We belatedly, and out of sequence, present teachings for the parasha before last. For more teachings on this parashah, see the archives to my blog, at November 2005. On Midnight The selections we have brought thus far have all been of an exegetical nature, taking as their starting point specific ver...

That is what a correspondent firmly believes. She is serious, and horribly offended. Decent people should avoid me, and you might want to hang garlic on your monitor before reading any further. In addition to being an anti-Semite, I would also like to propose that I am a strikingly beautiful black w...

Late last week, the Daily Transom received an email from the Kabbalah Center. It was addressed not to our Observer email account, but to a personal email address where press-related materials generally do not arrive.   The subject of the email read, "Kabbalah Introductory Lecture in Hebrew.&qu...

Ivanka Trump says: “Oy-vey, this conversion is harder than modeling, more difficult than being a socialite, far more intellectually challenging than Wharton. I have to learn the laws of Shabbas, Kashrus, modesty—there go my cute hemlines—and, who knew? the halachos of Family Purity. And listen...

Welcome – I am going to talk about God and Religion in this post. I ask for your interest only - I do not expect you to believe as I do. I value the freedom to believe and worship according to my own conscious and your freedom to do the same. Recently a study was conducted in the United States tha...

Today's Friday Afternoon Video takes a trip down memory lane to 1989, when Madonna was at her peak -- both musically and artistically -- before the long, sad slide into The English Roses , Kabbalah and excess botox. Houstonist remembers the release of Like A Prayer as if it were yesterday: the haunt...

This week was a little quiet for me. I did a lot of writing, chalking up another ten thousand words for a project that was sitting on my laptop. What titillated me this week on the web? The Obamas were given the White House tour and Michelle Obama's dress beat the dress (by Narciso Rodriguez) she wo...

By Michael Peterson XXIII. "There is only the past." Jordan Mechner, creator of the long-lived Prince of Persia video game franchise, released a graphic novel inspired by his games earlier this year through First Second books. A publisher swiftly becoming known for high-quality literary works, First...

Some typical conversations with the typical fundamentalist moron: DB: The universe is very old TFM: Is not! Now excuse me while I use my cell phone, computer and car, all of which are based upon some of the same principles used to determine the age of universe. -#- DB: The universe is very old, acco...

Interior photograph of Rothko Chapel, Houston, TexasCompleted 1971 "It is at once a reduction of the whole of the universe to the infinitesimal point of the anxious self and an absorption of the self in the eternal calm of the sea of being." -Rabbi Jacob B. Agus In the September 26th edition of The ...