My Dad sent me an article from JPost named Tefillin causes bomb scare on US flight (FYI, my dad uses the email this to a friend feature). The story is interesting.

A 17 year old boy took out his Tefillin on a flight, in order to pray the morning Jewish services. The thing was, he wasn't flying to a destination that has many Jews. Typically, when you fly at certain times (Jewish holidays) and to certain places (places with lots of Jews) you are bound to see a Jewish person putting on Tefillin in the morning to pray.

You would see this all the time if you flew to Israel or into New York or Los Angeles. In this case, he was flying out from New York but to Louisville, Kentucky. I don't think there is that big of a Jewish population in Louisville. Wikipedia says:

There is a Jewish population of around 8,500 in the city served by five synagogues. Most Jewish families emigrated from Eastern Europe at the turn of the 20th century; around 800 Soviet Jews have moved to Louisville since 1991.[56] Jewish immigrants founded Jewish Hospital, which was once the center of the city's Jewish district. Jewish Hospital recently merged with the Catholic healthcare system CARITAS. On one corner near Bowman field are located the one orthodox temple, Shalom Towers, the Jewish Community Center and Jewish Family and Vocational Service.

So not huge, at all.

I am honestly surprised this doesn't come up more often. Whenever I go through security with my Tefillin, I wonder if someone will question me. They are strange black boxes with paper in them. Just seems weird, I would think.

This boy took a 7:30am flight and the flight duration was 90 minutes. I am not sure why he could not have prayed before or after the flight. I guess the 90 minute flight is a good time to do that, but still.

Read more at JPost.com.

Posted at 2:03 PM | Permalink | Category: Just Interesting , Religion , Travels | Comments (3)

This is my first Chanukah (Hanukah) as a dad and it is different from my previous Chanukahs. Now, instead of me getting presents, the presents are all given to my daughter.

Let me tell you, my daughter really 'cashed in' this Chanukah. She got tons of toys and even some jewelry. Of course, I had to spend a nice portion of my Sunday building her toys - as she slept. But hey, that is what we do.

At this age, about 7 months now (yes, time flies), she really had no interest in getting the presents. A classic moment was when she got her bracelet and instead of grabbing the bracelet, she went for the box it came in. Got to love that. Oh, and she loved all the wrapping paper - what 7 month old doesn't?

It is definitely more enjoyable watching your kid get a gift than getting a gift myself. There is something about kids and gifts that is both funny and nice.

It doesn't mean I didn't get any gift. I did get something from my parents. Last year I got an iHome and Jets Slippers and in 2006 I got a Linksys router, projector alarm clock and a binary pillow. Oh, I did get a gift card to my favorite restaurant from a business colleague but overall (so far) the incoming schwag this year has been disappointing).

Sorry for this choppy post, being constantly distracted as I write it.

Posted at 3:09 PM | Permalink | Category: Religion | Comments (1)

As you know, Sukkots is around the corner. I got my Lulav & Esrog and I have built my Sukkah. I bet this is an interesting for non-Jewish people to see Jews practicing (people shaking trees and fruits and living in a temporary house, outside of your real house - real weird, no?). In any event, I finally finished my first Sukkah last night and I wanted to show it off.

On September 13th, I put up the frame with the help of my father and brother. I don't have pictures of that, but here is a picture of the metal polls fitting (snapping) together.

Then this past Sunday, in a light rain, I put up the nylon walls. They basically velcro onto the metal frame. Here are some pictures of the walls going up:

Tuesday night, I put up the roof (known as S'chach), which consists of bamboo. I got the roll out mats of bamboo to make my life easier. I had three mats to put up. I first took wood polls, laid them across the top of the frame and then rolled out the mats on top of the wood polls.

Last night, I put up the lights, as you can see in the picture above as well. I also hung the few decorations we have. But the decorations are very tasteful. They are basically arrangements of fake grapes and a fruit, next to the grapes. Here is a picture of one:

I then wired up the lights to the outdoor timer box and tied down the wires, so they are out of the way.

This is a continuation of my previous Sukkah posts, including o Sukkah shopping, planning the sukkah, finding out it was two inches too long and you can also see my Sukkah in Google Sketchup.

This is my first Sukkah. What do you think?

Posted at 12:15 PM | Permalink | Category: Family , Homey , Religion | Comments (1)

Last night, I purchased my (and two others) Lulav & Esrog (אתרוג) for the holiday of Sukkots. The past few years, basically since I have been married, I have rarely picked out my Lulav and Esrog. Why? Well, my father-in-law did, so I didn't have to go on an airplane with it. This time, the father-in-law is coming to me, so I had the privilege of returning the favor.

This is why I had to go Sukkah shopping, bought after planning for the sukkah and found out it was two inches too long. Last night, I finished putting up the Sukkah (I'll have pictures another day), but you can view the virtual Sukkah in Google Sketchup to get an idea of how it looks.

Back on the topic of the Esrog. I personally prefer an Esrog without a Pitom. The pitom is the top of the Esrog, where the little piece comes out. If it breaks off, which happens, then it is not "kosher." If it grows without it, then it is kosher and you don't run the risk of it breaking off. Here is a picture of one with the Pitom.

The pitom is on the left of this picture.

As you can see, it can break if dropped or handled wrong.

So I picked it up last night. Mine is currently very green. The guy I bought it from told me to put it in a paper brown bag with an apple. In a day or so, the green should fade more into yellow. Let's see...

Posted at 10:16 AM | Permalink | Category: Religion | Comments (2)

Friday night is the start of the two days of Rosh Hashanah, but did you know that Saturday is Talk Like a Pirate Day? You see the pickle I am in? I don't know if I should come to synagogue (shul) dressed in a pirate costume or if that would be just too over the top and inappropriate.

I mean, I can come in both:

Think that would work? ;-)

In any event, if you do go to synagogue and you want to geek yourself out on that day, then just tell your friend...

Happy New Yaaaaaar!

They might think you are crazy, but who cares - you will laugh and that is all that matters.

Everyone, have a happy and healthy New Yaaaar!

Posted at 10:34 AM | Permalink | Category: Just Funny , Just Weird , Religion | Comments (4)

I made what? It is called Challah (see Wikipedia). Basically, it is bread that is braided and eaten by Jews on the Sabbath and holidays. Here is a picture of it:

Okay, fine - I didn't make it. My wife made it and I came down stairs to see her status with the Challah and it looked good. You know, the fresh dough - it smelled so good, I wanted to eat it. So the leftover dough, I convinced my wife to let me braid it. I really wanted to eat it, but I didn't. I picked a braid from the book and went with it.

That is how it came out. Not bad? Ehh?

Last time I braided a challah was when I was in day camp and I was like 5 years old. :)

Posted at 3:44 PM | Permalink | Category: Food , Religion | Comments (3)

One of the worst parts of going to conferences is the lack of kosher places to eat. It is not an issue in New York or Chicago (places can be far to get to in Chicago). But it is an issue in places like San Jose and Seattle, and so on.

Last night, right before the last session ended, I get an email from a Jewish guy named Eli I know who lives in this area. He said, did you know about the new kosher place that is in Mountain View. He sent me the details of the place via email. We (Steve) ended up meeting Eli and his wife there.

The place is named The Kitchen Restaurant and it is a really nice place. The service, food and atmosphere was excellent.

Now when people want me to go out for dinner with them, I can say - yes, but it has to be at the Kitchen Restaurant. It was about a $50 cab ride each way. The prices of the food were not too expensive, relative to NY. I will 100% come back here when I go to SMX West, maybe you will join me.

Oh, the picture is from my Kosher iPhone app, which did have the place there, with several positive reviews. You can read the reviews without the app at Shamash.org.

Posted at 8:49 AM | Permalink | Category: Religion , Travels | Comments (1)

Yesterday, as many of you know, I flew first class for the first time. It was a really nice flight, we took off on time, landed on time, quick to the gate, quick to exit (non-of that was due to 1st class). But the space, leg room, food, bathroom, and comfort of first class is nice.

Anyway, I was actually surprised to see that they upgraded the kosher meal to a "first class" version of the kosher meal.

It started with an appetizer:

Then the main and dessert courses came together:

The "normal" first class meals had choices of steak and other selections. They also had an awesome looking ice cream dessert, really looked great.

I am not thinking, "I can't go back to coach." Honestly, right now, I am thinking that I won't have an issue with the seat I have on the way back. But I am be a big talker now, I'll let you know when I land on Friday, how it is. Or who knows, maybe I'll get upgraded again (wishful thinking).

Posted at 9:37 AM | Permalink | Category: Religion , Travels | Comments (4)

A couple days ago, I built my Sukkah using Google's CAD like software named Skechtup. It basically allows you to design full 3D models, including homes, towns, etc. So I decided to teach myself how to use it and within hours, I had built my own Sukkah. A Sukkah is a temporary home used by Jewish people during the holiday of Sukkot (more at Wikipedia).

Here is a video of my Sukkah using Sketchup. I didn't build out the whole deck, but you get the point. Oh, yes, one wall, the one on the side of the home, is left open on purpose.

