I’ve been out of town for a bit, will be back to regular blogging Friday morning.
Just wanted to post this gorgeous painting of the Alter Rebbe, the Baal Hatanya.(all the details on this Rosh Hashana of Chassidus here.)
Great review by Perel Skier (AKA Psycho Toddler’s Daughter) on the YU Battle of the Bands show.
Here is video of the winner, Yaakov Chesed. They sound good. I’ll have to check in to them.
What happened to HASC 21 being MBD and Fried? Shlager has some interesting stuff on that. Including this picture.
(Courtesy of Yossi Zweig of the J.E.)
Interesting …..
I love my new header, I’ve been searching for the perfect feel for a while now. I think I’m happy with this picture. I’ve always liked the black and white theme for this blog.
Yes, there is no title for the post. It’s because this is one of those random stream of consciousness posts. I’m not writing about anything in particular, I just felt the need to hit create post and start typing.
Does anyone else find it tiring to keep up? Work is like one huge whirlwind. It starts Monday and everything keeps spinning till a few hours before Shabbos on Friday.
Was it always this harried and hectic or is it just something our generation has wrought on ourselves with all this technology. You can no longer ignore a client or your boss’s “EMERGENCY” e-mail. You can no longer claim “I”m away from the office”, most work can be done over the internet.
Ya, It’s Monday, in case you couldn’t tell. It’s also raining and gloomy here in New York.
Today is the last day to enter to win either the tickets to the Ohad/Gertner Queens College Motzei Shabbos Chanukah concert or the Parenting Book. Good luck to everyone, I know I’ve been getting tons of e-mails.
I also just want to thank everyone who e-mailed in about the contests. Everyone was very nice, and kind, I’m glad people enjoy reading the blog. I thank you all for coming here everyday.
Is the Hasc concert becoming one giant hiccup? The Yeshiva Boys Choir were in the HASC 18 show. Then they were back for Hasc 19. Hasc 19 had a guest appearance by Fried and then separately Helfgot. Hasc 20 was Avraham Fried, and a special guest appearance by Helfgot. This year it appears that the Yeshiva Boys Choir will once again be there, as well as …. Avraham Fried.
If this pattern is solid then I think we could expect a guest appearance by either Dovid Gabay, Ohad or Abie Rotenberg. All either guests appearances or headliners from 18,19 and 20. What is going on with this show? How hard is it to plan a fresh show? (source)
A Yid is supposed to be happy with this lot every day. We also Daven, give thanks and praise to Hashem every day. their is that old joke that Americans celebrate Kibud Av V’Aim twice a year. Mothers Day and Fathers Day. So ya, on the surface me rambling on about what I’m thankful for on a day put aside to decide what we’re thankful might seem odd, but who cares?
Yes, we are supposed to feel this way every day, but as long as their is so much introspection on a national scale, i doesn’t hurt to really think on it. After all, even in the Yiddishe holiday world we spend extra koach thinking and davening about certain things on certain days. So why not Thanksgiving?
Anyway, enough of me rambling on, here is something from someone who actually knows what he is talking about. Here is a question and answer about Thanksgiving from AskMoses.com
“by Rabbi Tzvi ShapiroQ:
I am wondering what is the approach of Judaism to the observance of Thanksgiving holiday. Is it observed or recognized; if yes why, if no why?Thanks
A: Thanksgiving can be divided into three parts:
The idea. The day. The celebration.
The Idea:
Giving thanks is a very Jewish idea, as a matter of fact, as Jews we give thanks to G-d every day as soon as we wake up, right before we go to bed, and at least a hundred times in between.1
The Idea of thanks-giving is thus supported and celebrated by Judaism.
The Day:
Thanksgiving Day as a national American Holiday, is just that: a National American Holiday. As Jews we ought to commend America as a nation for deciding out of the goodness of its own heart to dedicate one day to give (or highlight) thanks to G-d. At the same time, as Jews there is no reason to limit our own thanks to one day, or to have an American chosen day represent the Jewish idea of thanks.
The Day of thanksgiving should be recognized and categorized as a noble American Holiday; Judaism doesn’t think it needs to be officially endorsed or adopted by Jewish institutions.
The Celebration:
There are two ways to give thanks to someone. A) Give him something you like, or you think he likes. B) Give him something he asked for. The American Thanksgiving gives thanks to G-d through the former. The Jewish idea of giving thanks to G-d is the latter. So if you feel the need to apply the adage “when in Rome do like the Romans” and thus celebrate Thanksgiving precisely the way our fellow citizens do, make sure it is a Kosher meal, and remember to recite the proper blessings. Additionally, don’t let the festivities of Thursday night’s dinner take away from your enthusiasm and celebration of the Friday night and Shabbat meals.
