tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91998052913208449782012-02-29T23:29:09.634-05:00ArbitribeSnarky Jews, Meet New York.Joannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10809936457751765759noreply@blogger.comBlogger701100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9199805291320844978.post-81487585846412301522012-02-29T22:00:00.007-05:002012-02-29T23:20:38.663-05:00Midweek MusingsWow, it's been a crazy few weeks since I last spilled my guts on Arbitribe. Sometimes I wish that I could write more times than I already do because there's always so much on my mind and so much I want to say. Then I have a week like I just did and wonder why I ever even signed up for this thing in the first place. There have been a lot of ups and downs since you last heard from me, but I'm goingTzvihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08342815715097002387noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9199805291320844978.post-241538281376900612012-02-23T19:38:00.000-05:002012-02-23T19:38:58.913-05:00(All We Are Asking is) Make Peace With Pants? <!--[if gte mso 9]> <![endif]--> <!--[if gte mso 9]> Normal 0 false false false EN-US JA X-NONE <![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]>Alizahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12267406719679390641noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9199805291320844978.post-68026107282254176822012-02-16T21:57:00.001-05:002012-02-16T22:02:54.650-05:00Springtime... AlmostIs it just me, or was there a hint of spring in the air today on Long Island? Although drizzly, it was far from bitterly cold. Then again, it isn’t like we received a full-blown white winter this year anyways. So if spring is starting early, but we never really experienced winter… does it make the start of the new season less special because it isn’t arriving as a shock of warmth? I’ve always Joannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10809936457751765759noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9199805291320844978.post-58745008267604240002012-02-09T22:08:00.001-05:002012-02-09T22:11:58.645-05:00Nowhere to GoWell, I’m at a loss. For once, I’m speechless. Honestly I have no idea what to say. School has kinda taken over my life and as such I completely forgot it was my turn until 9:30 last night aka 2 ½ hours till post time. Then I sat until 11 PM writing nothing of value and I gave up. I figured a late post is better than a terrible post, so I decided to give it another day to come up with something Tzvihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08342815715097002387noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9199805291320844978.post-78950801740751648272012-02-01T21:32:00.002-05:002012-02-01T22:43:57.464-05:00Pride (And "Looking" Jewish)Relatively short post today. I'm both overtired and nursing a wrist injury that's interfering with my typing, so bear with me here.
A few weeks ago, on the first truly cold day of winter, a few friends and I decided to stay in during the afternoon and watch X-Men: First Class. I’d never seen it before, and I was excited to watch a dumb action movie.
If you’ve seen it, you know that this movie Alizahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12267406719679390641noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9199805291320844978.post-26450058460289032722012-01-26T23:17:00.003-05:002012-01-26T23:19:55.336-05:00DiscomfortI’ve always found deadlines and boundaries difficult to manage. I work best on my own time, in my own secluded corners, within the system I set for myself. When someone comes along and places boundaries upon me, whether they are in the form of due dates or rules or social systems, I have a tendency to crumble. I know I’m not alone in my deterioration. It’s difficult to be a human being when the Joannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10809936457751765759noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9199805291320844978.post-60265691245123047782012-01-18T22:11:00.006-05:002012-01-31T19:46:26.898-05:00The Few, The Proud, The JewsYou know you’re in trouble when the first thing you read on a blog is a disclaimer, but that is the situation you all find yourselves in now. I am still recovering from a crazy wedding weekend (Mazal Tov Josh and Jenny!!) and it turns out I might have torn the meniscus in my right knee, so aside from the charley horse from dancing and the headache from lack of sleep/dehydration, I now have Tzvihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08342815715097002387noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9199805291320844978.post-24987872573177477192012-01-11T20:54:00.001-05:002012-01-11T21:16:01.322-05:00The Missing PieceIt’s official. I’ve given in and will now be discussing the most New York Jew of all subjects: dating. But be aware, I will not be ranting the way I probably should. Instead, I’m going to use this opportunity to talk about one of my favorite books of all time: The Missing Piece by Shel Silverstein.