This is my on going coverage of my Sukkah purchase and deployment process, in which I should have all the right pieces now. I did my Sukkah shopping, planned the Sukkah and then noticed it was two inches too long, but now we should be set. I hope to put the whole thing up this weekend.

Posted at 4:35 PM | Permalink | Category: Computers , Homey , Religion | Comments (1)

Matisyahu, the popular musician known for his Jewish reggae and for being a Chabad/Lubavitch Jew uses our iPhone Apps.

How do I know? Last night, he tweeted that he is looking for kosher food in Japan. A guy name Ross, replied to him, telling him to get our Kosher iPhone app. Matisyahu then replied to that saying:

wow I have the siddur but didn't know about kosher

So, Matisyahu, the famous musician, that has over 600,000 followers on Twitter and a huge following in the real world, uses our iPhone Siddur and probably now has our Kosher iPhone app. I bet he will be excited to learn that the next version will have an enhanced Chabad siddur. Update, it seems Matisyahu doesn't want to "box" himself into the Chabad sect, see more at Wikipedia, pretty interesting.

Posted at 9:37 AM | Permalink | Category: Religion , iPhone | Comments (2)

Yesterday, I had an unavoidable meeting I had to attend in the afternoon. Yesterday was Tisha b'Av, a very sad day in Jewish history. Jewish people typically fast all day and act like they are in a state of mourning. So I often try not to schedule meetings on that day, but if you must, it is best to do it after the second half of the day, which was 1:02pm.

So I schedule a meeting with a client at 1:00pm, which we really didn't start until 1:10 or so. The thing is, besides for fasting and not feeling so great, I was not able to wear leather shoes. Why not? Well, it is a state of mourning not to wear leather, including leather shoes. Typically, when you go to synagogue on these days (Tisha b'Av & Yom Kippur) you see people wearing slippers or canvas shoes.

I couldn't wear slippers to this meeting, so I purchased pleather (plastic leather) shoes from Payless. Here is the product, I think I ordered. As you can see, they look like they are leather, but they are really plastic. They are way cheaper, but even more important, they are legal for these types of days.

So I looked pretty normal at the meeting. Actually, at the end of the meeting, we were all standing up talking and I looked down at everyone's shoes. My pleather shoes looked a billion times nicer than any of the other shoes there.

Posted at 2:19 PM | Permalink | Category: Religion | Comments (5)

We just posted version 4.1 of the iPhone Siddur which has many improvements, but the two most significant changes is a way to upgrade to the official Chabad (aka Nusach Ari) prayers from Kehot Publication Society and major speed improvements.

The Chabad Jewish sect has been waiting for this and we finally worked out a deal with the copyright owners of the Nusach Ari Siddur. Kehot Publication Society technically owns the rights to that Siddur, so we were not able to publish the full text until they gave us their approval. The deal is simple, we ask those who want to have the official Nusach Ari siddur to pay an additional $5 and it adds the official text to their iPhone Siddur. Of the $5, Apple takes 30% (like they do with all apps) and Kehot gets 70% - RustyBrick is not taking a dime extra for this, we are happy with 70% of the $10.

Let me show you how the upgrade process works (using Apple's "In App Purchases" feature).

Go to the Nusach Ari text of the Siddur and notice the blue button at the top right that says "Upgrade."

You are then taken to a screen that explains the price and details of the upgrade:

Click "Upgrade" and Apple asks you to confirm (your iTunes account will be charged):

Click "Buy" and then the transaction should go through and you will know you have been upgraded if you see the "upgrade" button turn into a "Kehot.com" button:

That is how you upgrade.

The other changes are speed improvements, including downsizing the overall size of the application and speeding up the loading of the Siddur. The Siddur sometimes uses the Internet and when the Internet connection is slow, it slows down the Siddur. We finally made that part run in the background, which seriously improves load times throughout the application. It was a major issue this morning when AT&T had an outage and it took a minute or so for my Siddur to load (due to the time out we set).

Other improvements include:

• Added Today Button to Luach
• Added Favorite Tefilot Feature
• Overall Speed Improvements & Downsized Application
• Misc Changes to Edut Mizrach & Sefard
• Bug Fix for Luach & Mizrach Orientation Alert
• Updated Minyan Database

It can take a week or so for Apple to approve this update, so expect it to come out soon.

Posted at 10:51 AM | Permalink | Category: Religion , iPhone | Comments (0)

As many of you know, I purchased a Palm Pre to test out some of our apps for porting them from iPhone Apps to Palm Pre Apps.

We have finally submitted our first Pre app for review to the Palm team. I have no idea how long it would take to be approved. I can tell you that it is free and works almost exactly like the iPhone Shabbat Shalom app. Here is a video demo of how it will run on the Palm Pre:

FYI, click HD to play it in high definition quality.

In any event, to be notified of when it comes out, sign up at this page.

Posted at 10:04 AM | Permalink | Category: Computers , Religion | Comments (0)

To continue my Sukkah shopping experience, after having purchased and planned the Sukkah, I thought perfectly, I was two inches off. Why you ask? Well, I (we) didn't account for the extra inch the vertical connecting bars add to the length of the sukkah.

Here is a picture, as you can see, the vertical connecting piece connects the bars across the bottom of the floor (as well in the middle and top).

So when you have two of these vertical connecting bars, it adds an additional two inches. Since I can only fit 22 feet on the home side, I was two inches above 22 feet long on that side. Here is a picture of the overlap of the polls:

I was worried about the length side of the Sukkah fitting, so that is why I did a test run on putting it up two plus months before Sukkot starts. I called the Sukkah dealer, Esrog Headquarters and explained what happened, and he said he will swap out the middle length bars of 6 feet, to 5 feet, which should make the Sukkah fit fine.

Hopefully this will help others when planning on buying their custom fit sukkah. I also learned that this sukakh is named the Klick Sukkah or the Ease Lock Sukkah or the Snap Sukkah depending on who is selling it. Downloading the Ease Lock instructions (PDF) helped me build the frame, even though I have a custom build.

When I get the replacement parts, I'll try putting it up once again.

Posted at 9:45 AM | Permalink | Category: Homey , Religion | Comments (2)

It is customary for Jewish boys and girls in some communities to spend a year learning in Israel prior to attending college or university. I personally had the privilege to experience a year in Israel, as did many of my friends.

I recently learned that the place I spent most of that year learning, Ner Yaakov, is not opening this year. Ner Yaakov is a Yeshiva (Jewish school) for American Jewish boys between high-school and college. The news of them not opening this year was released on July 15th and came as a shock to many. The reason they did not open this year was mostly due to economic hardships. The Rosh HaYeshiva (head of the school), Rabbi Yehoshua Liff wrote a letter explaining his decision.

I believe the school has been around for at least twenty-years. Plus, my brother, Adam, attended the school several years before me, and really never left. Yes, he went home to complete his secular education, but he went back and worked with students in the school since. This will be his first year in probably, well over a decade, not teaching at Ner Yaakov.

The popular Jewish blog, Yeshiva World News covered the news as well.

In any event, it is a shame to see the Yeshiva not open this year. The web site, which RustyBrick hosts and built, will remain up for as long as requested.

Posted at 10:25 AM | Permalink | Category: Business , Religion | Comments (1)

Gizmodo ran a story named Orthodox Jewish Couple Sues Over Motion-Sensing Light on Sunday. It has been driving some buzz in the social space.

I actually mentioned the Jewish issue with motion sensing lights in March 2008 when I wrote about buying dark sensing lights for my home.

In short, an observant Jew technically cannot turn on or off lights on Shabbat. There are actually lots of things we cannot do, but let's discuss just Shabbat (Shabbos). A Jew cannot turn on or off lights on Shabbos. I won't get into why, we just can't. We can set lights to go on automatically, i.e. based on a timer or on dark sensing technology, but we cannot do anything physically that would turn on or off the light.

That includes flipping a switch, clapping your hands, walking past motion sensing lights. Why? Well, simply cause my action is causing the light to turn on. So when a building installed motion sensing lights in the entry way of the building, it caused the observant Jewish people to not be able to access that entry way. If there is another way in or out, they should use it. If not, I am not sure what they can do, outside of asking a neighbor to walk in or out before they do (as to not trigger the light to go on themselves). Of course, it might be an issue to ask others to do that for you as well.

I am not a Rabbi, so I am not an authority on this topic. But I do remember learning in school about this specific case. There is a topic just on things like this. If you have no intention of turning on a light, but it turns on because of something you did, is it allowed? It depends. Is the outcome (light turning on) helping you in anyway? In the case of this building, it would because otherwise it would be dark. By walking by, without having intention of turning on the light, but the action of walking by the sensor does turn on the light, and because you benefit from the light (i.e. it makes a dark room, lit so you can see better), technically, you cannot walk by that sensor.

Of course, if you did not know that walking by would turn on the light, then there is not much you can do. But after a a few times, figuring out that walking by the light does turn it on, in the dark, then you got an issue.

