Producing content on the Web since 1995.
some sayings of ר‘משבצונה“ל
For many years I have worked hard, and struggled with mastering virtuous. Now, in addition, I’m working on becoming more virtual.
This is an expression of that effort.
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השיבנו ה‘ אליך ונשובה חדש ימינו
כעוד לא היו
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ומביא גאלה…
לצאצאיהם All photographs are by Mark Hurvitz unless they are obviously not.
The photos in the banner at the top (only a shallow sliver of a much larger photo) are either from our home or our travels and are offered for their beauty alone (though a brain-teaser for me: “Where was that?”). st. paintings At least three colors of painted messages on the pavement. By the time there are three colors that fit within the photo, none can have any “meaning” what remains is the pattern.
3 pavements Three pavements poured next to each other (contiguous), but not at a property line.
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a thought regarding the history of Jewish environmentalism
In January of 1970 I needed to make (what for me then was) a significant personal decision. I was born on January 22 on the Gregorian calendar. However, the year I was born, that date corresponded with Rosh Jodesh Sh’vat. I noticed then, that in 1970 January 22 would coincide with Tu b’Sh’vat. […]
the month of elul begins once again
return
Hosea 14:2:
שׁוּבָה, יִשְׂרָאֵל, עַד, יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ: כִּי כָשַׁלְתָּ, בַּעֲוֹנֶךָ.
I return to this writing, that I have not visited since early March, shortly before Pesach.
I have been many places, but now is the time for return.
As she did in anticipation of Pesach, my colleague of unimaginable strength, Phyllis Sommer […]
a braid of three strands
There are many possible modes for understanding the events retold in the Pesach Haggadah.
Of these, three are braided together so that, if we concentrate exclusively on any one of them, we diminish the special qualities of the entire story.
By participating in the symbolic actions built into the order of the Seder,
we […]
changing technologies
Most people who know me understand that I am not averse to technological change. I have been interested in how communications technologies have been used and changed for many years. In June of 2010, I wrote about my involvement in the development of what I called “the electronic leaflet”. When I was in college I studied music and was involved […]
the month of elul אלול has begun.
Bradley Burston writes:
in Israel, the future can come down to just one night
Actually, everywhere in the world our future is determined by the actions at each of the moments we live them. Nonetheless, tonight (September 3, 2011) after Shabbat in Israel: ה אלול תשע”א, people all over the country are expected […]
polity not piety™
Yes, that’s a “trademark” symbol there. Why not? I continue to tell people that I came to the rabbinate out of “polity” not “piety”. My involvement was as a community organizer. A quick check on Google indicates that I’m nearly the only person to have used it… and, at that, significantly more frequently.
nathan hurvitz
Our father died 25 years […]
a growing haggadah
We printed a private new edition of A Growing Haggadah last year for personal use. We will use it again this year. If you are interested in having a PDF version of the text to print and use (in whole or in part) at your Seder you can download it here:
A Growing Haggadah (for family use)
A Growing Haggadah […]
Switzerland was actually “Plan B”
We had hoped to get to Fire Island (Long Island) at The Pines for Rosh haShannah to be with a colleague and at the beach. However, because “the season” at The Pines was still going strong, the two establishments where we tried to book rooms could not commit, barely even returning our calls […]
I am not the first to use the phrase, but beginning on March 15, 2000 I began a file in which I collected our mother’s sayings. I will periodically share them here. One of her primary expressions was:
if you can’t say anything nice about someone,
don’t say it
It’s that simple.
Our mother was not a learned person. Though she graduated near the top of […]
Last year at this time I wrote about the “MAD“ness of nuclear armaments. In essence:
There does not seem to be much value in having nuclear weapons.
They may exist for a MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction) purpose. And yet, many people tell me that Israel’s enemies don’t care about MAD, because they (as well as dispensationalist Christians) believe that […]
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In the year 5773 May our voices reach up from the depths
to achieve a world of wholeness and peace. 
Psalm 130:1b
To see the full size image and those of previous years click the graphic above. I began creating a Web site in my head as early as August 1995 when I drafted the following
For a project I’m pursuing regarding Jewish involvement on the internet and the World Wide Web in particular, I’m interested in learning about any sites about which you may know. For example, do any rabbis have Home pages? Which synagogues or synagogue organizations have Web sites? Does Marge Piercy have a site at which you can read portions of “He She and It”? Does Howard Rheingold have a site where you can learn more about creating a Virtual [Jewish] Community? Is there a Web Camera at the Kotel? In the Wilderness of Zin?
More
¡warning! This site remains under considerable reconstruction.
Most pages should still be available in their original location. However, I will be moving the vast majority of the old site (static html pages) into the Web 2.0 (blog) site. If you experience any “link rot”, please let me know.
When I initially created this site I organized the material into what seemed to be meaningful categories (in the days before “tags”). But the time came when, it was hard to figure out which link to click if you wanted to know about Sammy Levinger’s (“who”?) death (“what”?) while fighting during the Spanish Civil War (“when”?), though we had visited Belchite the site (“where?”) of the battle where he sustained his mortal wounds. The new tools should make this process easier.
‘//rite on!
‚\\ark Hurvitz |
