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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let me count the (w/d)ays
The period between Pesach and Shavuot was one of serious tension in ancient Israel. The barley harvest began at Pesach and the wheat harvest ended near the time of Shavuot. More was at stake during the period of the counting of the Omer than our spiritual growth. The future year’s wealth, […]
aiming toward the future
How do I long for Your presence? Let me count the days:
הִנְנִי מוּכָן וּמְזוֻמָּן לְקַיֵּם מִצְוַת עֲשֵׂה שֶׁל סְפִירַת הָעֹמֶר.
Hin’ni muchan um’zuman l’kayem mitzvat aseh shal s’firat ha’Omer.
I am ready to move from freedom to responsibility, as I count the Omer days.
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ אֱלֹהֵנוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, אֲשֶׁר קִדְּשָׁנוּ בְּמִצְוֹתָיו וְצִוָּנוּ עַל סְפִירַת הָעֹמֶר.
Baruch […]
the four questions
Our people has lived all over this earth. Wherever we go, we ask questions. These are some of our most famous questions, expressed in a growing variety of languages.
The youngest able recites:
Hebrew
מַה נִּשְׁתַּנָּה הַלַּיְלָה הַזֶּה מִכָּל–הַלֵּילוֹת
שֶׁבְּכָל–הַלֵּילוֹת אָנוּ אוֹכְלִין חָמֵץ וּמַצָּה; הַלַּיְלָה הַזֶּה כֻּלּוֹ מַצָּה
שֶׁבְּכָל–הַלֵּילוֹת אָנוּ אוֹכְלִין שְׁאָר יְרָקוֹת; הַלַּיְלָה הַזֶּה כֻּלּוֹ מָרוֹר
שֶׁבְּכָל–הַלֵּילוֹת אֵין […]
כרפס | karpas | eat the green vegetables
Dip sprigs of parsley in salt water and distribute them to all present at the Seder table while reading the following paragraphs and singing the following songs.
My heart overflows with joy! I finally see more daylight than darkness and a full moon glows tonight. Celebrate with me the flowering of the […]
preparations for pesach
Preparations for Pesach could begin as early as Tu b’Shvat. Some people have practiced growing their own parsley for their seders beginning by planting seeds at the “birthday of the trees.” The timing is about right, but parsley can be a bit fussy to start from seed. There may be other plants that you […]
make room in your haggadah/seder for the younger people:
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the second cup — the cup of redemption — כוס גאולה
Think of each cup of wine as a toast to the generations of our people who committed themselves to the struggle for liberation in their own day.
With the second cup of wine we recall the second promise, the second stage, of our redemption, the actual rescue from […]
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 […]
shapes, colors and sounds of slavery
make room in your haggadah/seder for the youngest:
what words, shapes, colors and sounds do you imagine when you think of slavery?
the cleansing waters of miriam’s well
What follows is the ritual I have used at my seder since the mid 1990s.
Before the Seder begins I fill the bottom quarter of a large pitcher with slices of orange (and often sprigs of mint) then fill the remainder with ice cubes. Once you can no longer put in any more ice, fill […]
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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
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