November 2015 – Excerpted

“Israelis who move to the United States tend to be secular and to have little patience with the Israeli rabbinate…”

30 November 201527 October 2015 Drew KaplanUncategorized

Israelis who move to the United States tend to be secular and to have little patience with the Israeli rabbinate and its rigid, unaccommodating rabbis. Those Israeli-Americans who have begun the process of becoming more[…]

“As cities move beyond recycling paper and metals, and into glass, food scraps and assorted plastics, the costs rise sharply while the environmental benefits decline and sometimes vanish”

30 November 201527 October 2015 Drew KaplanEnvironment

As cities move beyond recycling paper and metals, and into glass, food scraps and assorted plastics, the costs rise sharply while the environmental benefits decline and sometimes vanish. “If you believe recycling is good for[…]

“What was a cultural monolith fragmented into many niches, and the official language of hose gave way to a Babel of vernacular”

29 November 201527 October 2015 Drew KaplanClothing

Those people who find hosiery a pain are free to renounce it, while those who enjoy or endure it can indulge a multiplicity of pleasures — all the old thrills of all the old frills[…]

“…remove words in such a manner that no one would notice that anything has been removed”

29 November 201527 October 2015 Drew KaplanWriting

…remove words in such a manner that no one would notice that anything has been removed. Easier with some writers than with others. It’s as if you were removing freight cars here and there in[…]

“With an earful of foam, rush hours become office hours, but quieter still”

27 November 20153 November 2015 Drew KaplanClothing

To use Mack’s Soft Foam Earplugs, you roll them like boogers between your thumb and forefinger and stuff them in your ears. As the foam expands, creating a seal between your brain and the world,[…]

“’Do you know who I am?’ suggests self-preening, a public sort of dismissal”

26 November 20153 November 2015 Drew KaplanSemantics

“Do you know who I am?” suggests self-preening, a public sort of dismissal. It usually belies deep insecurity and a strong need for approval. Erica Brown, “Do You Know Who I Am?”, The Jewish Week[…]

“…it’s unsettling to encounter a prospective leader whose persona is so conspicuous and well defined and yet whose core is so obtuse”

26 November 20153 November 2015 Drew KaplanPolitics in America

Trump might be the single most self-involved yet least introspective person I have ever met in my life, in or out of politics. I’m guessing he would say this is a good quality in a[…]

“Cascade holds the distinction of being the first American-produced flavoring hop, utilized to impart a unique flavor profile in the beer”

25 November 201527 October 2015 Drew KaplanBeer

By the 1970s, the main United States bittering hop was a strain called Cluster, grown largely in the Yakima Valley in Oregon and the Willamette Valley in Washington. Cascade holds the distinction of being the[…]

“…American liberalism had a lot of the South in it”

25 November 20153 November 2015 Drew KaplanAmerica

After slavery had ended and Reconstruction gave way to the Jim Crow system, the Democratic Party was, for decades, an unlikely marriage of the white South (the black South effectively couldn’t vote) and blue-collar workers[…]

“A professor needs to be a professor in a classroom, and a rabbi needs to be a rabbi when officiating at a wedding but neither needs a title on vacation”

24 November 20153 November 2015 Drew KaplanJobs/Professions

A doctor needs to be a doctor around patients but not at a shul picnic (unless someone chokes on fried chicken). A professor needs to be a professor in a classroom, and a rabbi needs[…]

Excerpted

Excerpts of Interest

Month: November 2015

“Israelis who move to the United States tend to be secular and to have little patience with the Israeli rabbinate…”

“As cities move beyond recycling paper and metals, and into glass, food scraps and assorted plastics, the costs rise sharply while the environmental benefits decline and sometimes vanish”

“What was a cultural monolith fragmented into many niches, and the official language of hose gave way to a Babel of vernacular”

“…remove words in such a manner that no one would notice that anything has been removed”

“With an earful of foam, rush hours become office hours, but quieter still”

“’Do you know who I am?’ suggests self-preening, a public sort of dismissal”

“…it’s unsettling to encounter a prospective leader whose persona is so conspicuous and well defined and yet whose core is so obtuse”

“Cascade holds the distinction of being the first American-produced flavoring hop, utilized to impart a unique flavor profile in the beer”

“…American liberalism had a lot of the South in it”

“A professor needs to be a professor in a classroom, and a rabbi needs to be a rabbi when officiating at a wedding but neither needs a title on vacation”