This is a common issue in modern day Jewish life. I have the issue when I walk home from synagogue on Friday night. One of the neighbors has this light in their driveway. I do my best to walk on the far side of the street, virtually in the woods, and as slow as possible, so that I would not set off the light. Most of the time, the light does not go off, when I do that.

I don't subscribe to Gizmodo, but I do read their blog posts often. The way I spotted this article is via Twitter. But the Twitter user is the son of my elementary school principle/Rabbi, Eliyahu Fink. Too funny.

Posted at 10:45 AM | Permalink | Category: Religion | Comments (3)

The other day, I described my Sukkah shopping plans. I wanted to let you know, last night, I placed an order for my first Sukkah. I put a lot of work into planning the Sukkah and emailing those plans to Sukkah vendors.

First, I wanted to tell you that I purchased the Klick Sukkah from Esrog Headquarters (what is an Esrog, see Wikipedia). Levy, who owns Esrog Headquarters was extremely patient with me and worked with me to get the perfect Sukkah for my needs. We went with a custom version of the Klick, so that I can have multiple entry ways, as well as maximize the square footage for my deck, and leave a portion open for the potential BBQ. I should also mention that Marty from Sukkahs.com was very helpful. In fact, it was between Levy's Klick Sukkah and Marty's Plastic Sukkah, the plastic one kind of looks like a Fisher Price playhouse.

Why did I go with the Klick?

(1) Easy to store
(2) Netted windows and doors (very buggy in my area)
(3) Was able to customize it for my needs
(4) Fabric walls feel more 'Sukkos' to me than plastic

But when it came down to it, I would not have been able to buy, what I believe is the perfect Sukkah without planning properly. I drew I diagram of my deck by hand, wrote the dimensions down and then copied it into Photoshop. I used photoshop to make a, to scale, digital version of the deck and where I want to place the Sukkah. I then was able to place lines on top of the deck, for where I wanted the Sukkah to see how it would fit and line up with the various entry ways. The diagram will also be vital in building the Sukkah each year, basically my blue print.

Here is a version of my diagram:

Why did I use Photoshop? Well, I know Photoshop well enough to get this done right. I switched the settings to use millimeters (which represented inches in my case), instead of the default pixels. So one millimeter was an inch, in my case, which allowed me to draw things to scale. I then dropped shapes and lines on top of the deck to see how things would fit. I guess I could use CAD programs to do this, but I don't know CAD. There are web versions, but I didn't find any I liked with the detail I needed. So Photoshop took me about 20 minutes to set up and I used that as a template going forward.

All in all, I strongly recommend Levy at Esrog Headquarters and if you do buy anything online, just the affiliate URL (just signed up, didn't know they offer it), so I get a commission to pay for the decorations.

Updates to my Sukkah adventure:

• Two Inches Too Long: Snap, Klick or Easy Lock Sukkah

Posted at 11:00 AM | Permalink | Category: Homey , Religion | Comments (2)

So I have been in the new house almost two years now, and this Sukkot, I hope to finally build my own sukkuah. What is a Sukkah? See over here.

What I did was measure my deck, which is typically where people would put their sukkah, if they have a deck. I had my wife draw the deck on a piece of blank paper, since I was holding my baby, then I measured every thing. My deck is not a standard rectangle or square, the rectangle gets smaller on the kitchen side. Now I do not need to cover my whole deck with the sukkah, but it might be nice to.

I am not sure, since this is my first sukkah. A 10 x 20 sukkah would easily fit on the large side of the deck and that might be large enough.

So what I did was make a digital version of my deck's dimensions, and emailed a few sukkah dealers that came up on Google. I got one response so far, hope to get more. I am looking for something that is easy, but yet will last a long time and be more useful for my deck's shape and size.

I am thinking that the Sunshine Sukkah as a top candidate, but again, this is premature. I would love to have two doors, possibly three, again, not sure. We will see.

Any Sukkah specialists out there with any advice?

Oh, and how cool is that picture? A sukkah on a boat in Venice.

Update: I purchased the Sukkah from Esrog Headquarters, for more about that purchase, see my blog post named Buying a Sukkah & Planning. The Snap, Klick or Easy Lock Sukkah is now Two Inches Too Long and Esrog Headquarters said they will send replacement parts, so stay tuned.

Posted at 10:26 AM | Permalink | Category: Homey , Religion | Comments (1)

Our first ad was pretty neat, but we thought we change it up a bit and make a new version. Does this ad format look similar to something you have seen?

Larger version over here.

Posted at 1:43 PM | Permalink | Category: Religion , RustyBrick , iPhone | Comments (1)

Observant Jewish men put on what is called Tefillin during weekday morning prayer services. I blogged about this when my oldest nephew put them on for the first time - proud moment.

I recently learned that my Tefillin, which I received when I became Bar Mitzvah were not all that great. They were probably "kosher" but they were not much beyond being kosher or what you would consider a quality set of Tefillin. So, I ordered a new pair of Tefillin from a Sofer (Jewish scribe) that turns out to be a blogger also.

I didn't find out the sofer blogs until after I picked up my new set. He told me he has a web site but it stinks compared to his blog. His web site is at MezuzaDepot.com but his blog is at MezuzaDepot.com/Blog.

Tefillin are kind of like diamonds, you need to be able to trust the person who sells them to you. He explained that he can't compete with stores selling Tefillin for $200. He sells higher quality Tefillin (more care goes into making them) then the cheap sellers. The way he shows people who find his web site that he is honest, experienced and trustworthy, is through his blog. I found it funny that someone in the Jewish scribe business understood this. He understands social media and all that blogging stuff, even though he is in the religious business. :)

Anyway, if your in need of quality Jewish products like Tefillin, Mezuzahs, Torahs and so on - this guy is the real deal!

Just too funny... How fitting is it that I bought this from a blogger?

Posted at 3:15 PM | Permalink | Category: Religion | Comments (2)

Today is Lag BaOmer, so we decided to do a little theme for the Search Engine Roundtable. Here is info on Lag BaOmer and typically, people do bonfires for the event.

Posted at 2:21 PM | Permalink | Category: Religion | Comments (0)

I missed this news, but someone share it with me today. Via the AP, NFL changes time of Jets game on Yom Kippur. What happened was the Jets had two games scheduled on two Jewish holidays, week-to-week.

The first game was on the second day of Rosh Hashanah, on September 20th and the second game was on the eve of Yom Kippur. New York is packed with Jews and even non-observant Jews tend to stay away from football games on these two very popular holidays. So the NY Jets were upset that many of their fans would not be able to attend not just one game, but two consecutive games.

I assume the NFL couldn't change both games, so they opted to change the Sunday game to start at 1pm, as opposed to 4:15pm, this way Jewish New Yorkers can get to the game and also be at Yom Kippur services at night.

Often when search marketing conferences are scheduled, the organizers know to ask me if the dates might conflict with Jewish holidays. They always make a point to check this fact when scheduling conferences in the New York area. Like I said, New York is more heavily populated by observant Jewish people, when compared to other regions. It just makes business sense.

Jimmy Kimmel has a very funny clip on this new, very funny. I can't embed it, but you can watch it at YouTube.

Posted at 2:23 PM | Permalink | Category: Religion , Sports | Comments (0)

Tonight are the last two days of Passover for Jews outside of Jerusalem.

I go offline tonight through Thursday night. So keep things slow and don't, I repeat, do not email me. :)

The picture above is of a soda cap from a coca cola bottle. It is normally yellow, symbolizing it is kosher for Passover. The P next to the O with the U in it means kosher for Passover. I am not going to get into what kosher for passover means, but if you want to read about it, see the Wiki article on Chametz.

Speak to you all in a couple days and for those Jews out there, Happy Pesach.

Posted at 5:04 PM | Permalink | Category: Religion | Comments (0)

Tonight starts the first days of Passover. We are having a lot of family over for the meals (seders) and for the whole holiday.

I am actually pretty tired right now, not because I did a lot to prepare. In fact, my wife worked her butt off preparing for everyone. She really did a ton of work and deserves huge props... Plus she did it while being 8-months pregnant! So why am I tired? Picked up the in-laws last night from the airport, and the flight was a bit delayed. So between going to sleep very late, I had to get up a bit earlier than normal, due to Birkat Hachama and I think I only got 4 or less hours of sleep last night. Knowing today and tonight will be a long day, is kinda making me more tired. So I can complain but my wife really deserve to complain more. :)

In any event. I go offline tonight through Saturday night. So please do not email me, if you don't have to. Please don't come out with any breaking news. You know what? How about everyone goes on a four day weekend, starting tonight? Sound good?

What is with the picture above? Those are sugar jelly like candies. They are very popular for the holiday.

Posted at 12:03 PM | Permalink | Category: Religion | Comments (0)

Today is a very special and unique day, it is the day Jews believe the Sun completes a 28 year cycle where the sun has returned to its position when the world was created.

