Let’s go to the movies…

Posted on January 30, 2012 by rabbisteinman

Don’t fall out of your chair. I know. Two posts in two days. Amazing.

After watching the SAG awards last night, I realized I have a lot to say about the movies that are in the running for these various awards.

The Help is one of the best films of the year. I blogged about it after I saw it months ago. This film tells the story of life a few decades ago yet rings true to issues that domestic workers have today all around us. Great acting. The book is also great.

The Artist besides the fact that the lead character looks exactly like my PAPA JOE, it is really a story and it is beautiful to watch. MY DAD told me that he heard people walked out of the theater because they had to read (it is mostly a silent film). WHAT? It is a great movie.

Moneyball I really enjoyed this movie. I appreciated that I walked out of it having learned something about the game of baseball. It won’t win any awards but it was a good movie.

Ides of March Good movie. Interesting ethical dilemma. Ryan Reynolds was fantastic.

The Iron Lady Meryl Streep is amazing in this film. The way the story was a surprise to me. I think people should see it and not pay attention to the critics’ reviews.

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo MY DAD loved the opening sequence of this movie. I thought it was really weird. The movie was good. True to the book. Violent but if it wasn’t then it wouldn’t be true to the book.

Bridesmaids This movie made me laugh. A lot.

Footnote This movie is nominated for best foreign film from Israel and I heard somewhere that it mas a good chance to win which apparently does not happen that often. I thought it was a good movie. Not a great movie.

Beginners Christopher Plummer keeps winning awards for this movie. Is it because he is that great in it or because he is Christopher Plummer?

Albert Nobbs I have not seen this movie in release anywhere and I live in movie-land. Can’t wait to see it.

My Week with Marilyn On the list of movies to see.

The Descendents I a not going to see this movie. Mom dying, not a good movie for me to see.

Hugo Also on the ‘must see’ list. Just don’t know when.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy I never saw mini-series or read the book but I hear phenomenal things about this movie.

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close I have no interest in seeing this movie.

Have you seen any of these movies? Thoughts? Opinions?

 

 

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Well hello there

Posted on January 29, 2012 by rabbisteinman

Why hello there

It has been an insanely long time since I wrote a blog post, mostly because I have lots of ideas running through my mind and not enough time to actually write things down. School is occupying the majority of my time right now. In lieu of a formal graduate thesis for this program I am tasked with writing a curriculum guide. Every graduate of the Rhea Hirsch School of Education at HUC-JIR (did you know that if you are a rabbi or educator you can contact the Tartak Center at HUC in LA and get access to almost all of these guides?) writes this guide on a topic of their choosing for any of the following settings: camp, religious school, adult education or day school. My curriculum guide is about Modern Hebrew poetry for adult learners in the congregational setting. Exciting, right?

A lot of interesting things have been happening in Israel. By ‘interesting’ I mean completely ridiculous and offensive. The political cartoon connected to this post effectively sums up what is going on. If you haven’t seen the flash mob video from Beit Shemesh, you can watch it here.

What’s new with you?

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Looking for a good read?

Posted on January 10, 2012 by rabbisteinman

The Jewish Book Council just released the 2011 winners and finalists in a myriad of categories for their prestigious award. If you are looking for something to read, you might want to start here.

Mazal tov to all the authors, especially my Bible teacher, Dr. Tamara Cohn Eskenazi for The JPS Bible Commentary: Ruth and the CCAR Press for The Sacred Table: Creating a Jewish Food Ethic. MY DAD will be pleased also because Sacred Trash: The Lost and Found World of the Cairo Geniza by Adina Hoffman and Peter Cole also made the list (and no I haven’t read it yet, DAD).

Happy reading!

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School days…

Posted on January 2, 2012 by rabbisteinman

Last night I read a fascinating article (posted by someone on Facebook) in The Atlantic about the school system in Finland. As you know, this year I am studying to earn a masters in Jewish education and am doing a lot of thinking about all different types of learning opportunities. This article struck a chord for many reasons.

First, the notion that there are no private schools is fascinating to me. My parents sent me to public schools in Lala land and Minnesota because as MY MOM always said, “I believe in public schools.” I never knew exactly what she meant by this, except that she believed in some of the principles of equality that are espoused by the Finnish school system. There is a lot of talk in the Jewish community about the pros and cons of day schools. I do not have an opinion I am willing to share about this here.

Second, the Finnish system proves that standardized testing does not promote the best educative environment for students (or anyone who works in the school). The power of the individual school principal to fix problems and the classroom teacher to establish assessments as s/he sees fit.

Third, teaching in Finland is a serious profession. Every teacher has a masters degree and I would like to believe is paid accordingly for their knowledge and skill. The pervasive issues in the news; tenure, under-staffing, burnout, would fall away in this type of environment (it seems to me).

There are some other major points that are outlined here, especially about equality, social services, and food, that I am not fully emphasizing and are also very important. What do you think about these issues? I’d love to hear!

