Pickling Time and Chunking Kale

A distressed mother barges into a Rabbi’s study: “Rabbi, my son has gone meshuge (crazy)!” “Calm down, lady, have you taken him to a specialist? What makes you think that?” “Specialist-shmeshalist! Who needs specialists? I am a mother, I know!” “But, dear lady, what does he do?” “Oy, Rabbi, he eats pigs and dances with…

Hello, Stranger, Have Some Soup!

Passover starts tonight, and the most important part of the celebration is called a Seder which means order. The order is prescribed in a little book called Haggada that we read at the table. The most important part of that is called Maggid which is the actual story of redemption and exodus from Egypt.  And the…

Ponce de Leon, Diamond Lil, and the Secret of Eternal Youth

There is a quaint little town on the East Coast of Florida called St Augustine. It is considered the oldest continuous European settlement in the continental United States. But that’s not what makes it famous. Tourists flock to St Augustine because they are dying to stay young forever. According to the official Fountain of Youth…