Tuesday, May 13th 2025 |
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
I often tell my close friends that I spend more money going to Memphis than my friends who go to glamorous locations like Costa de Sol,Paris, Aegean cruises. It begins this way:...
By TED ROBERTS, the SCRIBBLER ON THE ROOF
What a great childhood I had. Me and my good friend, Herbie, had an inflexible Saturday routine. First, Saturday morning services, then lunch at his grandfather’s kosher restaurant (closed to the public)...
By TED ROBERTS, the SCRIBBLER ON THE ROOF
I don’t think it’s really necessary to inform my nationwide reading audience of a dozen or so – including my two cousins in Jersey – of the formalized clans of Judaism. But...
By TED ROBERTS, the SCRIBBLER ON THE ROOF
There’s good news if you’re looking for a rabbi for your shul – or even for your family. You never heard of a family rabbi? I’m told rich people indulge in this luxury. It’s...
By TED ROBERTS, the SCRIBBLER ON THE ROOF
Thoughtful Jews are still trembling at the Pew Report. Many are calling it an obituary on Judaism. As we all guessed, intermarriage is up about 10% (as well as we can measure...
By TED ROBERTS, the SCRIBBLER ON THE ROOF
The “normal curve” or normal distribution that has ruled Nature ever since G-d molded mud into the shape of planets has somehow deserted us. Oh, it still accurately reflects everything from the...
By TED ROBERTS, the SCRIBBLER ON THE ROOF
Well, what goes around comes around, they say; and Ecclesiastes, one of the less humorous books in our bible, puts it more sedately, “there’s nothing new under the sun”. And as usual, the...
By TED ROBERTS, the SCRIBBLER ON THE ROOF
When the Creator designed the Universe, He was careful to erect impassible barriers between the land of the living and the ex-living. He who carved the mountains and filled the basins of...
By TED ROBERTS, the SCRIBBLER ON THE ROOF
The invitation in all respects was normal; event, location, time. True, this simcha was a hundred miles away, in Birmingham, and even worse, the Mapquest directions would have instilled fear in the...
By TED ROBERTS, the SCRIBBLER ON THE ROOF
Succot, like perfect sweet and sour cabbage soup, has two flavors. A single holiday with two themes. We celebrate the bounty of the grape and olive harvest in the Promised Land; also...