That may not be the most on topic of blogpost choices, but the author was Jewish and so however Alizahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12267406719679390641noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9199805291320844978.post-13386600229381161092012-01-05T01:35:00.000-05:002012-01-05T01:48:04.159-05:00CrashI’ve got no witty anecdotes, no stories that effortlessly connect to one of the religious/cultural themes of this blog, no nothing. I’m suffering from a bad case of burn out, which I believe began about a year ago. In the past few months, I completely crashed, explaining my absence from the blogosphere (the details of this extreme collision will remain off the record of this blog because it isn’tJoannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10809936457751765759noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9199805291320844978.post-56836629451830192102011-12-28T21:20:00.008-05:002011-12-28T23:07:27.328-05:00Diary of a Music Nerd: Mr. MoneySoooooooo it just dawned on me at 9:21 PM on post day that it's my turn. I'm not sure how that happened; most of the time I don't start writing until night of, but I usually at least know that it's my turn. Maybe it's because I just did our Happy Birthday post and my brain figured, "Hey, you just did a post, it's not your turn for a few weeks now." Maybe it's because I've been more busy while on Tzvihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08342815715097002387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9199805291320844978.post-9830004085933883682011-12-25T22:04:00.008-05:002011-12-26T04:19:42.351-05:00Happy Birthday Arbitribe!!!For those of you keeping score at home, today is the one year anniversary of the official launch of Arbitribe, which means: HAPPY BIRTHDAY US!!! It's a big deal for us to have started something like this on a whim and then be able watch it grow into what it is today, and we of course could not do it without you guys, our dedicated readers. So we'd like to thank you all for the 11,529 views we've Tzvihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08342815715097002387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9199805291320844978.post-17745508759907702992011-12-22T12:51:00.001-05:002011-12-22T14:51:12.628-05:00How The Kvetch Got Over DecemberEveryone in New York liked December a lotBut the Kvetch of Washington Heights, she did not
She wasn’t a fan of the early winter seasonAnd why, you may ask? Like you don’t know the reason…It could be the Brooklyn commute was a wreckIt could be all those songs were annoying as heck
But most likely it was that New York’s most happy dayWas making her see her own Chag in that way
Think about it,She’dAlizahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12267406719679390641noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9199805291320844978.post-42601954657501124352011-12-13T18:51:00.004-05:002011-12-14T19:17:59.062-05:00Latkes and Lucid Dreaming, a Symphony in Three PartsThing the first: Chanukah is a week away, as I'm sure you all know. While everyone is busy preparing to gorge themselves on greasy latkes and dive into a pile of gifts, I urge you to donate to a worthy cause. I promise it isn't painful, not in the least. A bit of cotton in one's gob never hurt anybody.***Thing the second: Once I'm permanently back from my self-imposed hiatus, I have a piece aboutJoannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10809936457751765759noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9199805291320844978.post-40313138427151998402011-12-07T16:09:00.006-05:002011-12-07T16:39:57.619-05:00Life 101: How to DealToday is actually a pretty exciting day for me in relation to Arbitribe and my blogging career. December 7, 2010, was the first time I ever blogged, on this blog in fact, though the name and concept of Arbitribe was still a few weeks off. It’s interesting to think about how much has changed since then, blog-wise and in my own life, and I’ve been doing a lot of reflection, especially about this Tzvihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08342815715097002387noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9199805291320844978.post-77276228487023920812011-11-30T22:18:00.001-05:002011-11-30T22:24:09.113-05:00The Lonely 6-Foot Rabbit of FaithSometime last winter, when the weather was about as awful as New York weather gets during February, I met a friend of mine for coffee and conversation in a Barnes and Noble Starbucks. As we sat and chatted and caught up on what we’d been doing since we’d last met, we were suddenly addressed by the caffeine-drinker at the next table, a guy about our age.
It was fascinating to me how religion, Alizahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12267406719679390641noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9199805291320844978.post-18453245511651696532011-11-22T18:44:00.000-05:002011-11-22T18:44:21.006-05:00Scrawled Walls in BrooklynOnce again, this is not the post I had prepared for this week (Darn it, will that thing never see daylight?), but I would be remiss if I didn’t discuss the heap of anti-Semitic scary going on in Brooklyn, especially since it’s something that affects both New York and Jewry… yaknow, those things relevant to the blog.
