Exhibit Two Gets Aished!

Exhibit Two Gets Aished!  (Exhibit Two at Aish HaTorah in Jerusalem earlier this month) A bit of explanation is in order. Aish = Aish HaTorah. [1] Aish HaTorah is an apolitical network of Jewish educational centers in 35 branches on five continents. [2] Aish is all about Jewish education and kiruv… drawing Jews closer to [...]

Read Full Post »

One Year Anniversary!

One year ago, yesterday, May 17, 2011, I created this blog, the Kosher Samurai. One year ago, today, I published my first blog article, set out below. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I prefer to spell it bl*g or bl*gging. I have some strange aversion to the way the word is usually spelled. Not sure why. I just do. [...]

Read Full Post »

Sullivan Ballou Letter – Ashoken Farewell

I’ve not yet had the opportunity to see Ken Burns’ masterful work, The Civil War. But I did see this one clip. [1] A week before the Battle of Bull Run, Sullivan Ballou, a Major in the 2nd Rhode Island Volunteers, wrote home to his wife, Sarah, in Smithfield. The letter was written from Washington, D.C. [...]

Read Full Post »

Hubble’s Greatest Snapshots!

On April 24, 1990, the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope was launched into space. In the 22 years since, it has sent back over a million observations. Here are just some of Hubble’s greatest images, year by year, courtesy of those wonderful space geeks at HubbleCast. ___________________________________________________________ Articles about ASTRONOMY: http://www.scoop.it/t/science-news?tag=astronomy (Speaking of milestones, my friendly neighbourhood blog [...]

Read Full Post »

Returning April 16th!

The Kosher Samurai continues to be away for Passover. Look for this award-anticipating blog to return this coming Monday April 16th!

Read Full Post »

The Most Astounding Fact (Neil DeGrasse Tyson)

Astrophysicist Dr. Neil DeGrasse Tyson was asked by a reader of TIME magazine, “What is the most astounding fact you can share with us about the Universe?” This is his answer. Truly inspiring. __________________________________________________________ Today, Friday April 6, at sundown is the beginning of Passover. It is by far my favourite holiday. I will be [...]

Read Full Post »

Bonsai Graveyard

There was a point in my innocent yet not too distant past when I had dreams of tending bonsai trees in my home. I saw myself as a kind of Mr. Miyagi in The Karate Kid, carefully pruning and bending, shaping and creating the tiny tree over time into a work of art. I was [...]

Read Full Post »

R’ Michael Skobac’s Healthy Challah for Dummies!

This past weekend, I had the pleasure of spending Shabbes with my rebbe and mentor, R’ Michael Skobac [1] and his charming wife, Chashi. R’ Skobac is Master Po to my Grasshopper. (R’ Skobac and I SO don’t look like this!) Shabbes dinner featured a spelt/camut challah that was out of this world! He was kind [...]

Read Full Post »

Quick & Easy Purim Hamantashen

This Wednesday night, March 7, marks the beginning of the Jewish festival of Purim, commemorating the events of the biblical Book of Esther in ancient Persia (now Iran). The wicked Persian premier, Haman, plotted to wipe out all the Jews (sound familiar?) but was ultimately thwarted. Purim falls into the “they tried to kill us, [...]

Read Full Post »

New York Times Debate: Are People Getting Dumber?

New York Times has recently published a series of five short articles under the heading Are People Getting Dumber?, as part of their Room for Debate section. Now, it’s all very stylish and fun for bloggerheads like myself to beak off about stupid people but I urge you to take the time and go through these pieces to [...]

Read Full Post »