Winner of the Holy Ground CD

And the winner is Leah Magid! I'm so happy to send this off to Alaska....
Mazel tov, Leah!

Everyone else - come back soon since I'll be giving away a CD by Julie Silver next....and a children's book....and some other stuff.

Holy Ground - Review and Giveaway

Craig Taubman, a wonderful Jewish musician (and a friend), published a new album recently.
I love the cover art:

I love the way the shoes are set next to a book - a mixing of the sacred and the ordinary that exemplifies the American Jewish experience.

The title track, Holy Ground, is beautiful. It reminds us that "all of life is holy ground" - wherever we are. What a powerful reminder for those days when we feel that our lives have become mundane and ordinary. It was commissioned in honor of the HUC Rabbinic Class of 2008, and I think it's a perfect song to help new (and veteran) rabbis (and non-rabbis too!) remember the sacred nature of every act they perform, even ones that seem trivial.

My favorite track on the CD is V'shamru. It's a rockin' rollin' awesome version of this traditional reading. And Craig writes in the liner notes: "Don't let PlayStation steal this chance to live and to love." I love this singable song and I love the reminder to carefully guard and protect the joys of Shabbat.

The other track I'm holding onto is Ki Hem Chayenu (not the least of which because it is dedicated to the memory of Grandpa Ben and Grammy from Ben, Anna, Noah, and Dorothy - a family that I hold dear), because it's a really beautiful reminder of the real meaning of the prayer Ahavat Olam. Teach us to number our days that we may have a heart of wisdom...

There are other great tracks that I'm going to learn...a musical setting for Birkat HaGomel, a prayer that Reform Jews have begun to embrace thanks to its inclusion in the new Mishkan Tefillah prayerbook, a Lecha Dodi that is also pretty jazzy (but I'm a fan of Craig's earlier Lecha Dodi too!), Love Your God, a setting for the Shema that is a perfect lullaby.

It's a great CD, would make a great gift, and no one even paid me to say this! (Actually, Craig himself handed me this CD at the Biennial and I told him that I'd be giving it away after I listened to it!)

So...you know you want this CD. I'm sure you can get it somewhere else, but you can also WIN IT here!

Leave a comment and make sure I know how to get a hold of you if you win.

Winner will be chosen on Tuesday, December 8th. Tell your friends!
Extra entry for tweeting but YOU MUST LEAVE A SEPARATE COMMENT to tell me about your tweets, pretty please?
Wouldn't it be nice if you shared it on Facebook too? I'd appreciate it. You know you love me. Thanks, y'all!

Wrestling with the Angel [Re-Post]

Re-posted from November 23, 2007

Vayishlach, this week's Torah portion...briefly...

Jacob stays alone
sends the family on ahead
scared of Esau's wrath

By himself at night
he wrestles with an angel
or was it a man?

The man could not win
so he pulled the leg muscle
and he cried "uncle"

but Jacob was wise
"I can't let you go until
a blessing you give."

and so he was blessed
his name changed to Israel
means "wrestler with God."

Jake renames the spot
Peni-el, face-to-God's-face
His life changed a lot!

Winner of RotemGear Giveaway

The winner of the Got Latkes shirt is @irajwise.

Didn't win? Go order your own at RotemGear - so many cute things to choose from. Order fast so you get it in time for Chanukah!

Oh, and come back soon since I'm going to be giving away some great stuff in the next week or so before Chanukah!

Thanks, Shabbat, Love

Those are the three top words that I use in my tweets.

Did you expect anything else from me!?

Thanks to this cool Tweet Cloud, I can show you!

How fun is that?! Thanks @icodeforlove!!!

--

Even though NaBloPoMo is over, I guess I just can't take a day off!!!

Don't forget the Got Latkes shirt giveaway (ends soon) and the Oh Nuts giveaway going on right now...

Reflection

A little self-reflection, courtesy of Sam.

See other great shots from the weekend at Tracey's place.

Don't forget the Got Latkes shirt giveaway (ends soon) and the Oh Nuts giveaway going on right now...

A Celebration and a Giveaway!

I am so proud to have (almost) completed my third NaBloPoMo!

It's been a great month around here ... a whole bunch of birthdays, a whole bunch of baking, hosting Haveil Havalim (it's so convenient to host during November), and I even went to the Biennial and got famous!

So, to celebrate, a really great giveaway from my friend over at RotemGear.

Go check out her cool stuff, she has a great collection of t-shirts and other wearables with funny and quirky Jewish stuff on them. Some of them make me laugh out loud!

Winner will get a "Got Latkes?" T-shirt - isn't it adorable???

To win:
Go over to RotemGear (I'll wait) and pick your favorite t-shirt. Come back here and leave a comment telling me which one is your favorite.



Get an extra entry by tweeting about it. Make sure to leave me a comment telling me you did that, please.

Make sure I have a way to get ahold of you if you win!

Giveaway will close on DECEMBER 3rd...so get commenting, folks!

Anyone can win, but non-US addresses won't get their shirt in time for Chanukah this year.

Another chance to win is available over at the RotemGear blog...write a Chanukah-themed limerick to win!

Don't forget, I'm also giving away a $25 gift certificate to Oh Nuts over here.