So, as I’m sure most of you have heard, there have been a few scary incidents Alizahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12267406719679390641noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9199805291320844978.post-63987401290428375312011-11-16T14:41:00.006-05:002011-11-16T15:06:19.109-05:00Matchmaker, Matchmaker, Make Me a MatchPreface: It is likely that I will offend many people over the course of this post, as it centers on a very delicate and sensitive issue. Know that this is not my intention, and I have made an effort to tone down the sarcasm (if not the cynicism) in an attempt to be respectful. I therefore ask that if you show me the same courtesy. If you disagree with my opinions, keep in mind that they are only Tzvihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08342815715097002387noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9199805291320844978.post-38936250928791337282011-11-09T21:13:00.000-05:002011-11-09T21:13:07.282-05:00Weekday Morning 4 AM: Loyalty<!--[if gte mso 9]> <![endif]--> <!--[if gte mso 9]> Normal 0 false false false EN-US JA X-NONE <![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]>Alizahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12267406719679390641noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9199805291320844978.post-24356100199042722932011-11-02T22:14:00.000-04:002011-11-02T22:14:13.939-04:00A Very Pretentious Night in New York<!--[if gte mso 9]> Normal 0 <![endif]--> Here to grace us with a stellar example of some of the amazingness that our city New York has to offer, here's a post by our guest writer, The Ginger Man:
Those people that know me well enough have a particular nickname for me. Every time I enter the room in (what in my honest opinion is) fashionable clothes, or when I make a statement that Alizahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12267406719679390641noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9199805291320844978.post-59590861533774767872011-10-27T16:03:00.003-04:002011-10-27T16:19:48.307-04:00Diary of a Music Nerd: MaboolOkay, so first things first I guess, I’m going to explain exactly what we’re doing here. Regular readers know well enough my obsession with music, and it makes make an appearance in some form at least once in my regular posts in the form of Song of the Day. Worry not though; this column won’t replace that feature, and you will still get clued in on my daily soundtrack at the end of each post. Tzvihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08342815715097002387noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9199805291320844978.post-6007918124635912602011-10-18T11:37:00.000-04:002011-10-18T11:37:32.900-04:00The Social Side-Effects of Elbows and Knees<!--[if gte mso 9]> <![endif]--> <!--[if gte mso 9]> Normal 0 false false false EN-US JA X-NONE <![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]>Alizahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12267406719679390641noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9199805291320844978.post-19540193571386543582011-10-12T16:50:00.005-04:002011-12-26T04:27:53.980-05:00(stereo)TypicalOkay, I’m going to try to keep this post uncharacteristically short. I’ve got approximately a billion things to do over the course of the next 18 or so hours until Chag, including studying for/taking my anthropology midterm, writing three pages of a philosophy essay, lots of cooking, and oh yeah, sleeping, so I don’t know how much time I can really devote to this right now.* True, Arbitribe is Tzvihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08342815715097002387noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9199805291320844978.post-73180719650954776542011-10-07T10:26:00.001-04:002011-10-15T19:55:00.992-04:00Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes!Dear Readers,Welcome! You may have noticed our new letterhead. We hope you like it, 'cause that's not all that's new around here. Over the past month and a half or so, our precious little blog has been going through early-onset puberty, that is a few changes.Our fearless and frequently airborne founder Daniel has given up his full-time posting in favor of graduate school and other, you know, Alizahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12267406719679390641noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9199805291320844978.post-26268346460132804872011-09-27T18:48:00.000-04:002011-09-27T18:48:30.772-04:00The Good LifeIt’s that time of year again. We’ve got to drop the petty stuff and look ahead and look behind and decide, have we been worthy in the past year? What’s changed? If we had G-d’s job, how would we rate our performance over the last 365 days?
Of course, I naturally look back and start with where I was at exactly this time, right before Rosh Hashanah last year. All I’ll say is, man, am I glad it’s Alizahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12267406719679390641noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9199805291320844978.post-86948726964297803132011-09-21T20:07:00.004-04:002011-09-21T20:27:09.969-04:00The Learning CurveThis is a sort of sequel to Sign Language, so I would suggest reading that post and the comments below it prior to reading this oneSince the response to my last post, Sign Language, was so positive, I thought I might write something of a sequel this time around, expanding on some of those ideas and adding new thoughts. Then, sometime around last week, I decided that that could wait because I Tzvihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08342815715097002387noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9199805291320844978.post-81211888712556605642011-09-15T22:48:00.006-04:002011-09-15T23:12:45.773-04:00Holy DaysRosh Hashanah arrives in less than two weeks. I am not usually one to write up a list of New Years’ Resolutions, but I’ve been feeling the itch to write one lately. Maybe the reason lies in the fact that I’ve just begun my final year of college and I’m getting antsy and creating goals. Maybe the reason lies in the fact that I feel I haven’t accomplished enough lately and need to figure out how toJoannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10809936457751765759noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9199805291320844978.post-76220231194887512762011-09-08T00:31:00.001-04:002011-09-08T00:42:21.922-04:00StoriesThis post is a follow-up to The BSF.