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Pralines n’cream

Posted on December 19, 2011 by rabbisteinman

It isn’t my favorite ice cream flavor, I’m a jamoca almond fudge girl. Nevertheless, I go to Baskin Robbins every year on your birthday and order a small cup of pralines ‘n cream because it was your favorite, GRANDMA. That’s right, every December 18 this is my ritual. My way of remembering your birthday because I don’t want to only remember the day you died (this year marked 10 years).

I have memories of GRANDMA and PAPA throughout this city. It is one of the reasons I love living here. Though they moved to Oceanside and then San Diego shortly after we moved to Minnesota, lots of those favorite restaurants are still around (or at least their buildings are and the type of food is as I remember it. I guess the name could be different).

So GRANDMA, I had pralines ‘n cream just for you because I love you and I remember you and other Baskin Robbins trips together (and yes there was a slight problem when pulling up to the location on 3rd street seeing it covered in paper. Apparently they’re remodeling. This is probably a good thing after at least 25 years. Don’t worry. Another location was found).

Happy birthday, GRANDMA!

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Listen to POTUS! #URJbiennial

Posted on December 16, 2011 by rabbisteinman

In a few minutes (around 12:45pm ET), President of the United States, Barack Obama will address more than 6,000 Reform Jews at the Union for Reform Judaism’s biennial convention. Unfortunately I am not there in person this time, so I will be watching like some of you. (Apparently this speech will also be on CNN).

The Biennials are always an amazing event. This year, with the advances in social media even though I am not in attendance it seems that I’m in on the action. You can follow updates on twitter with the hashtag #URJbiennial. In addition to the POTUS speech, some of the sessions have been recorded and are accessible here. Many of my rabbinic colleagues are writing daily blogs, updating on facebook and posting pictures (my favorite game is to look at the crowd shots and see who else I know in the picture that the photographer might not!).

Last night at the plenary David Boies and Ted Olson were given the Eisendrath Bearer of Light award, the Reform Movement’s highest honor. Boies and Olson came together from opposite sides of the political aisle to fight for marriage equality. If you watch the brief video, you will see some familiar faces.

Even though I could not be at the Biennial, I have never been more proud to be a Reform Jew.

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Dunk-a-dunk-a-dunk

Posted on December 14, 2011 by rabbisteinman

Yesterday THE DIVA and I went to the mikveh. I suggested that we go to mark the first anniversary of MY MOM’s death and THE DIVA thought it would be good to do. I immersed in the mikveh one other time, just before my ordination. This was THE DIVA’S first immersion.

Afterwards, I do not feel tremendously different. I did have some mightily prayer-filled moments, I think it was just a physical marker of the passage of time. There are a lot of different reasons to visit the mikveh. To mark a transition of some sort (entering menopause, graduation or ordination, ending shloshim or observing a yartzeit, a divorce) as well as the traditional times (prior to getting married, conversion, family purity).

If you are in the LA LA LAND area, I recommend going to the Rabbinical Assembly Mikvah. If you want more information, I’m happy to help in any way that I can.

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Pardon me, is that a prayerbook on your iPad?

Posted on December 6, 2011 by rabbisteinman

The Central Conference of American Rabbis released the first iPad app for the movement siddur (prayer book), Mishkan T’filah. The app is available on iTunes, follow this link. Right now, only the Friday night Kabbalah Shabbat service is available. More are coming, so they say.

Yasher koach (mad props) to the CCAR, especially Rabbis Hara Person and Dan Medwin for making this happen.

I personally am really excited to have a siddur on my iPad. There are moments when I want to pray using the fixed liturgy (I can pray anytime I want using my own words and so can you). Hooray for convenience!

If you are planning on attending the URJ Biennial next week, I think this is a great place to try this technology. I am going to test it out this coming Shabbat when THE DIVA is leading services (you can message me privately if you want more information about that).

There are some others who blog about this, also. Rabbi Eger and FrumeSarah have different perspectives on what this app might mean and their own enthusiasm to use it.

I think this app is a great thing. It provides Jews with access to liturgy on the go, creates different and perhaps better accessibility options (the print can be really big!), and so much more. What do you think?

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5 Kislev is here

Posted on December 1, 2011 by rabbisteinman

Today is MY MOM’s yahrzeit. It was one year ago according to the Hebrew calendar that she died. Last night when I got home I lit the yahrzeit candle and opened a bottle of MY MOM’s favorite wine, Kendall Jackson chardonnay. It felt like the right way to remember her. Today I will go to services and say the Mourner’s Kaddish. Tomorrow night, THE DIVA and I are going to have Shabbat dinner and go to services together.

I miss you mom, everyday and love you forever.

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This is the end

Posted on November 30, 2011 by rabbisteinman

Tonight when I get home I will light a yartzeit candle to mark one year since MY MOM died. Tomorrow I will stand and say the Mourner’s Kaddish as I’ve done all year. What a ridiculous year it has been.

Since I don’t feel like being too sad and emotional I will also let you know that it is also the end of NaBloPoMo. Thank goodness. The next time I think it is a good idea to sign up to write something everyday (except Shabbat) please remind me what happened this month. Too much extra anxiety. Goodbye NaBloPoMo. I will not miss you.

Also, Bette Midler hasn’t responded to my tweet about yesterday’s blog. I know, I am disappointed, too.

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