I penned this piece ten years ago, back when I was on the faculty of CLAL. Reading it again, I am struck by the line: “We are living in a time of war, shifting alliances, new dangers, increasing uncertainty and growing poverty.” Even more true today than a decade ago, methinks. Anyways – Andre Neher’s words are still a powerful call: Passover – The Unfinished Manuscript By Daniel S. Brenner In the last sixty years, the words of the Passover Haggadah have…
A Minor Holiday: Hannukah Take Two!
I sat down and recorded this tune again with a better video resolution this time so it ain’t so fuzzy! (unlike my beard right now.) Enjoy!
Hannukah: A Minor Holiday
I wrote this song way back in 2009….which seems ages ago. I think there were still Macabees alive back then. I recorded it once at a house party (thank you Rafi and Jared and Noam for joining me on that version) but returning to the lyrics I felt that a jazzier setting would be more suitable. So…here goes my Hannukah song. Enjoy, and please share with your friends – who knows, maybe a lo-fi tune that doesn’t copy the latest catchy…
Thoughts on Gaza
Thinking aloud: I am blessed with friends on the Right and on the Left. Nearly everything I see posted on Facebook tonight about the current IDF vs. Hamas situation is either saying a) “look at all the suffering that these murderers are causing” or b) “let’s just have peace/love each other” (and though I have an open and feeling heart and have learned to breath in and out slowly I am still not sure what that really means when people…
Funny Bone Nightclub, 1993
My One and Only Attempt at Stand-up Funny Bone Nightclub Philadelphia, PA 1993 Cleaning up the desk (so the kids can use it for “homework”) I found some old vhs transfers on our old laptop. This one is a classic bit of my past — the one and only time that I did stand-up — that is now, some twenty years later, ready to go up on the interwebs. I cringed in a few places watching this clip and I…
Another Corny Rabbi
We Call it Maize At the beginning of the summer, when I finished putting in a raised bed garden, I decided to use some of the rugged property by the house to put in a pumpkin patch and a row of corn. Rains came and the garden grew. The pumpkin plant now covers three zip codes. And the corn is close to six feet tall. In August, I went down to Florida to celebrate my grandmother’s 100th birthday. At the…
Live at Tierney’s Montclair NJ
A Poem for Yom HaShoah
For Helen The child of survivors spoke of the softness Breaking forth from the bark, Pushing its way from the cold comatose tree, How it sprung, green, then white, climaxing in stunning pinks and purples. As we carpooled to work she pointed to the trees that lined the road, “this is my floral escape tunnel,” she said, as she put her foot on the gas.
Momma’s Groove
I met Juan Miguel Avila in 1987 because he had a T- shirt that said “I learned how to play guitar in just five minutes!” We were college students looking for extra beer money so we started playing on State Street in Madison, Wisconsin for loose change. I’d sing about my love of various Wisconsin cheeses and he’d play flamenco style behind me and we’d rake in twenty bucks in quarters and dimes. We loved playing the streets and the…
Calling all Massachusetts Rabbis!
Hello, rabbis of the commonwealth. If you are one of the fine rabbis of the State of Massachusetts then I hope that you will join me next week in Newton! Here are the details.