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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dark mornings
As the northern hemisphere moves deeper into winter with less light for each day, our mornings begin near dawn. This is a beautiful time of beginnings and promise. While the sounds we hear each morning are not those of birds chirping and children learning, but the clanking of men at work, even these call […]
aipac gives koch a pass for flouting iran sanctions
I know that Emerson said: “A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines.” But, I don’t this is an issue of foolish consistency. I’d like someone to explain if they feel differently.
alex seitz-wald, news report:
Earlier this month, Bloomberg […]
the days grow short, the moon fills and begins to wane.
The date clusters hang ready.
Come with me to the oasis.
The late summer harvest has begun.
I sort the fruit of my past year’s labor.
The fruit is full and sweet.
I look back on my year’s efforts with satisfaction.
The time for pruning has come.
Much dross weighs down my life.
Our […]
judge everyone, how?
In Pirke Avot 1:6, R. Joshua ben Perachiah says:
והוי דן את כל האדם לכף זכות
The phrase is variously translated as:
judge every man in the scale of merit
judge every man towards merit
Judge every person favorably
Give all individuals the benefit of the doubt
Judge the whole of a man to the side of merit
It is hard not to judge people. We do […]
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 […]
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 […]
can you speak for 3 minutes on any subject?
Early in our studies at rabbinic school, one of our classes intended to make us better public speakers. Our instructor was Hollywood actor Stanley Waxman. He would often assign us the task of speaking extemporaneously for three minutes on any subject he would present (usually offering one […]
studying pirkei avot during the omer
During the period of the Omer I have been studying Pirkei Avot. This is a traditional activity for the period, but I have been doing it in a non-traditional manner. I take each Mishnah and break it down into as few words as I can, yet still express a meaningful thought. […]
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 […]
what are the police doing in egypt?
At a certain point during the recent (2011) Egyptian revolution it was not always clear with which side the police identified. These Police are different. They’re singing about canaries in coal mines. They offer a personalized variant of the old metaphor.
First to fall over when the atmosphere is less […]
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In the year 5772 may our efforts bring new creation out of chaos.
Genesis 1:1–2
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
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