby." it consisted of a convex and concave lens in a tube that magnified objects three or four times.
The Day The Music Died
Anyone who is prepared to admit that he lived long enough to remember the sixties will recall a unique period in modern history. It seemed for a few years that on the eve of destruction, a great era of idealism was dawning. There was something in the air…
The Sound of Silence
If you own an MP4 or a CD player, try the following experiment: Turn up the volume until it won't go any further. (Before you do this, take out the disk - this experiment will not work if you have perforated eardrums.)
Beyond The Blue
Lift up your eyes and look into the distance. What do you see? What do you see when you gaze at the furthest point that the eye can see - when you look at distance itself? The color blue.
Miles and miles of endless blue.
That Will Bring Us Back To Do…
Turn on a radio and listen to some "Jewish music." it sounds about as Jewish as Led Zeppelin wearing tefillin.
All Roads Lead To Rome
If the Romans did one thing right, they made great roads. Roman roads are still in use to this day. Why were the Romans so interested in building such long-lasting and straight roads? We live in a world where we increasingly "let our fingers do the walking."
Music From Beyond
"And the voice of the Shofar grew stronger and stronger..." (Shemot 19:19). The final shofar blast of Rosh haShana.
The Month of Tishrei
The seventh is always holy. The seventh day is Shabbat, the seventh year is Shemitta, the Sabbatical Year. So too, the seventh month Tishrei is sanctified with more commands and festivals than any other month.
Future World
When Christopher Columbus set sail for the New World in 1492, many people thought he would fall off the edge of the earth and vanish into oblivion. The cosmography of the fifteenth century held that the world was a flat disc. Nowadays, this idea seems childish. however, in one respect, they were right: the physical world has an end.
Journey Into Light
New Year's Eve must be the loneliest night of the year.People jumping up and down imbibing vast amounts of alcohol in a frenzy of unspontaneous merriment. Painted faces contorted in expressions of forced hysterical laughter. At twelve o'clock everyone joining hands and slurring their way through a Highland ballad with obscure lyrics. And then, the morning after... New Year's was always a bit of a mystery to me.
The Month of Elul
The month of Elul is the time of return. A time where we try to sensitize ourselves to our mistakes and work on rectifying them. Elul is a time of preparation. Preparing for the day on which the whole world is to be judged - Rosh Hashana.
Train To Nowhere
After witnessing the trial of Adolf Eichmann in 1963, hannah Arendt coined a new concept: "the banality of evil" ("Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil").
A Vanished World
"The world is falling to pieces, and Adams and Weston are taking pictures of rocks!" - Henri Cartier-Bresson during World War II
The Creative Eye
It used to be a common misconception that the camera never lies. Now, digital technology allows the manipulation of a photograph so that virtually anything is possible.
The Month of Av
The lion is the king of the jungle. He brooks no opposition; he demands to rule alone. The Lion connotes pride. The collective noun used to describe a group of lions is a 'pride of lions.' The spies who were sent to the Land of Israel and who returned on the ninth day of this month, suffered from this fatal flaw.
Foundation And Beyond
Louis XIV once asked Pascal for one single piece of evidence of the existence of God. Pascal replied with four words: "The Jews, your Majesty."
It doesn't take the vision of a prophet to recognize that the continued existence of the Jewish people in a hostile world - "a lamb among seventy wolves" - is a unique puzzle that demands a solution.
