Tikun Olam-תקון עולם: Make the World a Better Place

Shirley Shor’s Landslide: too dangerous for Chicago Jews
The abrupt cancellation of the Spertus Museum’s show, Imaginary Coordinates, raises some vital questions about what should be the role of a Jewish museum. Today’s Chicago Tribune notes the Museum has just opened a new $55 million building in the heart of downtown. As such it [...]

When I first read the story of Air Trans ejecting the Kulezsa family, including their 3 year old daughter Elly, from a flight because the couldn’t get her seated by the time the crew was ready for takeoff, I was amazed. Amazed that an airline would show so little sympathy for a baby and [...]

Nothing stopping you, except the flight crew which just threw you and your 3 year old off that flight.
Air Tran wins the ‘Worst Airline for Children and Families’ award hands down this month for their ejection of Julie and Gerry Kulesza, and their 3 year-old daughter, Elly from a January 14th flight:

AirTran Airways on Tuesday [...]

You’ve seen all the pictures. You can’t miss those video clips CNN plays over and over ad infinitum allowing you to revel in the catastrophe that has affected tens of millions of around the Indian Ocean basin. But behind the nauseatingly repetitious video clips lies a secret reality that no outlet, not even [...]

WHOEVER has made a voyage up the Hudson must remember the Kaatskill mountains. They are a dismembered branch of the great Appalachian family, and are seen away to the west of the river, swelling up to a noble height, and lording it over the surrounding country. Every change of season, every change of weather, indeed, [...]

I love this Vincent Laforet New York Times image of the Queen Mary II docking for the first time in New York harbor. The massive perspective of the ship’s prow overshaowing the New York cityscape is impressive.

In March, we went to New York City for an egg donor procedure at NYU Medical Center’s Infertility Program. It was a somewhat stressful experience for all involved, I’d say. But there were loads of times when we had fun. I’ve displayed a few of those times I captured on film here.
From [...]

How many nights I prayed for this, to let my work begin
First we take Manhattan…
–First We Take Manhattan, Leonard Cohen
I took a long enforced hiatus from my blog at the end of March because we left for New York City on March 23rd and didn’t return till April 2nd. It’s amazing what not blogging [...]

Carousel horse (Salem, OR)
My wife, 2 year old son and dog spent Labor Day weekend in Salem, OR visiting my brother Todd, a professor at Willamette University and his friend, Rosalie. Most parents will recognize that when you’re on vacation the entire schedule must be arranged to pique and satisfy your child’s curiousity. [...]

Marcy Silverstein (bottom left) & the Victory A.C.Nine–1920

The Goldsands & Silversteins came to Peekskill, NY, one of Westchester’s many river towns, in the first two decades of the 20th century.  As a teenager (and before the era of driver’s licenses), my grandmother, Cele, drove her father around the county delivering liquor to speakeasies during Prohibition.  [...]