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  • Synagogue of the Undead Rabbi

    When I am in Paris, I always stay in Belleville, the 19e or 20e.  I stay in a different part each year and as a result see and learn different things.  This year, I'm near the Pyrénées metro stop, close to Parc de Belleville.  I'm really at the crossroads of the vast variety of cultures…
  • The three French women rabbis looking over an old copy of the talmud and pay homage to Rashi

    Rashi’s Daughters, Troyes, France 2019

    If you have looked at a page of the Talmud, you know that Rashi--Rabbi Shlomo Itzchaki--dominates almost every page.  And you may know that he lived, from 1040 to 1105, in the city of Troyes, not too far from Paris.  You may not know, though, that he had three daughters and no sons, that he…
  • Another Round of Neo-Nazi Flyers in Reno

    Another round of flyers in Reno from the local subgroup of the anti-Jewish, racist and homophobic organization, Daily Stormer.   Every national Stormer flyer campaign has included flyers in Reno.  It is not hit-or-miss.  It's every one.   Will they be in your neighborhood next?  Will the Nazis be in your neighborhood next?  
  • Neo-Nazi leaflets in Reno again

    Daily Stormer, a nationally prominent neo-Nazi organization, has an active subgroup in Reno, Nevada, formed (according to entries on Gab) about a year ago.  Subgroups are called Stormer Book Clubs.  The local Reno group has leafleted Reno as part of two prior national leafleting campaigns organized by the national organization.  Local residents are aware of…
  • Photo of Belleville poster: 'We do not remain passive!'

    That’s how it is in Paris

    My photographic style is a response to what I see in France. I have visited Paris every year since 2015. What photographer would not want to capture the elegance of even the smallest details there?  Here's an architectural detail I saw in 2016 on a walk back to my Belleville apartment from a look at…
  • Black and white photo of Voice of the Turtle's four members holding instruments

    Burmuelos, not Latkes

      In much of the world, latkes play no role in Hanukkah. Hard to imagine, right? Here’s one of my very favorite Hanukkah songs, a Greek Jewish one called Kita’l Tas.   Greek? you ask. Sounds like Spanish. Yes, it does sound like Spanish because the language it is in is Ladino, sometimes called Judeo-Espagnol.…

  • Not by Might, Not by Power

        There are two traditions regarding Hanukkah, an older light tradition about the increase of light in the dark time of the winter (Avodah Zarah 8b) and one a military tradition about the Maccabees’ victory over tyranny, the victory of the many over the few.   I like that Jewish tradition preserves both–one about…