By TED ROBERTS, THE SCRIBBLER ON THE ROOF
The followers of the Baal Shem Tov love to tell of his courage in facing up to his opponents. The holy man, they used to say, could walk among wolves without drawing a deep breath. But the most epic confrontation of his...
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By TED ROBERTS, the SCRIBBLER ON THE ROOF
Have you ever noticed in our Chumash the huge positive prejudice toward women? It’s hard to miss – and yet there’s a wave of scholars and kibitzers who criticize us for our denigration of the female species.
A silly judgment that...
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By TED ROBERTS, the SCRIBBLER ON THE ROOF
Chanukah and Christmas have many similarities: They both fall in December. They both delight the merchant classes. They’re both lighthearted holidays that don’t sufficiently emphasize their religious and historical origins. And both festivals love light.
Jews light candles. Christians...
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By TED ROBERTS, the SCRIBBLER ON THE ROOF
All well-informed Jews know what a dybbuk is. An evil imp, a ghost, a soul stealer. They take many forms. Remember last week you dropped the grocery bag spilling five pounds of sugar, two dozen eggs, and two pounds of flour –...
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By TED ROBERTS, the SCRIBBLER ON THE ROOF
It’s a big mitzvah, you know, to “dwell in booths for That’s what they tell us in Leviticus: Chapter 23. As usual, we’re at the mercy of the translation. It doesn’t mean “booths” like phone booths or kissing booths. It means the huts, tents, and...
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By TED ROBERTS, the SCRIBBLER ON THE ROOF
Rosh Hashanah marks the birthday of the world – the anniversary of its creation. First, say our sages, the Creator made heaven and earth. Now on earth’s birthday He wants a birthday gift from us. No, not the trinkets we hand each...
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By TED ROBERTS, the SCRIBBLER ON THE ROOF
Why do we Jews have less pets than our Christian neighbors? Maybe this explains it. The cat talks: “What do they expect from me? I caught three mice last week. Of course, since mama died two weeks after I was born, I...
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By TED ROBERTS, the SCRIBBLER ON THE ROOF
I saw my first daffodil a couple of weeks back. First the green shoots exploring a newly bright world. Tentative at first, then a few more. And evidently they decided it beat being buried in the dirt so they celebrated with a...
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By TED ROBERTS, the SCRIBBLER ON THE ROOF
As I look back at my grandparents, I’m filled with wonder. Now, I’m a grandparent, too. And by the way, we never called them Bubbe or Zayde. It wasn’t cool then. Only today, for some reason, I don’t understand.
And they showed...
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By TED ROBERTS, the SCRIBBLER ON THE ROOF
Mothers, raising kids is no picnic. That is not news. Besieged parents need all the help they can get. So let me suggest we might benefit from a counseling session with a 17th century matron – a prodigious mother named Gluckel of...
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