Short Takes

Sign Of The Times: Gays March, ‘No One Cared’

06/05/2012 | Helen Chernikoff | Staff Writer

Even as the brilliantly sunny Sunday of the Celebrate Israel Parade turned into an overcast and chilly start to the workweek, excitement persisted over the long-sought inclusion of a coalition of organizations representing lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered Jews.

Honoring ‘The Queen’ Of Yiddish Preservation

06/05/2012 | George Robinson | Special To The Jewish Week

Chana Mlotek admits that at 90 she’s a little less productive than she used to be.

“My legs don’t go as fast as they did,” she says, her eyes twinkling. “But I can still work three times a week at YIVO, I still write a column for the Forverts, and the work is always interesting.”

Tweeting #Torah For Shavuot

05/29/2012 | Helen Chernikoff | Staff Writer

Some people get ready for Shavuot by making blintzes. Some draft notes on the text to be taught or learned in the wee hours of the morning at one of the all-night sessions during which the giving of the Torah at Sinai is celebrated through study.

And some congregate on Twitter, the micro-blogging website on which posts can be no longer than 140 characters, composing their own tweets of Torah, reading others’ efforts and furiously re-tweeting.

Hold The Bagels: Two Jews Schmeer ‘Battleship’

05/29/2012 | Adam Dickter | Assistant Managing Editor/Online Editor

Roper and Ebert, they’re not, but John and Joan Schwartz have some strong opinions about the latest movies they’d like to share.

“ ‘Battleship’ sucked,” and the recent action movie flop based on a board game may be the worst movie they have ever seen.

Still, it gets one and-a-half-bagels out of sheer generosity.

That’s one of the few times they agree, said Joan, who said Terrence Malick’s 2011 Oscar-nominated “Tree of Life” was a “masterpiece” while John hated it.

Niddah Beyond The Kallah Class

05/22/2012 | Helen Chernikoff | Staff Writer

When Yeshivat Maharat, the school that trains Orthodox women as spiritual and halachic leaders, started last fall to plan its first public symposium, Dean Rabba Sara Hurwitz planned to call the event “Menstruation, Sexuality and Modesty,” but was persuaded to drop the idea.

“We thought nobody would turn up for that,” she said.

Omer Counting For Sports Fans

05/22/2012 | Steve Lipman | Staff Writer

Last Friday after sunset, Jewish worshipers recited the traditional prayer over the counting of the Omer, the seven-week period between the second day of Passover and Shavuot. The count that night was 42. Or it could have been Jackie Robinson, Ronnie Lott or Connie Hawkins, depending on if you were a baseball, football or basketball fan.