Tuesday, October 27th 2026 |
THEODORE “TED” ROBERTS was a humorist and writer, who lived in the Deep South of Huntsville, Alabama and wove stories based on his lifelong love of Judaism. Roberts’ collection of columns that ran in the CCJN with his sobriquet “The Scribbler on the Roof,” are archived here in the hopes that reading his homespun brand of Talmud will bring you continued joy and love of Jewish learning and culture. Roberts, 89, died on March 2, 2020 and was buried in his hometown of Memphis.
By TED ROBERTS, the SCRIBBLER ON THE ROOF
Saturday a.m. in shul. Only 9:30 and already my eyes were tired. I rested them for a minute and thought of Yossi the puppet-maker. Surely, you could say with accuracy that Jewish...
By TED ROBERTS, the SCRIBBLER ON THE ROOF
A midrash, you know, is a story, a parable – maybe told by an identifiable rabbi – maybe only an anonymous tale gray with age. Of all the great and inspirational midrashim told by...
By TED ROBERTS, the SCRIBBLER ON THE ROOF
As a famous Jewish comedian used to kvetch, “I don’t get no respect.” I feel we treat Shavuot similarly. In Temple days, how would you compare the Holy of Holies to a...
By TED ROBERTS, the SCRIBBLER ON THE ROOF
Our Bible, our Tanach, is a surprising, sometimes shocking, book. And let’s be honest, most of us haven’t read it, cover to cover, since Sunday School days. And even then our adolescent...
By TED ROBERTS, the SCRIBBLER ON THE ROOF
“Poems are made by fools like me,
but only G-d can make a tree.”
— Joyce Kilmer
I admired her for months in a neighboring yard, but she never paid any attention...
By TED ROBERTS, the SCRIBBLER ON THE ROOF
Her name was Rachel – his was Nathan. And even though separated by two bar stools, they struggled through twenty minutes of awkward conversation before their last names appeared. Greenberg went with...
By TED ROBERTS, the SCRIBBLER ON THE ROOF
Contrary to current political correctness, in all matters especially regarding species – our maker is not an integrationist. Like it or not, the Torah preaches separation. My point is not to condemn...
By TED ROBERTS, the SCRIBBLER ON THE ROOF
I had a long talk with our Rabbi the other day about Thanksgiving. Since I’m always looking to celebrate and write about Jewish holidays, I proposed that we Jews grab Thanksgiving and...
By TED ROBERTS, the SCRIBBLER ON THE ROOF
At a recent Shabbos service our Rabbi delivered a stirring D’var Torah on the misdeeds of some of our fellow Jews, “In the words of the Prophet Jeremiah,” said the Rabbi, “I...
By TED ROBERTS, the SCRIBBLER ON THE ROOF
Who would have believed it? Every day we survive in this vale of tears – or hall of comedy, depending on your outlook – we learn something new.
It began innocently enough....