Every 28 years, Jews say a special prayer named Birkat Hachama (ברכת החמה), Blessing of the Sun, for the special day. Wikipedia has an entry that explains this in good detail:

According to Judaism, the Sun has a 28 year solar cycle known as machzor gadol (מחזור גדול, "the large cycle"). A solar year is estimated as 365.25 days and the "Blessing of the Sun", being said at the beginning of this cycle, is therefore recited every 10,227 (28 times 365.25) days. The next time that it will be recited will be on April 8, 2009 (14 Nisan 5769 on the Hebrew calendar). This coincides with the day before the Jewish Holiday of Passover (Hebrew: פסח), which is said to have happened only two other times before in history.

Technically, this is the second time I was alive for this. The first time, I was one years old, it was on Wednesday, 8 April 1981 (4 Nisan 5741). This is the second time and this time, I will remember it. The next time we say it will be Wednesday, 8 April 2037 (23 Nisan 5797).

In fact, Wikipedia has a picture of the Kotel (western wall) in Jerusalem from this morning. The place is absolutely packed. Here is that picture:

It is a bit unusual to pray to the Sun, but we pray to the moon, once a month. That is called Birkat Levanah, but it isn't technically praying to the moon or sun... :)

Posted at 9:39 AM | Permalink | Category: Religion | Comments (2)

Last year, I flooded my kitchen during the Passover cleaning process.

We have granite counters in our kitchen. There are two ways to make it "kosher for Passover."

(1) Wrap it in tinfoil (you may want to see that post)
(2) Use boiling water to get any "chamez" (bread substance) out of the granite

We prefer to not cover our house in tinfoil, so we opt to use boiling water. Last year, it made a mess and I was not eager to go through that process again.

I heard that people use steamer devices, so we asked around in a local Jewish hardware store and they said, it is a very popular item. We purchased a McCulloch Heavy Duty Steam Cleaner and went on our way.

It is a neat device. You pour 16 oz of water into it. Turn it on and let it boil the water. Then you press the button on the house and it ejects boiling out steam onto the counters. The counters steam up and get really clean.

This is not only faster to work with, it is also much cleaner and much safer.

Oh, it was a ton of fun to use as well. I steamed everything - I felt like a kid.

Posted at 2:00 PM | Permalink | Category: Religion | Comments (2)

Someone informed me this morning that the Jewish radio station here, JM in the AM, talked about the iPhone Siddur for about four minutes.

Meir Weingarten said he finds it to be "amazing" and seems to really love it. I always love hearing unsolicited comments about our products, especially when people love them. In fact, the iPhone Megillah was a huge hit over Purim.

If you are interested, listen to his review below:

Keep in mind, he only touched on a few of the many features in the iPhone Siddur.

We actually released a new version of the iPhone Siddur yesterday with some updates. It should be released within the next several days as a free update.

Posted at 10:33 AM | Permalink | Category: Religion , iPhone | Comments (0)

Today is תענית אסתר, the fast of Esther, so I won't be eating until after 8pm sometime. Basically, the fast is over at about 7:40ish tonight, but right after the fast is over, we say Megillas Esther for about 45 minutes in synagogue. Yes, I will be using my iPhone Megillah tonight.

In any event. Tomorrow, outside of Jerusalem, is Purim. It is likely the most fun Jewish holiday. Kids (and some parents) dress up in costumes and go to neighbors and celebrate by exchanging purim baskets and stuff. I might leave work a bit early, but most of the religious Jewish world takes the day off.

Tonight, kids will be dressed up in synagogue. I so wonder if any will dress up as an iPhone.... It seemed to make for a popular halloween costume this year, so who knows.

I know Cartoon Barry is decked out already in his iPhone costume!

Happy Purim!

Posted at 11:25 AM | Permalink | Category: Religion | Comments (0)

Purim is Monday night and it is customary to give gift baskets to friends on Purim day. Oh Nuts sent me a Ocean Mist Purim Basket, which I received today. Here is a picture:

Oh Nuts traditionally gives me stuff during the Jewish holidays. I really think it is incredibly kind of them. I don't expect it and it is totally not necessary but it is always nice to get one or two around the holiday season, from readers that want to say thank you.

I feel bad writing this, because I feel like this might be considered a paid link. But honestly, when I received schwag in the past, even from search engines I included links to them or to the products they sent me, thanking them.

Posted at 3:41 PM | Permalink | Category: Buddies , Religion | Comments (1)

Passover is now just around the corner and in preparation for that, we have built a free Sefirat Ha'Omer iPhone application to help you Jews count the omer between Pesach and Shavout.

It is a fairly simple application. You open it, it shows you the blessing, the day to say and the ending brachot, with the day included.

It changes every day at about 3pm (your local time).

Here is a picture:

Sign up to be notified at the Sefirat Ha'Omer iPhone app page.

Posted at 3:14 PM | Permalink | Category: Religion , iPhone | Comments (0)

This year, my wife and I (but mostly my wife) is hosting the Sedar (Passover Meal) at our house. That means we will be having over twenty people (family) at home for dinner the first night and having about eight people (family) sleep over at our home for three nights. Yea a lot of work...

So to treat myself, I decided to buy a new Kippah (the thing I wear on my head). Since I am one big comic (not), I purchased a Matzah Kippah to wear at the Seder. I bought it from the Jewish Source, since I had credit at that store and since we also needed to buy a Matzah tray.

This is not the first time I wrote about Kippahs here before. I never actually wore my McCippah out, and I paid for and ordered an LED Kippah but never actually received it. I would love one of those!

Looking forward to my Chamez (bread) free Matzah kippah!

Posted at 11:30 AM | Permalink | Category: Religion | Comments (4)

In time, we hope, for the Jewish holiday of Purim, we submitted a new (FREE) app to Apple's iTunes iPhone App Store. The new app is named Megillas Esther. What does it do?

(1) It has the Book of Esther in Hebrew so you can follow along Purim night and morning at Synagogue.

(2) It has five different noise makers, such as a machine gun, firecrackers, air horn, crowd booing and a gragger.

Here are screen captures:

Intro Screen:

The app itself:

To activate the sounds, you click on the related icons at the bottom. For a random sound, you just shake it. :)

Anyway, you can get it now in the iTunes Store.

Happy Purim!

Posted at 11:54 AM | Permalink | Category: Religion , iPhone | Comments (0)

For my Jewish iPhone people out there. The Mikvah iPhone application is now available for purchase in the iPhone.

I guess the best way for me to show how this app works is to do a video. So here it is:

You can buy this app by clicking here.

Posted at 12:22 PM | Permalink | Category: Religion , iPhone | Comments (0)

Today is New Year of the Trees also known as Tu Bi'shvat (which is the date ט״ו בשבט‎). Growing up in school, it was the day you planted trees in Israel (so we donated a few bucks to make that possible, since we couldn't physically go to Israel and plant them ourselves). Here is a picture I found on Flickr of kids planting trees (not sure it is in Israel, but you get the point):

Many Jews will eat a platter of dried fruits including the seven species associated with Israel, Wheat, Barley, Grapes, Figs, Pomegranates, Olives and Dates. Personally, I do not like dried fruit, so I skip it. :)

You can learn more about the day on Google, if you like.

Posted at 9:42 AM | Permalink | Category: Religion | Comments (0)

So I shared some pictures of the Google Tel Aviv office, but I wanted to point out one specific picture.

Jewish law requires you to put a Mezuzah on the top portion of the right doorpost of all doorways in and outside your home or office. Here is a picture of Google's Mezuzah.

Funny how they colored it Google colors. :)

Posted at 11:56 AM | Permalink | Category: Religion , Travels | Comments (0)

Based on popular request, we have built a new application for the iPhone that is named the Mikvah iPhone app. But it does a lot more than look up the closest Mikvah. It has Mikva'ot Database, Vestos or Taharas Mishpacha Schedules, Mikvah Zmanim, Family Purity Guidelines, Mikvah Checklist, Contacts and Privacy with Password Protection.

For those of you who are not observant Jews or Jews at all. This is called Taharas HaMishpacha. In short, this tool is to help observant Jews practice the strict laws of the relationship between a man and wife. There are tons and tons of laws around this and I won't get into the details, but if you want to read about it, in pieces at Wikipedia on Niddah, Mikvahs and Jewish Marriage.

Outside of that, I am way too tired to write up the screen by screen again, so just look at what I wrote and the screen captures at rustybrick.com/iphone/mikvah. A ton of work went into this program.

Here are some of those screen captures:

Posted at 4:01 PM | Permalink | Category: Religion , iPhone | Comments (9)

A month or so ago, we signed a deal (well, there were no signatures), to re-create the image and coding of Yad Eliezer's web site. I had the privilege with meeting with the family who runs the American operations and initiatives in my New York office. They described all the things they do for Israel, including and I am sure I am missing things... Thousand and thousands of food baskets for the hungry and for soldiers, weddings, big brother and sister programs, dental programs, baby formula, bar mitzvah programs and so much more. You can learn a bit about their programs over here (keep in mind, the site will change in the next few months, after we finish it).

