A Jewish grandmother calls her grandson to make sure he knows how to find her new apartment. She does not trust GPS. GPS never raised a child, never hosted a Passover, never once remembered who likes the end piece of the kugel.
“Listen carefully,” she says. “You come to the building on Elm Street. Not Oak, that’s where the dentist is and he still owes me a phone call from 1997. Elm. There’s a glass door in the front.”
This Week in Pictures: a snapshot of Jewish life in motion. From Rabbi Leban sharing Clean Speech at the Aish Conference, to a thoughtful and connecting evening with Laya Saul, to the Olami mentorship group gathered around a table for dinner and learning, this week held learning, conversation, and community in many different forms. Take a look at a few moments we were grateful to share.
When Robert Warren and Elsa Sackett Warren first found The Jewish Experience, they were searching for connection. Newly engaged and new to Denver, Robert was looking for ways to engage with Jewish life that felt deeper than what he had known growing up, yet still welcoming and accessible. “I was new to the city and looking for real ways to connect,” he shared, “and I wanted something that felt meaningful, not intimidating.”
The Torah discusses receiving the Torah in two different parshios. In the previous parsha, Yisro, Moshe returns with Hashem’s offer to give us the Torah and with that acceptance we merited that the Torah was given to us on Mt. Sinai. However, at the end of this parsha certain offerings are sacrificed, blood that was collected is scattered upon the people and they had already been circumcised prior to their encampment at the mountain.
A man adopts a new dog. Not just any dog. A very Jewish dog.
He names him Einstein and proudly tells everyone how smart he is. After a few weeks of training, he finally invites a neighbor over to witness Einstein’s brilliance.
“Einstein!” he calls. The dog trots in, alert, tail wagging, eyes shining
Moshe had two sons Gershom and Eliezer. Gershom was named for Moshe’s seclusion when he was a stranger in a foreign land, Midian. The name Eliezer alluded to Moshe’s miraculous escape from Pharoah’s executioner. Even though he was slated to die Hashem protected him and he was able to get away to Midian
Irving, an older man, is sitting outside a small roadside bed and breakfast when he sees a pickup truck rumbling down the dirt road.
“Good afternoon,” Irving says.
“Afternoon,” replies the driver.
“Passing through?” Irving asks.
Ibn Ezra questions why was there a fear that if the people leave Egypt and travel though the land of the Philistines then they may encounter a combat situation and return to Egypt. The amount of able-bodied men was 600,000 and many more and they were also armed.
A woman calls the hospital switchboard and asks, “Hello, I was wondering if you could tell me how Mrs. Kaplan in room 317 is doing.”
Moshe was the emissary of Hashem to approach Pharoah and demand that he release the nation from its bondage. However, when he speaks with him he adds how long will it be until you humble yourself in front of Hashem. That additional message seemingly has no connection to the mandate the he release the people.