Lately, I’ve been thinking about stories, and as always, the Big Scary Future.
We grew up learning, telling, hearing, loving stories that seemed completely detached from reality. Fairy tales, with their brave knights and fearsome beasts, folk-tales, with their witches and wise men. As a kid, I loved these tales. I ran to read my monthly Cricket magazines, Alizahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12267406719679390641noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9199805291320844978.post-90826938478388906522011-08-31T19:26:00.003-04:002011-08-31T19:48:19.769-04:00Sign LanguageAny casual observer of the Tri-State Area over the last week would assume that we’re heading towards Armageddon. Earthquakes and hurricanes are not common in this area, yet since last Tuesday we felt the ripple effect of a 5.8 in Virginia and got our first taste of a hurricane since Gloria in ’85. Things like that just don’t happen here, and so, sitting here in the wake of two near-miss natural Tzvihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08342815715097002387noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9199805291320844978.post-42115777147088615092011-08-24T23:55:00.001-04:002011-08-24T23:55:36.851-04:00Quake!As those of you currently residing in the New York area are aware, a 5.8 magnitude earthquake occurred in Virginia yesterday, tremors of which were felt locally. I myself was sitting in my kitchen when I noticed the chandelier in the next room begin to sway from side to side and I thought I was suffering from a dizzy spell. If the quake had occurred a day earlier, it would have affected my life Joannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10809936457751765759noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9199805291320844978.post-37865463048776825522011-08-17T20:18:00.000-04:002011-08-17T20:18:21.426-04:00The Summer of Self-EsteemOkay, ready to get a little heavy-handed?
This has been a summer of many changes (most summers are like that). I say “has been” even though at the moment of this article’s publication it is merely the middle of August. I’ve got a few weeks left for summer to turn my life upside down all over again.
And yet I have the feeling that my chance for changes has passed. Maybe that’s because I can see Alizahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12267406719679390641noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9199805291320844978.post-71108295667893976132011-08-10T22:51:00.002-04:002011-08-10T22:59:37.787-04:00Judge Not, Lest You Be JudgedSo here I am, sitting in my bed at 9:30 on a Wednesday night, just starting to write my post. Natch. However, the difference between now and all those other times is that now I’m in a fantastically good mood. I just finished my last day of class, so summer school is over. I have two finals in the next few days that I’m very well prepared for, so there’s that. I’m about to head into an awesome Tzvihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08342815715097002387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9199805291320844978.post-68237556039652527962011-08-03T22:29:00.001-04:002011-08-03T22:58:44.597-04:00The Face of Farce: Jewish Humor in American FilmThere’s an old Yiddish joke I recently heard for the first time. I think it’s absolutely hilarious, but only one other person I know finds it even remotely funny, and believe me, I’ve tried it out on more people than I like to admit. It goes as follows:
“What is purple, whistles, and hangs on a wall?”
“I don’t know. What?”
“A herring.”
“But a herring isn’t purple.”
“So? Paint it purple.”
“But aAlizahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12267406719679390641noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9199805291320844978.post-75282776016595694572011-07-27T17:55:00.002-04:002011-07-27T20:26:53.446-04:00Interwebz and Small MiraclesI see you there, stalking the Facebook pics of a random friend you met at camp when you were fourteen. Yes, you. And I see you, too, stalking the wall of that guy you met in Israel to catch e-glimpses of his friends at Bar Ilan and IDC. Isn’t the internet fun? We can frolic anonymously through pages of information about the lives of people who will never know. Or, at least we hope they will Joannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10809936457751765759noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9199805291320844978.post-84781300940881110402011-07-13T22:14:00.003-04:002011-07-13T22:23:47.674-04:00Respect for DummiesThis time, I’m going to get right to it. I guess there really is a first time for everything… I’ve had a few experiences involving religious debates and similar things lately, so I’d like to share a loosely connected collective of thoughts on that subject: As you may recall, Joanna’s post from a few weeks ago was short and sweet, but garnered quite a bit of attention. The resulting discussion Tzvihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08342815715097002387noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9199805291320844978.post-70692718512691653912011-07-06T18:50:00.004-04:002011-07-06T20:52:13.315-04:00JewperheroesThe story goes like this.
Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai (the Rashbi) was a great spiritual leader and teacher to many Jews in Israel in the days of the Romans. Unfortunately, the Romans had outlawed the teaching of Torah and Jewish practice. But Rashbi persevered, unperturbed by the threat of torture and crucifixion, and spoke out against their decrees.
One day, as with all stories, the Rabbi’s Alizahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12267406719679390641noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9199805291320844978.post-21580465457175211242011-06-30T15:42:00.001-04:002011-06-30T15:44:52.023-04:00Doom?I was minding my own business the other day, surfin’ the seven seas of the interwebz, when suddenly I was assaulted by an acquaintance of mine (who shall be heretofore referred to as L) who I was only vaguely aware reads this here blog. “That blog you and your friends set up is very offensive. You guys are snobs… you think you’re better than everyone else. Why do you have to put your elitism on Joannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10809936457751765759noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9199805291320844978.post-48467257952019531182011-06-22T23:59:00.001-04:002011-06-23T14:30:20.296-04:00Flying and FrittersSomething crystallized for me earlier this week, a real-life realization of a story someone once told me.The story: An Israeli who taught in an Orthodox school was seen by her students while driving on Shabbat. They accosted her -- how can you drive on Shabbat, don't you know it's forbidden, you are a sinner -- to which she replied, and what about you? You are forbidden to live outside of Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07285397339409289717noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9199805291320844978.post-20854659508780772302011-06-15T18:54:00.007-04:002011-07-01T02:16:43.740-04:00JewsicFirstly, I’d like to apologize to everyone who was expecting a post last week. For those of you who didn’t know, the holiday of Shavuot fell out last week from Tuesday night to Thursday night. Due to the cooking and preparation involved in simply getting ready for the holiday, nevermind the fact that I couldn’t write anything for the stretch of the three nights and two days that made up the Tzvihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08342815715097002387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9199805291320844978.post-83236226796548829722011-06-01T14:09:00.003-04:002011-06-11T23:22:14.961-04:00An American Jew in EuropeNew York, at times the center of the modern universe, seems to have a unique disconnect from the rest of the world, as if crossing the Brooklyn Bridge or the Midtown Tunnel changes the laws of science, or more topically, Halacha.
Since my very Hungarian family and I travel to our old Motherland an average of once a year to visit relatives and get reacquainted, I have front row seats to watch the Alizahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12267406719679390641noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9199805291320844978.post-43192251558475078042011-05-25T19:43:00.003-04:002011-05-25T19:48:41.686-04:00Existential Crises and Gravitational PullsA good friend of mine (henceforth known as L) is partially failing out of the sort of prestigious, snobby, Ivy-league university that would never have accepted me after I royally screwed up the SATs. This kid had direction and a plan and one hell of a future, not to mention a perfect SAT score. That was then. Now I’m standing on the sidelines, watching in horror as everything she worked for comesJoannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10809936457751765759noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9199805291320844978.post-39815950112284934862011-05-17T13:52:00.006-04:002011-05-20T14:01:45.238-04:00InkMy last post was about Jews and cheeseburgers. This one is about Jews and tattoos. If it seems like Jews doing things they're not really supposed to do is a new theme of mine... well, sort of, but not really. At all.Why? Because cheeseburgers don't prove anything, except a disregard for kashrut or maybe waist size or, far worse, a lack of the culinary creativity needed to make them taste Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07285397339409289717noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9199805291320844978.post-77875858207780617972011-05-11T22:03:00.000-04:002011-05-13T16:31:12.941-04:00Bridge Out AheadI’ve noticed that the introductions to my posts tend to get a little long. Sometimes, a new post writes itself out of an intro and I need to wait another whole month before I can post on what I was originally going to write about. This is not a bad thing though; it helps me get in my writing zone, our readers enjoy it, and it helps set the stage for whatever I plan on posting about. However, withTzvihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08342815715097002387noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9199805291320844978.post-73439664159668591672011-05-03T17:50:00.048-04:002011-05-04T17:28:23.165-04:00Broken Boots and Other Hazards of HitchhikingThis week’s post is brought to you in honor of Yom Ha’atzmaut and all things Israel. To celebrate our unique country and its birthday, Arbitribe presents a true story that would never happen anywhere but in Eretz Yisrael. During my year in Israel, when my hair was still slightly purple, the future was a distant speck, and unicorns and rainbows abounded in the wonderfulness that was spring, my Alizahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12267406719679390641noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9199805291320844978.post-83069631601321113292011-04-24T12:08:00.005-04:002011-04-24T18:57:36.844-04:00Why is this cheeseburger different from all other cheeseburgers?Disclaimer: I do not eat cheeseburgers, even on matzah.There are a lot of semi-inexplicable phenomena in the Jewish world, particularly on Passover. Notably, rice and beans are completely kosher-for-Passover and staples of Sephardi holiday cuisine but nonetheless, for reasons of dubious and long-expired relevance, may not be eaten on Passover by Ashkenazim. This custom is, in the words of Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07285397339409289717noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9199805291320844978.post-6368857123852473602011-04-13T22:49:00.002-04:002011-04-13T23:03:06.242-04:00Diary of a Music NerdRemember last month when my post started with an innocent thought on last-minute panic and by the end had turned into a rage-filled rant on the closed-mindedness of the majority of Jews worldwide? Ahhhhh, good times. If you recall that then you might recall how in the postscript I mentioned that the tirade I had unleashed was nowhere remotely close to what I had originally planned on writing Tzvihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08342815715097002387noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9199805291320844978.post-40090540471425361312011-04-06T11:23:00.026-04:002011-04-06T13:02:41.576-04:00One Question, Many AnswersNote: Apologies for the weakness of today's cartoon post. The past week has been filled with family affairs and family members, and most recently, a hacking, snotty cold. Barring any further diseases, next post should be much more entertaining. But on we go. We humans are a curious bunch. As such, we ask questions (we even have an upcoming holiday celebrating the practice!). Sometimes, we think Alizahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12267406719679390641noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9199805291320844978.post-18329168364201950772011-04-01T14:44:00.002-04:002011-04-01T14:49:16.907-04:00Ye Olde School DaysI spent twelve scarring years in Modern Orthodox yeshivot in the New York area. I could gripe about numerous aspects of our educational system, but today, I am going to pinpoint a particular area with which I am rather disgusted: the teachers themselves. What brings on this rant nearly three years out of high school? My younger sister is on the cusp of graduating from high school and her daily Joannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10809936457751765759noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9199805291320844978.post-40839596513145548642011-03-23T21:01:00.008-04:002011-03-25T10:01:03.159-04:00Tie me a JewI was going to write a quick commentary on my Purim experience hearing Megillat Esther read with a bunch of semi-interested New York Jews, and then sitting down to lunch as a military aviator in the company of a surgeon and a penguin.*And then a bomb blew up a bus in the middle of Jerusalem, and a person died, and many were wounded, without regard for who they were or what they cared about or Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07285397339409289717noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9199805291320844978.post-7904785850970228692011-03-16T22:52:00.004-04:002011-03-16T23:21:42.335-04:00Standard Operating ProcedureAs per my SOP, I’ve been walking around for something like 2 weeks with a post topic in my head but have not committed any of it to paper until right now, 9:25 PM on post day. This familiar story eventually resolves itself when my muse, Panic, sings to me ever so jarringly and I come up with a post I’m happy with, related to my original idea or not. Extremely stressful as it is at times, it Tzvihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08342815715097002387noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9199805291320844978.post-34099318106229719342011-03-06T16:00:00.029-05:002011-03-09T18:17:57.060-05:00The BSFIn childhood, we all had our monsters. Some were hairy and lived in closets; others were multi-fanged and slept under a bed. We were told as kids that if we ignored them, the monsters would go away, back to whatever tortured chamber of our subconscious they had come from. What grown-ups didn’t tell us was that as we got older, those scary (but at least nighttime-bound) creatures would be replacedAlizahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12267406719679390641noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9199805291320844978.post-44452930892032499912011-03-02T20:40:00.003-05:002011-03-02T20:54:07.449-05:00Thoughts from a College Student Freaking Out About InternshipsWhat do you want to be when you grow up? This was the question that was posed to me most often as a child. As a college student applying for internships, this is something I ponder every day. Things were rather humdrum at home in a suburb of New York City during my childhood. I was bored to tears. I always wished for grander horizons and went through various phases at different points. I wantedJoannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10809936457751765759noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9199805291320844978.post-63042322004899386892011-02-23T22:58:00.006-05:002011-02-24T00:29:37.280-05:00As you would have them doThus said the sage Hillel:אם אין אני לי, מי לי; וכשאני לעצמי, מה אני; ואם לא עכשיו, אימתי?If I'm not for myself, who is; if I'm only for myself, who am I; and if not now, when?