The people who manage the American side of things really made an impression on me. It is a father, son and mother operation. The family is well off financially and they do not take a penny for the work they do for the organization. The father and son devote a huge amount of their time and money for the organization, but the mothers spends her days and nights (full time and overtime) working for the organization. She is up often at 3am (and I thought I got up early) and works late into the night.

I have seen many organizations and this organization just seemed different to me. They are by far the largest of its kind in Israel. They are most well known for their food programs, but because of their outreach in food, it extends to other programs, that have a nice natural fit.

As you can see, I am leaving out names - just in case. So the mother asked me if I would like to see how the operation works in Israel. So we coordinated a meet up at the Yad Eliezer Israel office, where I meet a bunch of people from the team. They were extremely delighted and excited to get their new web site. But besides for that, they took my wife and myself on a tour of the operations.

They first showed us a video they just released, showing how they sent 8,000 care packages to the Israeli soldiers during the Gaza war. They were able to get tons and tons of donations and tons and tons of volunteers in no time, to put together this huge operation. It was truly special and made a huge difference in the moral of these soldiers.

After the video and him showing us the dental clinic they run up north for families that cannot afford basic dental care, he took us for the tour. I believe we first visited the packaging facility, where in 2008, they packed about 8,000 packages each month for families in need of food and babies in need of baby formula. I even met a kid I know from where I live, who is donating his time while spending a year learning in Israel. Small world. It seemed like there were about 20 people there working, and I was told only one was on payroll.

Here is a picture of a portion of the packaging area, where the volunteers took 10 minutes out to watch that new video I mentioned above. I hope they post the video to YouTube, so I can share it with you all, but here is one picture:

Then he took us to the caterer, who prepares the food for the weddings they run at cost (and often cover 100%) for poor families. Weddings are a huge deal for Jewish families, huge - so they want offer a Adopt a Jewish Wedding program, so that even poor families can have a nice wedding. So we first went to the caterer who makes a total profit of several US dollars per event (not per plate). They have at least two weddings each night (two each night!) and often more. They were prepping chickens, soup, kugel, and a lot more. Everything was very clean and very impressive looking.

We then went to the two new wedding halls Yad Eliezer owns. They were extremely nice, as nice as most normal weddings in the US. They own two halls and they are constantly used, every night for a weddings. They also are able to get other halls at very reduced costs when they have more than two weddings taking place in a single night. Again, I was very shocked to see such care.

He only showed us a portion of what they do. But the small portion I saw in the couple hours I spent with them was unbelievable. What is even more unbelievable is that most of this is all done for free through their huge volunteer base. I am often skeptical about charities, that is why it is always nice to see an organization that is fully dedicated to what they do, from their hearts and not from their wallets.

Again, I feel privileged to be able to do their web site and even more privileged to have witnessed first hand, just a small portion of what they do, to better the world.

Posted at 5:08 AM | Permalink | Category: Religion , Travels | Comments (0)

Apple just approved two new apps we released recently. They are virtually the same app, but one is named the iPhone Shabbos Clock and the other is named iPhone Auto Shutoff Alarm Clock. Let me explain how they work.

On Shabbos, religious Jews are not allowed to use the iPhone, amongst hundreds of other things. So we cannot set a normal alarm clock to wake us up for morning services on Saturday. Why? Because we cannot shut the alarm off from beeping. So they make special alarm clocks that turn themselves off after X seconds or minutes.

So we built the same idea, as an iPhone app, and named one for the Jewish crowd (i.e. iPhone Shabbos Clock) and one for the non-Jewish world (i.e. iPhone Auto Shutoff Alarm Clock), if it is helpful for non-Jewish people to have an alarm that turns off by itself.

Now that you understand the need for it and why we have two of the same app, just named for each market, let me show you how it works...

You can set up to three alarms:

You can then set how many seconds the alarm should go off for:

Once you set it, the time will show in landscape mode only:

Important things to note: Touching the screen will not do anything, except for hitting set alarm. We do this on purpose, because we don't want you to do anything by accident to the phone when it is on Shabbos. Turning the phone won't change the orientation, again - a shabbos thing. Also, make sure to keep your phone or iPod Touch plugged in, because it keeps the app open and doesn't shut off the phone or sleep it, while it is on. Also, the App must be open for it to alarm. Finally, make sure your volume is loud enough to wake you. Got all of that?

You can get the Shabbos version over here for 99 cents and the Standard version over here for 99 cents.

Posted at 9:24 AM | Permalink | Category: Religion , iPhone | Comments (1)

Remember I talked about the social release of the iPhone Siddur? Well, it was finally approved yesterday and the map feature is working. The below screen shot shows who is actively using the iPhone Siddur across the world. Note, this screen shot was from yesterday and many folks have yet to update to 3.0 and thus it would not map all the users (plus people can turn it off).

I hope to post a new screen capture or maybe a live embedded Google Map, with this data, but in the future to show a real look at who is praying with the iPhone Siddur around the world.

It would be my goal to have at least one person using it every minute of the day, except for Shabbos.

Posted at 12:27 PM | Permalink | Category: Religion | Comments (0)

Last night we had our annual family Chanukah get together. This year it was at my brother's house, around the corner from me. We first light the menorah, I used my iPhone Menorah (which is not legit, I lit again when I got home). We then ate dinner which consisted of pizza, lasagna, tuna casserole, salads, chips, and dunkin donuts.

After the food, we gave out the presents. Presents are given out in age order, from youngest to oldest. My family is big into giving presents, we go overboard sometimes.

In any event, let me share with you what I received:

I first got these awesome NY Jets Slippers by Reebok. I needed new slippers and I really like the Jets (they better win this week). Here is a picture, they are much better than my $1.99 Ikea slippers that work on any feet:

I then received an iHome for my iPhone. This is perfect because I have a billion wires on my nightstand by my bed. So this replaces my alarm clock, which I have been using since I was 13 or so and this replaces my iPhone USB charging cable. So I got one less thing plugged into my wall. I then can cleanly dock my iPhone on the top while it charges, which again, de-clutters my night stand.

Feature wise, it has bluetooth integration. So I can dial and answer calls via the speakerphone of the device. This is a time saver for me, cause in the past, whenever I got calls when in bed, I had to either lean over to talk slanted on the phone (cause the charging cable was very short) or disconnect it from charging and the cable would fall under my bed and I'd have to fish it out. Now, I do it wirelessly. It also plays my music from my iPhone, or via AM/FM. It also has two alarm clocks (I need t mess with that more). Anyway, here is a picture.

Oh, I also got a donut!

Thanks for the gifts!

Posted at 9:23 AM | Permalink | Category: Family , Religion | Comments (3)

The folks over at Oh Nuts! send me a Hanukkah Gift Basket for the holiday! In fact, this is my third gift basket from Oh Nuts this past week, but the others were from clients, vendors and so on.

I am pretty sure they sent me the Hanukkah Chocolate Wicker Basket, here is a picture of it from my iPhone:

Thanks again!

Posted at 11:43 AM | Permalink | Category: Religion | Comments (1)

So you know we have been working on what we are calling the "social" version of the iPhone Siddur. You saw the Misheberach lists where you can add and share the names on your Misheberach list with other iPhone Siddur folks. Well, let me show you some of the other features we added to 3.0, but let me say, there are more social features coming in future 3.x versions.

You can now add custom events to the Luach (Jewish Calendar). It was one of our more popular requests. Here is how it works. You go to Siddur, click on "More" and click on "Luach Events". You can then add or delete events. Here is me adding Rav Moshe Feinstein's Yahrzeit, but you can add any event you want.

You can set it by Hebrew date or English date, but it always uses the Hebrew date for going forward (i.e. it converts English date to the matching Hebrew date). It then adds it to the list view and also to the other views. If you view it, it looks like this:

FYI, you can add up to three events and if there are other white bars of information, it will override the bottom three, if it must. This does not support notifications via integration of the iPhone calendar or via email. When Apple allows us to integrate this information, we may do that. We might also release a standalone Luach app that has many more features with email reminders and so on - so stay tuned.

We also added a "Map View," which will show you who is using the iPhone around the globe. Don't worry, this can be turned off in the settings, but even if it is on, we don't share your information. We just plot you as a pin in the Google Map. Yes, you can zoom in and out with the multi-touch gestures.

For all the features in 3.0, see the version history page. We submitted it a couple hours ago, hope it is approved soon!

Posted at 3:17 PM | Permalink | Category: Religion , iPhone | Comments (0)

We are currently at version 2.8 for the iPhone Siddur, that is 12 upgrades in a short period of time. I live on this Siddur, it is incredibly useful and even interactive. The Jewish iPhone community, overwhelming, loves it.

For 3.0 features, we want to make the Siddur more "social." The first step is a much requested feature, called Mishaberachs. A Mishaberach is basically a way to say a prayer for sick people. Now, many folks, unfortunately, have someone they say a Mishaberach for. But at the same time, it is a wonderful thing to say Mishaberachs for people that you don't necessarily know.