The Celebration of Thanksgiving is a marvelous human gesture. Judaism hopes you will also give thanks befitting of a Divine request.”
Things have been building up in email box. You know what that means, right? A Links post!
First of all “K’Shoshana” stuff. This is a great album, it’s just really smooth. The cats meow, the bees knees. I really will get to a review of it, but for now here are two other peoples reviews.
1) From the always great JM blogger Pyscho Toddler. 2) In Hebrew from Arutz Sheva
Here is a wild video of Y-Love, Idan Raichel & Matisyahu Live at Irving with Shemspeed
I’m not sure if I pointed to this Benny Friedman clip before, but if I didn’t check this out.
The J.E. Magazine has the scoop on Shalsheles 4. I can’t wait, I’ve always loved thier cd’s, so I’m psyched about this one.
Avraham Fried will once again star in the Crown Heights Soul II Soul show. This is one of the best concerts of the year. Fried does this show Lubavitch style Melave Malka, niggunim, stories, and always something exciting new planned.
Jack at Teruah has the scoop on the more modern new releases.
I bought my copies of Aryeh Kunstler and Yitzy Spinner. Two very good, very different sounds. I’ll have to add them to my review pile.
I also (along with visibly every other JM site) received this video of “The Rosenberg Ensamble.”
Don’t forget our two giveaways, both end on Monday.
Enter to win one of 5 copies of . CAN I HAVE A CELL PHONE FOR HANUKKAH? The Essential Scoop on Raising Modern Jewish Kids .
While your emailing, you can also enter to win two tickets to the upcoming Shabbos Chanukah concert feraturing Ohad, Shloime Gertner, Shalsheles Jr & Pruzansky.
This is truly an amazing story. A must read for everyone out there. A couple who after being able to have children for 23 years finally was blessed with a baby boy. The bris was today, here are the details and pictures. May we be zoche to only be blessed with more good news like this.
“CROWN HEIGHTS, Brooklyn [CHI] — Hundereds of people took part this Tuesday morning in a very special Bris Milah ceremony, that of the son of Reb Menachem Mendel and his wife Genia Morozow. The couple wed on the 10th of Adar 5744 (1983), and were not blessed with a child until 8 days ago, as we reported.
The good news drew hundreds of residents to the Sholom Zochor that took place on Friday night, and then again this morning to the Bris. The boy was named Elchonon Dov Ber Shimon.
CrownHeights.info would like to wish Mazal Tov to the parents and grand parents and may then enjoy an endless source of Nachas from the newborn, and raise him into Torah, Mitzvos, Chupa and Maasim Tovim.”
First here is the concert information.
“The Young Israel of Kew Gardens Hills. is having thier 6th annual Jewish Music concert which will take place this year Shabbos Chanukah, December 8th, 2007. The concert will once again be held at Queens College. We are very excited about the show this year which will feature Ohad, Shlomie Gertner, Shalheles Jr. and a special guest performance by Michoel Pruzansky. Tickets can be purchased at Gift World in Queens, Judaica Plus in Cedarhusrt, Eichler’s in Flatbush, HiTech 2000 in Boro Park or by calling the Young Israel Concert line at 718-261-4130″
When the promoters behind the Key Garden Hills 6th Annual Jewish Music Concert contacted me about the concert, we decided to go the extra mile and offer two free tickets. Everyone who follows my music reviews knows I’m a big fan of Shloime Gertner’s debut album. So I can’t tell you how excited I am about this concert. Shloime Gertner has done some smaller venue shows in the states before, but this is the first high profile NY area concert.
This is the same stage that I saw Ohad for the first time. It’s always a fun show, they do a great job with it. I have to give a giant Yasher Koach to the promoter for agreeing to do this ticket giveaway. I think blogs and the Jewish music industry are making great strides and I look forward to working with other promoters and insiders on future concerts and upcoming music releases.
To enter the raffle for those two tickets please either email me at lifeofrubin@gmail.com or leave a comment below with your name and email address. Please keep in mind that this show is in Queens, NY and if you don’t live here or aren’t going to be here Shabbos Chanukah, it might not be such a great idea to enter. Unless you want to give the tickets to family or friends in this area for a Chanukah present.