דעלך סני לחברך לא תעביד...If you don't like something, don't do it to someone else...In short, Hillel understood the human condition, and had mad lyrical skillz to boot.It is said of him that during his years in New York heDanielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07285397339409289717noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9199805291320844978.post-29082500988492299582011-02-16T22:50:00.004-05:002011-02-16T23:05:18.528-05:00Different, Yet the SameThe great thing about today is that it happened three weeks ago. Allow me to explain. Regular readers of this blog will know that I tend to hit massive writer’s block day-of-post and stress about it endlessly until the pressure itself ends up serving as the source material. At that point, it all comes together on its own. Be it a conversation or a song (Devin Townsend is serving as my muse at Tzvihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08342815715097002387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9199805291320844978.post-22450425481013325172011-02-08T21:50:00.011-05:002011-02-08T22:20:10.171-05:00A Greatly Exaggerated Explanation for Starbucks’ Kosher IssuesNote: For reasons of writer's boredom, the following blog post blows the political importance of Starbucks Frappuccinos completely out of all proportion. It probably does the same thing with pretty much everything else while we're at it. A little while ago, when Starbucks had just released a new holiday flavor, I decided I wanted to try this new drink and made my way to one of the many coffee Alizahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12267406719679390641noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9199805291320844978.post-13864182800348264572011-02-01T22:22:00.000-05:002011-02-04T12:02:51.408-05:00MirrorsTwo people meet in the throes of adolescence, each one out of place with their alien surroundings. They hide in the same spot. As luck would have it, instead of secluding themselves, they have each found a kindred spirit. Words spill out, each mouth desperate for someone to understand. Turns out, the two speak the same language. An outlet has finally been found. Time and circumstances Joannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10809936457751765759noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9199805291320844978.post-24617728702510622912011-01-26T21:57:00.005-05:002011-01-27T01:30:30.983-05:00Go West, Young Jew2011 started rough. Then I went to LA, and life became beautiful.It wasn't because of the weather, although stepping up from 15° to 80° was pretty much okay by me.It wasn't because I managed to miss the flat tire and clogged main drain that popped up, so to speak, in my absence. Although that was okay too.It wasn't even because of Fish Grill, where fish tacos became a reality for me, or the AllDanielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07285397339409289717noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9199805291320844978.post-57856312487853950812011-01-19T21:33:00.000-05:002011-01-19T21:35:26.174-05:00No PressureWaaaaaaay back in December when this blog was still known as Red Sea Pedestrian, the four of us called a post-finals pre-launch powwow at Carlos & Gabby’s in the 5 Towns. The location was chosen so we could eat really awesome Mexican food, and the meeting was arranged to determine, among other things, an established posting rotation. At that time I specifically asked to be the last one in that Tzvihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08342815715097002387noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9199805291320844978.post-22889959052231100002011-01-09T13:09:00.022-05:002011-01-16T11:44:33.369-05:00Adventures in Food! Or, My First Week in Kosher Culinary SchoolMy relationship to Kosher food is sort of like my relationship to water. It’s essential, I need it to survive, and I would never deny its importance or necessity. But I hate swimming in it, and sometimes I feel like it doesn’t quite let me breathe.That’s not to say I would stop following its laws. I am, after all, Orthodox and Jewish and all those lovely titles that imply everything from Rabbi Alizahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12267406719679390641noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9199805291320844978.post-31900712819033925872011-01-07T16:10:00.004-05:002011-01-08T18:17:18.689-05:00Connecting the dots... Human connection ties us all together. I’ve gone through periods where I felt like I was emotionally cut off from the rest of humanity, causing me to spiral. Everyone has felt this way at one point or another. Ups and downs are a normal part of the human experience. But such emotions are not a nice feeling, not pleasant, not something I’d wish on anybody. I am a social Joannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10809936457751765759noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9199805291320844978.post-62966132528758942212011-01-02T19:49:00.002-05:002011-01-02T19:52:13.899-05:002010 ReflectionToday's post was written by our good friend and guest writer, The Ginger Man. This was written at one o' clock in the morning on the last day of 2010. The night’s drinks have worn off, and the food from dinner is slowly digesting, making me feel kind of warm and fuzzy; full and content. Isn’t that how anyone should end a year? Self-confidence on the rise, ready to break down walls and reach new Alizahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12267406719679390641noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9199805291320844978.post-43166174458171734272010-12-31T01:46:00.000-05:002010-12-31T03:33:48.234-05:00On