In the Studio
When we receive bad news, first, we need to control our temper; try not to act out of anger, retaliate, or say words we might regret or hurt someone. Next, we should try and think rationally, analyze the situation, figure out our next move, and think about what we can learn from the ordeal.
A Just Los Angeles (Part 2)
The Franciscans created a genocide through religious arrogance, technical backwardness, and willful ignorance of public health and hygiene.
Fathers and Foundations
The first words Rashi writes in his Torah commentary are his father’s name.
A Just Los Angeles (Part 1)
The Tongva village of Yaangva was the space where El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles del Río de Porciúncula was established and the city of Los Angeles grew from.
Sukkot - Hiddur Mitzvah
Material culture is a big part of the celebration of Sukkot. It is the only time of the year when engineering and construction are part of sanctified Jewish practice. Aesthetics become more important than at most other times of the year. We concentrate on the Jewish value of Hiddur Mitzvah, beautifying the way that we fulfill the commandments.
Yom Kippur Nusakh
It used to be that if you were to enter a synagogue, you would know exactly what day it was and what time of day. The Nusakh, the foundational melody of the prayer service, is the Jewish timekeeper. But unlike a clock, it contains intense emotions; some times are announced in banality, some in triumph, some in peace, and some in desperation.
Is it Worthwhile to Be Normal?
Moses’ poem can be understood as a radical call to our people: never to sink into corrupting norms.
Discovering David Meltzer
And where was I when David Meltzer wrote the emails I read this week on printed sheets, the later moments of his personal archive?
Musaf Rosh Hashanah
In the Musaf service of Rosh Hashanah, the Hineni prayer leads to the repetition of the Amidah, which includes the special prayers of Unetaneh Tokef and Aleinu, and concludes with the Kaddish Shalem. In my thoughts on Rosh Hashanah, I intend to walk through the themes, personal feelings and music of these sacred prayers.
Choosing Humanity
Rashi comments that while God puts before us a choice, God tells us what to choose at the same time; “Here I give you life and death, blessings and curses… But choose life.”
Los Angeles is Close to You
Downtown doesn’t belong to any race or ethnicity, any religion or class. It doesn’t even belong to the people who live there.
First of / Best of
Not only is it with Wisdom that God created the Universe, but that Wisdom for all people is preceded by God.
A Windfall of Musicians: Hitler’s Emigre Exiles in Southern California (Part 2)
The greatest talents of European classical music made Los Angeles their center.
The Lost Coast (in Yiddish)
טיילן פֿונעם וועג, ווען דער ים־פֿלייץ איז אַ צופֿלייץ און די כוואַליעס קומען נישט אָן אַזוי נאָענט צום דרך.
The Bird’s Nest
Bialik wrote many children’s songs, all of which are still endlessly sung to children today. But Bialik scholars speak of hidden layers, radical messaging, and multiple hidden meanings in his songs.
A Windfall of Musicians
It is too early to think of our lives alone. We still live in a city of hunger and homelessness, where members of our community have been turned into fugitives, where children are still struggling to get the educations that they deserve, where the housing that is available is neither affordable nor always well maintained (regardless of cost), where race and ethnicity mean more than they should when it comes to opportunity, where the environment is respected only sometimes, where corruption is rife, and where communities that should be working together are turned against each other.
Song from the Ghetto
One of the items that came out of the boxes of records that Der Nister acquired recently is entitled “Song from the Ghetto,” and includes four pieces of music recorded by Cantor Joseph S. Lengyel (aka Josef Schwarzmer Lengyel) on three 78 rpm records.
Sacred Space Between People
An ideal society, according to Buber, is neither one made up of fragmented individuals who keep to themselves nor one that enshrines the collective by erasing the individual. An ideal society is one in which distinct, fully developed, and fulfilled individuals form true connections with one another and continue to develop these networks of connection within a structured system.
Lives Full of Hopes and Dreams
We don’t take the idea of being blessed or cursed as seriously as it was taken in the Biblical world.