So we built a Mishaberach system that not only lets you add your own list, but also:

1. Let's you share the names with the iPhone community
2. Lists your Mishaberach list in the siddur in the relevant places and/or lists the public Mishaberach list in the siddur in the relevant places

Let me show you how it works...

(A) We replaced the "Help" icon on the bottom right navigation with a "More..." button, it opens up and gives you the Mishaberach option, Settings option (which just explains how to access your settings) and the Help info.

(B) Click on Mishaberach and you are taken to pick either "My List" or "Public List." Public list requires internet....

(C) You can then enter a name into your list. First name and Mothers name (currently Hebrew only), person a male or female and if you want the name on the public list or not. If you select public list, you must have internet access to submit the name (if not, you can't submit it to the public list).

(D) Here is the "My List" view, right after you added a new name. See the confirmation prompt. Behind that, you see the list view. You can either delete, change the order or add a new one. You cannot edit right now, instead, just delete the name and add a new one (same thing), just more time for you typing.

(E) Here is the public list view (not much you can do here) and yes, you need Internet to see it:

(F) "My List" names appear directly under the portions of the Siddur text where they come into play. Shemona Estri and Torah Reading:

(G) If you have Internet, it will give you a plus sign and link to open up the public list: Clicking on the plus sign will open up a list of names, the number of names is based on your settings, and the names are random and should never show yours in the public list:

(I) In the Settings area, we added two options for Mishaberachs. The first is if you want to see the public list option (the hyperlink and plus sign) in the Siddur. And the second is, if so, then how many names do you want to show there?

That is the first true "social" feature of the Siddur. We hope to add a bunch more in the 3.x versions including added features to the Luach for Yahrzeits, Birthdays and Anniversaries. More social Minyanim features. And then something really cool that you will think is really cool - but I won't share yet. :)

Once 2.8 is approved, we may release a 2.9 with small revisions or may just release 3.0 with this feature and some small text revisions - it depends on if there are pressing issues with 2.8.

Posted at 1:37 PM | Permalink | Category: Religion , iPhone | Comments (5)

We did it! We made a complete Tanach for your iPhone. You can read all of Tanach, directly on your iPhone. But not only that, you can also search it! I posted the details at rustybrick.com/iphone/tanach, and you can sign up there to be notified of when it goes live (or to download it directly when it does go live).

Here is a screen by screen demo:

Browse through the Tanach, including Torah (Chumash), Nevi'im (Prophets) and Ketuvim (writing or scriptures) and all the books within them:

Search for specific words or phrases of Tanach:

Email or Bookmark verses by clicking on a verse:

Here is the bookmarks page:

Here is a look at the text, this Megillah of Esther:

Here is viewing the book of Bereshit (בראשית) by parsha view:

Here is the same book but by chapter view:

We put the "settings" feature in the app, so you can adjust your font size:

So happy that the Hebrew iPhone Email was approved, cause that gave us the go ahead to build the Tanach iPhone App.

Again, to download it go to rustybrick.com/iphone/tanach.

Posted at 3:36 PM | Permalink | Category: Religion , iPhone | Comments (4)

We take a lot of pride in our iPhone Siddur, I mean, really, there is nothing that comes close to it in the app store and we are constantly improving it and adding new features. It shows.

The folks at AppCraver.com reviews our Siddur and gave it a nine out of ten, which is pretty up there for their reviews.

The best part of the review is that he had his wife give it a spin. I'll quote you:

To get an idea of just how intuitive Siddur really is, I handed my iPhone to Lorri and told her to take it for a test spin. To Lorri a phone is something you talk to people on. Apps? She couldn’t care less. Within minutes, she was able to put the app through its paces and declared it a winner.

Building out a logical user interface wasn't easy when it came to building on a new platform. But over time, it really started to click and it shows.

Not only is this Siddur incredibly packed with tons of features, those features (seem) to be easy to use and logical to use.

Thanks for such a wonderful review.

Posted at 2:49 PM | Permalink | Category: Religion , iPhone | Comments (0)

A lot of people who are interested in the changes we make to the iPhone Siddur also want to see screen captures. So, we just released version 2.7, which will likely be available for download by the end of the week. Changes include:

* Changes Location Manager to Scroll Wheel
* Zmanim & Minyanim use same Location Manager system
* Location is remembers from previous setting
* Location Manager opens automatically when location can't be found
* Clicking on date at top of Zmanim will open up date selector tool
* Upload revised Chabad Krias Shema
* Added in missing portion in Chabad Benching
* Misc text corrections
* Updated Help Documentation

But here are pictures:

Here is what it looks like to scroll through locations:

Adding/Editing/Sorting/Deleting Locations:

Date Selector:

Same features on Minyan screen:

Removed several redundant options from Settings screen:

Posted at 3:38 PM | Permalink | Category: Religion , iPhone | Comments (0)

We just pushed version 2.0 of iPhone Kosher app to Apple. Hopefully it will be published soon. The update is pretty significant. Here are the details:

(1) Added hundreds of restaurants from Israel, England and France.
(2) Added a start screen signup/settings
(3) Users can now add reviews
(4) Users can now add/edit/delete restaurants
(5) Users can now read detailed reviews

Now for the screen captures:

(1) Things we ask as start up:

(2) Notice the update button on the top left (it can also run automatically on start up), notice the plus button on the top right. This is what it looks like when it is updating:

(3) Confirmation it has been updated:

(4) Action buttons to add/read review, change data, add/remove from favorites:

(5) Adding a review slides up this first page:

Clicking next slides up the next page:

This is the third and last review page, at top right, you can post the review or hit the back button to cancel that:

Confirmation:

(6) Reading Reviews:

(7) Modifying Restaurant details gives you the details in edit mode. There are three or so pages of details that can be modified. All modifications go through our approval. Yes, you can also try to delete on place.

(8) Adding a new place gives you a blank form to work with. Again, we approve them all manually:

Those are some of the new features that should take this app to the next level. I am very excited to enable the iPhone users to contribute to this app and database.

Posted at 2:35 PM | Permalink | Category: Religion , iPhone | Comments (1)

Getting hungry just thinking about it! You can get the new Kosher iPhone App by searching for "rustybrick" or "kosher" in the App Store or by using this link.

The price is only $1.99 now, but the next release will give you the ability to add new kosher institutions, edit them and even review them, as long as you have Internet. You can use the app without internet, but you need Internet to add/edit/review. The next will release will cost more money, so if you download this one now, you will lock yourself into this price.

Posted at 9:55 AM | Permalink | Category: Religion , iPhone | Comments (1)

We uploaded the iPhone Menorah to Apple's App Store today, I assume it will be approved by the end of this week and available for FREE download to your iPhone or iPod Touch. Here is a preview of what it does....

Login screen:

Tells you when Chanukah is:

Has the blessings and prayers in Hebrew:

English:

And Transliterated:

On the night of Chanuak, it tells you how many to light and in which direction (we use our custom for this, sorry):

And you see that "audio" button? Well, if you click it, you hear a beautiful recitation of the blessings. Honestly, it is really nicely done by our friend Moshe Kiss.

To be notified when it is available, fill out your email at iPhone Menorah page.

Posted at 11:19 AM | Permalink | Category: Religion , iPhone | Comments (0)

Last night, I attended, with my brother-in-law and two older nephews, a commemoration of the 70th anniversary of Kristallnacht. It took place in New City, outside the front steps at the Rockland County Court House. Here is a picture:

Kristallnacht (wiki definition) took place November 9–10, 1938 in Berlin, Germany. This night, 92 Jews were murdered and 25,000–30,000 were arrested and deported to concentration camps. 200 synagogues were destroyed, as were thousands of Jewish businesses and homes. It was really the start of moving from political, economic and psychological discrimination to actual physical discrimination and abuse, which was all part of the Holocaust. As Wikipedia says, it "marked the beginning of the systematic eradication of a people," and "served as a prelude to the Holocaust that was to follow."

At this commemoration, Henry Schindler, now 82, spoke to the crowd of people. As the Journal News reports:

At one point, Schindler said, a crowd ransacked a local synagogue and made a bonfire of its prayer books. A man trying to save a Torah scroll during the incident was beaten, then his beard and sidelocks were cut off by some Hilter Youths.

"And that I think was something that I still remember today," Schindler told the group, which held candles during the chilly night.

Kristallnacht also proved a precursor for what would happen to Schindler himself. Two years later, he was required to start wearing a yellow star with the word "Jude" on it. Four years from that first night, he would be sent to a concentration camp.

In any event, it was a memorable evening. I was able to take a picture of my Rabbi, Rabbi Josh Blass, of my synagogue speaking at the event. The picture above, shows a portion of the crowd in attendance.

Posted at 8:53 AM | Permalink | Category: Religion | Comments (0)

My parents went to Israel over the holidays and they came back with a present for their youngest son (ahem, that is me).

What did they get me? A "kosher" or "shabbos" toothbrush.

The product was designed by Kosher Innovations. They make shabbos lamps, shabbos alarm clocks and more. Because of the strict rules for Shabbos, there are certain laws you have to keep.

