Torah Geek

Next Spring my daughter will become bat mitzvah and I will present her with the tallit that I am making for her. I have spent the last two days rubberbanding fabric and carefully pouring dye to create what I hope will be a very cool tie-dye effect for her tallit. Last year when I had the chance to make a tallit for myself I knew that this summer I would make one for my daughter to wear. I have been thinking about colors for a year now, so I was ready to start on the first day of camp. I thought I was ready, but I have been surprised at how spiritual the experience has been so far. Holding the blank fabric in my hands, I realized that less than a year from now I will be standing next to my daughter on the bimah and presenting it for her to wear. The blank canvas was full of possibility and I felt the pressure to get it right. I wanted it to be perfect for her, something that she will love and treasure and hopefully want to keep and use for many years. It took me much longer than I ex...

My family and I have been going to Camp Newman for 5 summers now and we packing for camp down to a science. Here are my tips for packing for camp: 15 tips for packing for camp: 1. Make a few copies of the packing list for camp - I write each kids name on the top list and use it as a checklist, I keep one in my purse so when I am out I can look to see what I still need to buy. 2. Zip top bags - I use them for everything - shampoo in one, sunscreen in another, bug spray in a third. They also hold stationary, pens and friendship bracelet string. I write their names on the outside of the bag and what goes in it so they can find their stuff. 3. Label everything, and I mean everything.  My favorite tags are Name Bubbles and Label Daddy, but I also keep a sharpie next to me while we pack. My kids tease me about putting their names on everything, but I have seen the inside of a cabin half way through camp - stuff is everywhere, the kids just throw all their stuff together when th...

I love it when people try to connect religion and science. Whenever there is a natural disaster there are always those who announce loudly that it is the will of God or that God is punishing us.  Jon Stewart  points out that there are those who are just as quick to proclaim miracles. Either way, it seems people can't help but imagine that God is acting directly in their lives. Scientific American blogger Jesse Bering writes about why people make that connection; in essence, experiments seem to show that once we hit a certain age our brains are more likely to interpret random occurrences (a picture falling, or lights flickering) as signs of supernatural existence. (You can read the article in its entirety  here .) I'm not saying there's isn't  a God, if you know me or have ever taken a class with me, you know I am quite vocal about my belief in God -- just that not everything that happens is because of God's direct involvement. It's not surprising that peop...

The earthquake in Japan yesterday and the tsunami that followed it were devastating. Here in California we are not strangers to the destruction caused by earthquakes — though our thoughts are with the people of Japan, for many of us the destruction was a reminder that what we were watching on our TVs and on the web could also happen here. The world can be a scary place. As much as we understand about earthquakes, we are far from being able to predict them. So what do we do? We prepare our emergency kits and try not to let our fear paralyze us. For many of us, there are questions. “Where is God in all this?” “How can God allow such destruction?” Unlike the man-made tragedies in Africa — tragedies that organizations like Jewish World Watch are able to address and fight — there is nothing we can do to stop earthquakes or tsunamis. As always, we seek answers in our tradition and in our holy writing. In the Book of Kings we read about Elijah. He is standing on the mountain before God: A...