Chinese Food, Kahlua, and CamelsA lot happened in the year zero, most notable of which was that a Palestinian Jew named Brian Cohen Jesus was born, given a brit mila, had supper, and died*. Romans, Camels, and Leonardo da Vinci figure prominently in this story, which is odd only because da Vinci was Italian and neither Romans nor Italians rode camels.2011 years later, the rest of the Jews somehow ended up in New York having Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07285397339409289717noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9199805291320844978.post-12521298053676381872010-12-19T13:46:00.000-05:002010-12-19T13:50:34.717-05:00The Beginning of a Beautiful FriendshipHugs rule.Alizahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12267406719679390641noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9199805291320844978.post-38953839740915631242010-12-13T21:37:00.000-05:002010-12-19T13:55:52.526-05:00PrioritiesIf you’re in college, finals are just around the corner. The week and a half or so wherein all of us become labor-intensive zombies, freaking out about information we will have forgotten by next month and deleting our facebook profiles until it’s all over. Every semester goes like this with only slight variations, whether you’re in pre-med or fine arts. That being said, I’ve got to add a note Alizahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12267406719679390641noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9199805291320844978.post-20203892603252015112010-12-07T01:14:00.000-05:002010-12-07T11:02:36.047-05:00Something To Be Proud OfSo here I am, sitting awake at 1:00 AM on a random Monday night for no good reason whatsoever, and I got to thinking, “Hey, I’ve been a member of this blog for about a week now, maybe I should, ya know, actually blog!” Thing is, I’ve never actually blogged before. Sure, I do enjoy writing as a pastime and certainly have used it before as a method of catharsis, but to that end I generally write Tzvihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08342815715097002387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9199805291320844978.post-49280219121116932962010-12-01T19:43:00.000-05:002010-12-01T20:25:19.251-05:00Dreidel SocksDecember is a solid month-long reminder to any Jew of their overwhelming Yidness. As we walk down the tinsel-decorated streets and hear the Salvation Army guys ring their bells, we are aware. But perhaps nothing reminds us of our difference from the rest of the holiday consumer bunch than SHOPPING.In my experience, there are three holiday shopping challenges faced by the New York Jew. You may be Alizahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12267406719679390641noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9199805291320844978.post-80410239374179661822010-11-28T11:04:00.001-05:002010-11-28T11:09:15.486-05:00Biblical AdvertisingYou totally know this would have happened had there been ads in biblical times:No disrespect meant to Tanach or King David. Some meant to Avshalom. Girls, if a guy spends THAT much time on his hair when he should be in battle (or at work), there's a serious problem.Alizahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12267406719679390641noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9199805291320844978.post-89541017805328165292010-11-20T23:50:00.000-05:002010-11-20T23:52:37.546-05:00If Movies Were Real: Home AloneCredit must go to my Law & Ethics professor, who first suggested this scenario. Were movies real, you know this would happen.Alizahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12267406719679390641noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9199805291320844978.post-74555212479156909302010-11-18T09:51:00.001-05:002010-11-18T09:51:16.856-05:00We Made It!Alright then. Here we be. Finally, a home on the interwebz for a number of wandering souls just trying to find their places.I've wanted to start a "life blog," for lack of a better phrase, ever since I was still wasting away in the seemingly never ending pit of hell society calls high school. Instead of taking to a public forum, I started a locked LiveJournal that, mark my words, will never see Joannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10809936457751765759noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9199805291320844978.post-72111671510077776382010-11-08T01:01:00.000-05:002010-11-08T11:00:52.417-05:00I Don't Think We Need to Explain OurselvesBecause, well, why should we?We are who we are, and our feet are sore. Our backs ache, our noses and ears are sunburned, there's bread growing on our shoulders (don't worry, it's not rising, at least not if you're Ashkenazi) and we think we may have made a mistake leaving the old neighborhood behind. What's a little whipping when you have a roof over your head and job security?Fast-forward a Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07285397339409289717noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9199805291320844978.post-79203602004701303162010-10-28T22:42:00.000-04:002010-10-28T23:06:28.394-04:00I Suppose We Should Explain OurselvesCongratulations. We're on the internet. A life blog for sarcastic Jews, for lack of a better description. So let's take this opportunity, when no one has yet heard of us and the only one reading is the internet void, to explain the meaning of our title.So, what is a Red Sea Pedestrian anyway? If you've read Tanach or seen The Prince of Egypt or The Ten Commandments or Life of Brian, you know. TheAlizahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12267406719679390641noreply@blogger.com0