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July 2, 2009

Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski: The hallmark of a person

Abe Novick: Up, up, and aliya

July 1, 2009

Rabbi Avi Shafran: The Road Taken

The Kosher Gourmet by Marialisa Calta: Get into the holiday spirit with these Star-Spangled desserts

June 30, 2009

Rabbi Binyomin Ginsberg: What makes a great parent?

Caroline B. Glick: Ideologue-in-Chief

June 29, 2009

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Beware of 'Caveat Emptor'

Steven Emerson: ACLU pushing for more money for Hamas

June 26, 2009

Rabbi Yoni Posnick: Learn the secret to a healthy marriage from a scriptural villain

Caroline B. Glick: Barack Obama vs. International Law

June 25, 2009

Rabbi Shimon Apisdorf: The Absurd Power of Truth

Jordan "Gorf" Gorfinkle's strip: Everything's Relative

June 24, 2009

Rabbi Yonason Goldson: Advancement of technology is a wake-up call for humanity

The Kosher Gourmet by Andrea Weigl: Summer on a stick: Making frozen treats can be easy, creative and fun

June 23, 2009

Martin M. Bodek: 'On Surnames': And so, We Begin

Caroline B. Glick: The Obama Effect

June 22, 2009

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Working for a corrupt firm

N. Richard Greenfield : Where are American Jews?

June 19, 2009

Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski: Emotion v. intellect

Caroline B. Glick: Israel's rare opportunity

June 18, 2009

Jonathan Rosenblum: Sometimes it is more essential to define the nature of evil than good

Jordan "Gorf" Gorfinkle's strip: Everything's Relative

June 17, 2009

Rabbi Yonason Goldson: The Language of Confusion

The Kosher Gourmet by Linda Gassenheimer: Nothing pleases Dad more than a thick, juicy onion-smothered steak. Add home-Baked Potato Chips and …

June 16, 2009

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Career v. Careersism

Caroline B. Glick: Obama's losing streak and Israel

Richard Z. Chesnoff: ‘Palestinians’: Never Missing an Opportunity …

June 15, 2009

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu: How Judea and Samaria can become 'Palestine'

Daniel Pipes: Where Netanyahu's speech failed

June 12, 2009

Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski: Some big thoughts about not acting so big

Caroline B. Glick: Obama's High Commissioner

June 11, 2009

Victor Davis Hanson: Our historically challenged President

Mitch Albom: Beware the True Believers

Lewis Grossberger: What we learn from the new Hitler photos

June 10, 2009

Mort Zuckerman: What Obama and his advisors won't -- or refuse to -- grasp about Israel and the Muslim world

The Kosher Gourmet by Steve Petusevsky Lotsa pasta: Tips, techniques and (amazing) taste

June 9, 2009

Anne Bayefsky: Obama's stunning offense to Israel and the Jewish people

Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: America's first Muslim president?

June 8, 2009

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Merchant must take responsibility for careless shopper?

Mark Steyn: A superpower that feeds on mediocrity cannot survive for long on leftovers from the past

Richard Z. Chesnoff: How do you say 'kumbaya' in Arabic?

June 5, 2009

Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski: In quest of spirituality

Caroline B. Glick: Obama's Arabian dreams

Charles Krauthammer: The Settlements Myth

June 4, 2009

Paul Greenberg: The War Comes to Little Rock

The Kosher Gourmet by Judy Hevrdejs: Splash it on! Tap your inner jazz musician and improvise when stirring up a vinaigrette

June 3, 2009

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Q. Should terrible teacher be exposed?

Jonathan Rosenblum: The Israel Lobby: Missing in Action

June 2, 2009

Dennis Prager: The Speech President Obama Won't Dare Give in Egypt

Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: Pressure on Israel raises war risk

Oct. 29, 2003
Mortimer B. Zuckerman: Graffiti On History's Walls (MUST-READ!)

Jewish World Review Sept. 14, 2004 / 28 Elul 5764

Thank Heaven for the simple, spiritual life

By Ari L. Goldman


What a former religion reporter for The New York Times has come to appreciate about the ‘oppressiveness’ of his religion


http://www.jewishworldreview.com | Growing up Orthodox, there were few things we feared more than the three-day yom tov — that oddity of the Jewish calendar that juxtaposed a festival with a Sabbath, giving us a stretch of days we called "the triple whammy." For us, it meant three days with no radio, no records, no television, no telephone, no travel and no shopping.

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As a series of three-day yom tovs approaches this year, however, I actually find myself looking forward to the experience. The first comes with Rosh Hashanah (Sept. 16-17), followed by Sukkos (Sept. 30-Oct. 1) and Simchas Torah and Shmini Atzeres (Oct. 7-8). Each observance is lengthened one day by the Sabbath that follows it.


It's not only that I'm an adult and have come to appreciate what once was oppressive. It's not only that I have a family of my own that I want to savor for an extra day. The main reason that I look forward to nine days of yom tov in the coming weeks is the galloping growth of technology in our daily lives.


It is relentless. I easily get a hundred e-mails a day. And there's no escaping it. I've got a desktop at work, a laptop when I travel and another desktop at home. Between the five of us in our family, there are six computers, five cell phones, two Palm Pilots and two Ipods. My children, with earphones in place, remind me of Secret Service agents. Someone's phone is always ringing, or, if not, beeping to let us know that a message is waiting.

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When we had to give up television for three-day yom tovs 40 years ago, it meant giving up three channels. Now there are 300. TV is a constant barrage of entertainment and information. And even if we manage to limit it at home, it's at the airport, in stores, in hotels, in the office, even in school. News comes at us at a rapid pace, from the radio, from our phones, even from news zippers on top of taxicabs. FOX and CNN have taken the pleasure out of reading a daily newspaper. We know what happened well before it lands on our doorstep.


Israelis, who manage to escape most three-day yom tovs because of their one-day observance of most festivals, will get a taste of it this Rosh Hashanah, which is two days everywhere. Judging from my Israeli relatives, they're even more in need of a high-tech break than we Americans are. They had cell phones long before we did. Their obsession with the news makes us look like amateur news junkies.


My extended family spent Passover in Israel last April and, like other Modern Orthodox families, were swayed by a newly popular rabbinic ruling that diaspora Jews visiting Israel did not have to observe the second day of yom tov. At first it seemed like a relief, but I soon realized what a diaspora Jew I am. I actually missed the second seder.


We won't be in Israel for the coming holidays, so bring on the triple whammys. As Sabbath observers, we already know what it is to unplug for a day. Two days is unusual, but three is almost imaginable. I can't wait. I've got my holiday reading all lined up. And I'll read it in book form — old-fashioned paper between two hard covers — and not on my Palm. I can't wait to pick up The Times in the morning, see a headline and declare, "I didn't know that!" I look forward to a family meal uninterrupted by the ringing or beeping of a telephone. I want to talk to my children without waiting for them to press the "Stop" button.


The challenge, of course, is to try to have some of the three-day yom tov spirit permeate the rest of our lives. Rosh Hashanah represents new beginnings, so maybe we can change our daily behavior and not race after every message. ... But, wait, there goes my cell phone and my computer just dinged with a new message and I've got to catch the latest news and play my favorite album. … Thank G-d for triple whammys.

Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in Washington and in the media consider "must reading." Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.

Ari L. Goldman teaches journalism and is the dean of students at Columbia University Journalism School. He welcomes your comments. To send a message, please click here.

© 2004, Ari L. Goldman. This column first appeared in the New York Jewish Week.