The manner in which you brush your teeth on Shabbos is part of that. This toothbrush is designed to make sure you do not break any Shabbos laws while brushing your teeth.

For more details on how it works, see here. I am sure some of you will think it is crazy and ridiculous, but I find it to be clever.

Posted at 12:59 PM | Permalink | Category: Religion | Comments (3)

I am offline starting tonight, until tomorrow night. It is Yom Kippur - a day of repentance or day of atonement... Basically, we fast from tonight until I think a bit after 7pm (in the NY area). We also spend almost the whole day in synagogue, from 8 in the morning until after 7 at night.

So don't email me. :)

Here is the special theme for the Search Engine Roundtable.

After Yom Kippur, I catch up for hours (only one day offline, so not too bad).

Jews - have an easy fast, meaningful prayers and a healthy new year!

Posted at 1:32 PM | Permalink | Category: Religion | Comments (0)

First, I wanted to wish all my Jewish buddies a happy and sweet new year, shana tova umetukah. Tonight is Rosh Hashanah. The market has turned, the economy looks bad, things just look pretty bad out there. I hope you all have a healthy, successful and happy new year!

I have a special theme live at the Search Engine Roundtable for the day.

Google Israel does not have their Shofar logo up, not sure why... But if you missed it, make sure to download our free iPhone Shofar.

Tamar and I scheduled several posts at the Search Engine Roundtable and we hope some of the authors come on and do some nice posts. Danny, Greg, and Matt should have Search Engine Land under control while I am gone.

I come back Thursday AM (Wednesday night). I ask one thing. Don't email or call me while I am gone. Please. :)

Then SMX East Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Wednesday night is then Yom Kippur. Then I fly to St. Louis Sunday for Succots for a week. Crazy month!

Anyway....

Happy New Year!

Posted at 12:50 PM | Permalink | Category: Religion | Comments (0)

We are working on version 2.2 of iPhone Siddur, you can see all past version information if you like. But here, I wanted to demonstrate some of the new features in 2.2.

(1) We changed the user interface of the Luach a bit, and also added Hebrew dates. As you can see, you can select "English," "Hebrew," or "Upcoming."

Here is the Hebrew view:

New upcoming view drops the shake feature for a button, it was confusing people. Plus, you can click on a date and the top changes to show more detail:

Note, horizontal does not work.

(2) Skip/Jump or Font Controls in the Siddur:

The right or left arrow can either (a) right to left from section to section, (b) left to right from section to section or (c) make the font larger or smaller.

The down arrow will skip you to sub-heading directly in that a section.

Outside of these changes, here are the changes for 2.2:

• Siddur Jump & Skip navigation controls added
• Turn off landscape mode option added to settings
• Luach Modified to allow both "Secular" and "Hebrew" date searches
• Luach removed Shake for List View and added button, which shows more details
• Add וידוי for ashkenaz before תחנון for Mondays and Thursdays (only for in Israel)
• Fixed error in edut hamizrach-shacharit-psukei d'zimra, just before 'Baruch She'amar' in "Lamenatseach"
• Fixed error in edut hamizrach benching, skips last lines of 3rd bracha and first lines of 4th bracha
• Removed more side borders
• Added Candle Lighting and Havdalah times for Yom Tovim
• Settings for "Arrow Behavior" Left-to-Right Sections, Right-to-Left Section, or Font Size
• Setting for KM or Miles
• Add email catcher to see if user wants email updates
• Fix Israeli cities, missing a ton of records
• Replace Hashem's name in Edut Mizrach with the full name
• Upload new GoDaven.com Database

Fun stuff, while this economy and market crashes.

Oh, we just added "Over the internet (air) Minyan Updates." So in version 2.2 and beyond, all GoDaven.com data can be updated without a new version. We check if you have an active Internet connection, then check to see if there is a new Minyan database update, if there is, we push you the new data without you noticing anything...

Posted at 9:44 AM | Permalink | Category: Religion , iPhone | Comments (4)

This morning, I was checking out the latest reviews on our iPhone Siddur and I noticed our first anti-semitic review. Here is a picture:

I reported the review as "offensive" this morning, about 3 hours ago. It is still there. I assume it might take a couple days to be taken offline, if it ever does get taken offline.

I have been writing about search stuff, in the public eye, for about six years now. I have written thousands of articles. Most people who have read stuff about SEO or SEM or even Google have seen my name. I have never received a racist or anti-semitic comment before today. I do not keep my religion private, I am very open about it. But I guess Jewish apps are being targeted by some people.

Does it bother me? Honestly, no. The thing that bothers me is that the review may hurt the overall average. :) I know better not to let ignorance bother me. I got touch skin from writing so much. :)

How can you help? Well, go to the Siddur iTunes via this link and report that guys review (sort by most recent) and then if you really want to make me happy, review that app and the rest of our apps. Here is a link to all RustyBrick iTunes apps.

Posted at 9:33 AM | Permalink | Category: Religion , iPhone | Comments (5)

Remember the LED scrolling Kippah that I told you I ordered? Well, I never got it. :-(

In any event, a buddy of mine launched a new site named Vanity Kippah, which is currently selling the 2008 Presidential Kippah Collection. The example on the right is of the McCain Kippah, so if you are a McCain supporter, you might where that one around. Love Obama? Get the The Obamica, which reads, "My Bubby is Voting Obama" on the back of the Kippah.

Heck, they are even selling the The Hot Kippah. Personally, I would still love to get my LED scrolling Kippah, so I can scroll any message I want. World Peace, SEO Rules, "I &hearts Food," and so on.

Would Jews actually where these? I can see some. Would I? Not these, but if there was something really geeked out, I would strongly consider it. I know my wife would beat me if I did... :)

Posted at 9:41 AM | Permalink | Category: Religion | Comments (1)

This Sunday night is the start of the Shavuot (שבועות) holiday. That means that I will be offline, no blogging, no email, no phone, for a 50 hour period or so. I am offline Monday and Tuesday - so please don't email me or call me and leave a voicemail. Also, please make sure there is no news during those two days. ;-)

What is Shavout? Um, I talked about it last year, so go read it here.

For those of you celebrating - good Yom Tov. For those of you not - have a happy Monday and Tuesday.

My wife and I are having my parents over, so that should be fun.

Don't expect any blog posts here during those days. We do have scheduled blog posts for the Search Engine Roundtable.

Oh, what is with the picture? It is from Noyaart.com, I found it at Flickr.

Posted at 3:34 PM | Permalink | Category: Blogging , Religion | Comments (13)

So part of my passover preparations, I had to pour hot boiling water all over my counter tops.

It was a learning experience, to say the least. Since this is the first time we are preparing for Passover, we don't really have a system to get things done. But over the years, we will learn.

So after the first pot boiled, I started by pouring the water in a cup with a ladle. I then pored the cup of hot boiling water in the counter tops. It took too long, so I grabbed some new oven mitts and grabbed the big pot of scorching water and poured it on a part of the counter tops. It got everywhere!

So we dried it a bit and then decided to cover the wood cabinets that seemed to be getting soaked, with garbage bags. Then we began the process again. We put up more pots of hot water and I watered our countertops. The floor was covered with water, but the garbage bag idea was pretty good (not 100 % foolproof, but pretty good).

So then we dried from top down, until the floor was dry.

Live and learn.

Could be worse, I could have to tinfoil my whole house (which is a joke).

Posted at 10:02 AM | Permalink | Category: Religion | Comments (2)

So, Passover is less than two weeks away now, starting on the 19th. This is the first time we (wife and I) are ever hosting Passover (Pesach) meals in our home. So it requires us to do a lot more work then we have ever done before, for this holiday.

Why so much more? Well, Passover has a strict rule to not have any bread in your house or in your possession. There are plenty of other rules and customs, but the bread thing is huge. Passover is like the major spring cleaning for orthodox Jews. We clean our homes with a fine tooth comb, to make sure we don't find even a crumb of bread (including food items made with bread (i.e. pretzels, crackers, many cereals, etc).

Now, if you are not Jewish, it is kind of hard to imagine what goes into cleaning your house of all bread items. Try to imagine what it would take to clean your house of all these items. Can you imagine that? Anyway, that is a brief overview of that aspect of the holiday.

Yesterday, we had to 'tovel' (means, spiritually clean new utensils and vessels such as pots, pans, forks, knives, etc. by dipping them in a Mikvah filled with rain water). Why did we get all new pots and pans? Well, like I said above, we can't have any bread items. So we either burn the bread from within the pans off with hot boiling water or we buy new ones we can use every year. We opted to buy new ones, and reserve them for Passover use every year. so before using new pans, we need to spiritually clean them (which actually makes them physically dirty, so we wash them when we get home). The tevilas keilim process isn't fun, but it's necessary.

So far, we bought tons of food, tons of bake wear, things to eat on, etc. Then we toveled them. Next up is to clean the kitchen so it is "kosher for passover." That will require me pouring boiling water on everything that is not new and locking up cabinets that has bread in them (and then selling off the contents of those cabinets to a non-Jewish person).

