When we think of Passover, we focus on the Seder meal and all its intricacies and delights.  Our ancestors, on the other hand, focused on one thing and one thing only – the Paschal lamb.  This key annual tradition represented…

At the “Let’s Talk About Israel” Conference this past Sunday at the Buffalo Marriott, the keynote speaker, Shalom Orzach, spoke among other things, about Passover.  “This is a holiday” – and I paraphrase – “where we sit around a table,…

This Shabbat, we will celebrate the Bar Mitzvah of Adam Kopf.  In addition to sending out a big Mazel Tov to Adam, his parents Jennifer and Robert and older sister Natalie, we also commend him for taking on such a…

Biblically speaking, 8 (Shemonah) is one of the most important of all Jewish numbers.  In addition to being the number of days when a circumcision Brit Milah is performed, it is at the heart of the Hanukkah celebration with its…

Another Purim has come and gone at Shir Shalom.  Kudos to Cantor Frank and Mark Knightenger, and the entire cast and crew of “The Megillah According to Barbie”!  To Julia and Eileen for the fantastic sets, and for everyone who…

When they were very little, our children loved the book “Silly Sally” by Audrey Wood which told the story of an eccentric woman who “went to town walking backward, and upside down.”  Along the way, she encounters different equally eccentric…