There are certian things I miss about the east coast, shoving matches at kiddush is one of them. In my shul, everyone waits for the Rabbi or whoever sponsored kiddush to make kiddush, I hate that. People are way too…
Tag: California
Why I don’t shake hands with the opposite sex
I received this in one of the many spam emails I get from any number of friends of mine who run shuls and chabad houses, once in a very rare while do I open them. I liked this one and…
Too busy to write
“Did you take any pictures” my friend Yosef asked excitedly as I spoke to him about one of the most amazing rides I had ever done on a mountain bike. “Of course not, I didn’t want to stop and ruin…
Chesed Week: Chabad of Folsom California
One of the biggest problems with Northern California is that it’s so prohibitively expensive to live here that no one has a vacation house I go stay at, so when I want to spend time in the high Sierras I…
The masochistic foodie in me
My stomach is growling, I can totally sit here on the gravel parking lot and eat a can of chili as a marvel at my mud speckled legs and just relax, but I’m in Napa and I want to eat…
I love Oregon
Just a warning: This is true stream of consciousness if you do not appreciate long winded out of order interludes that are full of romantic nostalgia stop reading now. A small sliver of sky can be seen ahead of me,…
So I just realized it’s November
For the first time in ages I worked the day shift today and had an opportunity to join normal society, you see I work every night of the week besides Friday and Saturday nights until almost 11pm and never get…
Wondering and Wandering
I’m lying in my car, I’m wide awake, I just awoke and it’s pitch black, I step outside to pee, feel the cool gravel pebbles on my feet and look up at the stars. I say asher yatzar with my…
The ladies almost dropped the Torah this Shabbos
I sat in shul bored out of my mind. I only learned later that I had missed Parshas Noach. It’s a great parshah to think about sex posts in shul, to think about how I could push people’s buttons by…
My latest backpacking adventure
I laughed suddenly, as I hiked briskly up the Pine Ridge Trail into the Ventanna wilderness, I have this habit recently up laughing like a wild man whenever I realize that I am finally living my dream. I can’t believe…
I miss New York a little bit
I was walking down the street in San Jose with a buddy of mine from Denver and we came to a random crosswalk in the middle of a very busy street. “Watch this” I told him as I stepped into…
Chabad on Campus I love you
The kid I was sitting next to really reminded me of myself. He had barely sat down and already he had an ever growing mound of food, scavenged from other tables. I told him that he should head for parts…
Shabbos in Oakland
It took me about 4 minutes to fall in love with Beth Jacob. I found a siddur situated in the little holder in front of me, stretched out my legs to gage whether legroom was ample and gazed around and…
4 months in California and loving it
Everyone I have been speaking to on the phone lately has been asking me when I plan to move back to New York and just recently I tell them that as of now I could never imagine moving back east…
What I do on my off days
I love mountain biking. I rode 5 times this week so far and the Lord has blessed northern California with some amazing riding – all within 30 miles of my house.
Shabbos with the Motorcycle Rabbi
I think it was the first time in my life that I heard the following from a Rabbi with a long white beard: “You can go to shul if you’d like, but I need to get some sleep before the…
My first days of pesach were awesome
My nose was filled with sweet cologne as two men sat in back of me, I could smell them as soon as the door to sanctuary swung open, before they proceeded to sit down and insult my nose with their…
Why is it so hard to find kosher for passover matza?
I was trying to find kosher for passover matzah last year in Denver and all of the grocery stores were out, this year I was mountain biking in Santa Cruz the Sunday before Pesach so I decided I would visit…
Californian Jews are too peaceful at kiddush
I was armed with a fork, flimsy plastic plate and a strategy before the rest of the congregants even walked through the door. I had placed myself right between the two main bowls of food, one containing a basic green…
Is LA considered “out of town”?
My newly created friend from LA a Rabbi comedian by the name of Rabbs, is convinced that Jews in Los Angeles deserve out of town status. After a week spent in LA I didn’t need much convincing. The Jews of…
Shabbos at the Shul on the Beach in Venice California
Typically when you walk out of shul for a break, you find the bulletin board and check if there’s a hot Kiddush, look through the door of the women’s section, check out the hot new designs and technology in the…
Video from my sunday night show in LA
I am totally impress with this 8 minute snapshot of a show I did at the shul on the beach in Venice, CA on Sunday night – I know I made em laugh, but seriously I pulled alot of this…
Frum Satire show in LA this Sunday
I know it’s a bit short notice but I will be performing this coming Sunday February 14th in Los Angeles at the Pacific Jewish Center AKA Shul on the Beach (on the Venice Beach Boardwalk) at 6pm. The rabbi of…
Shabbos in San Jose
The Rabbi was yeshivish, clearly so because he used words that most of the shul didn’t understand, caught himself, and then said the English translation afterwards. My host said he was a YU guy, but I couldn’t see it. Was…
My first shabbos in Berkeley
The aron was open and three women were standing around it. They had just placed the torah back after the drasha; if I would have walked into shul at that moment I would have wondered if I was in the…