This all gets very technical and it is a lot of work. But it is exciting to host our first Passover.

Posted at 10:10 AM | Permalink | Category: Religion | Comments (1)

Today is the holiday of Purim. I wrote about Purim last year also, but figured I give you an update now...

That is a picture of cartoon me, with a beer. Typically, it is customary to get drunk on purim. I am not a big drinker or even a drinker at all. I am at work anyway, so no real Purim celebration for me. I do have a few gifts (shalach manot) here from friends, etc.

My wife is coming by later so we can have a quick meal for the day.

Then I have a 1pm meeting with a new programmer we are interviewing (yes we are hiring).

I also put up a special theme at the Search Engine Roundtable:

Happy Purim everyone!

Posted at 10:45 AM | Permalink | Category: Religion | Comments (1)

I rarely ever post anything regarding the Israeli-Mideast stuff. But a couple weeks ago there was a horrible event where an Israeli-Arab walked into a school with kids of age of 14 through 19 and shot 8 of them dead until they were able to stop him.

I spent a year in a school like this when I was 17 or so. I just can't imagine sitting there, studying the bible and then all of a sudden a crazy person comes in and just shoots at people. Yes, this has happened enough times in America at schools, but typically by students of the school who have issues, not total strangers of the school.

It is just so sad to see things like this. Sad to see it in Israel, sad to see it in America, sad to see it anywhere. The movie above documents some of the horror.

I am trying to be brief on purpose.

Posted at 1:26 PM | Permalink | Category: Religion | Comments (2)

I skipped Friday from Thursday, because nothing really significant happened Friday day. Now, although Avi was officially Bar Mitzvah'ed on Thursday, Shabbos (Friday night and Saturday) was a continuation of that celebration.

The plan was for many of us to meet at the kotel and pray Shabbos night services there. Many of us took taxi's prior to Shabbos beginning and got there early to prepare for services. When we arrived, we secured a place to pray in about the same location as on Thursday. As more people came, we decided to start. If I remember correctly, Avi lead services for both afternoon and evening services.

The thing is, soon after we started two new groups formed in front and behind us. The ones behind us were a Carlebach group, extremely loud. Then in front of us was a "mission" from the US. Great cause, they basically take a group of children who are ill, to Israel for a week or so, to experience it. So that group, although very nice, was a bit loud, as you can imagine. It was almost impossible to hear Avi lead us, but we managed.

After services, we walked back to the area of our hotels. It was about 20 - 30 minutes to walk, but it was a bit hilly. My sister and brother-in-law reserved the OU Center in Jerusalem for the shabbos meals. They had a caterer and more at this place, and it turned out very nice. They hosted meals for Friday night, Saturday day and Saturday night. Shabbos morning, we held services at the OU Center, where Avi read the whole Parsha Trumah, as opposed to just the first Aliyah, which is done during the weekday. He read perfectly and he wasn't nervous. When I did that, I was extremely nervous. Yes, he was only in front of 30 or so close friends and family, while I was in front of hundreds who were looking for me to make mistakes - but still, impressive for a 13 year-old.

My wife wasn't feeling well, so after the meal, we went back to our hotel and tried to sleep a bit. Then came back to the OU center for the third-meal. After that, we were pretty much done with Israel. It was time to go back to the airport to catch our flight to Newark. More on that later...

Posted at 10:09 AM | Permalink | Category: Family , Religion , Travels | Comments (1)

So after the kotel tours we prayed afternoon services at the kotel and then headed back to our respective lodges. The picture at the top right is of me and the Bar Mitzvah boy before leaving the kotel to head back and then go to Yad Vashem. As soon as we get back, we quickly change and I meet family and friends to bus over to Yad Vashem.

Yad Vashem is a holocaust museum. You can learn all about it at their web site or at Wikipedia. I'll tell you about our tour.

My sister scheduled a private tour when the museum was basically empty at night. It was a special tour for bar mitzvah kids. In short, they pair up a bar mitzvah kid with a kid who perished in the holocaust. The tour guide, who was excellent, tries to take us through the museum through the events of that child. It was a really educational and special tour and I am very glad I went.

Here is a picture of me facing the back door of the museum and looking in. Notice, it is like a triangle.

It was a long day that day, but a great way to end off. We started with Avi's Bar Mitzvah, then did the Kotel Tours and finished the day with this important tour.

Posted at 11:27 AM | Permalink | Category: Religion , Travels | Comments (2)

In the afternoon of Avi's Bar Mitzvah, many of us went on the Western Wall Tunnel Tours. Our tour guide was really great - he really got the children involved and also educated us all, big time.

Basically, this is a tour of the western wall of the outside of the Jewish Temple or בית המקדש. Much of the protecting walls were covered up by thousands of years of dirt and building homes and stuff on top of them. When Israel became a state, Israel began to dig up part of the western wall, which is what we call the Kotel. The Kotel is just a small piece of the whole Western Wall - but much of it is covered up by homes. So they made these tunnels to let us walk, safely, along the wall, under the streets and homes that are above it.

What is so important about this wall? Well, it is the closest point to where we can go, to the Temple Mount (Har HaBayit). In fact, when we walked through the tunnel, there was one point where you can stand directly in front (picture) - a few hundred feet (maybe less, not sure) from the center of that point. We saw a Chosen (about to be married man) come to say a prayer there before his big day. It is the closest point, by most authorities, a religious Jew can get to the point of the Kadosh Hakadashim (Holy of Holies) - so it is spiritually important and significant.

Also, one of the largest stones in the world is part of that wall. It is a length of 13.6 meters and an estimated width of between 3.5 and 4.5 meters; estimates place its weight at 570 tons.

The thousands and thousands of history in those walls and tunnels is just amazing. I am glad I went on this tour - I learned a lot. If you ever do go to Israel, I highly recommend it - amazing amount of history there. You can also learn a lot about it at Wikipedia...

The cool and action packed part was when we left the tunnel. We leave through the Muslim Quarter and we are escorted by two Israeli soldiers that are armed with automatic rifles. The tour guide told us it is just for show, but seriously, why would you do that for show. :) Anyway, it was exciting to say the least.

Next comes Yad Vashem...

Posted at 9:01 AM | Permalink | Category: Religion , Travels | Comments (2)

This is funny to any Jewish person who has cleaned for Pesach:

Now, I wonder how much tinfoil this took. Too funny.

Posted at 1:37 PM | Permalink | Category: Just Funny , Religion | Comments (6)

Todd has an excellent idea, to write this post. How do I use or not use technology when it comes to my religion, Judaism.

There is a lot one can't do on Shabbos, so in order to be efficient with not leaving on lights or the heat, we use technology to aid us without committing a "sin" on the day of rest.

Shabbos Technology:

• Heat Programmable Thermostats to lower or increase heat at specified times
• Central A/C Programmable Thermostats
• Wall timers & Light timers
• Timer to turn on hot plate for Shabbos day (warms food)
• Shabbos switch for Alarm (so beams don't go off)
• Turn off light motion detectors
• Mechanical door locks so no key is required to carry
• Crock Pot for cholent (which is a new word added to the Oxford English Dictionary

Online Tools:

• HebCal, best online hebrew calendar system
• Mincha.com, a site that has PDFs of prayer services, great for my iPhone, when on the go.
• My Zmanim, excellent site to look up zmanim (times), since in Judaism, certain tasks need to be done by specific times, this site gives me those times.

Since I am writing this "off the cuff," I am sure I am missing a ton of things. Maybe I'll continue to add to this post as time goes on, if I remember.

Let's not forget the LED Kippah I ordered almost a year ago and never received.

Note, this is a simplified list. There are books and books on this subject. In fact, although it is forbidden to drive a car on Shabbos (for many reasons)... If you must drive for life or death reasons, there is even a proper way to drive the car on Shabbos.

Posted at 1:46 PM | Permalink | Category: Religion , iPhone | Comments (3)

This morning, my oldest nephew put on Tefillin (תפילין) for the first time. It took place at his elementary day school, the same place I put on Tefillin for the first time. But yes, times have changed a bit since then at that school.

What is Tefillin? The picture above shows what they look like. Wikipedia has a bunch of pictures showing people wearing Tefillin. Orthodox Jewish males above the age of 13 where it every day except for Shabbos and special holidays. We wear them during morning services.

My nephew turns 13 in about a month. He will have his Bar Mitzvah when he is 13 in Israel. Yes, my trip and the SphinnCon Israel event coincide with the Bar Mitzvah for a reason. It is customary for a Jewish boy to put on Tefillin about a month prior to his Bar Mitzvah to learn how to properly wear and hold the responsibilities of the mitzvah.

In any event - they had some dunkin donuts at the end. :)

Posted at 9:58 AM | Permalink | Category: Family , Religion | Comments (2)

Every Friday night sundown to Saturday night stars up, is the Jewish Shabbos. Orthodox Jews hold the laws of Shabbos and do not do "work" on Shabbos. It gets a bit complicated, you can read an introduction to the Laws of Shabbos at Aish.com, but in short, for people like Gary and myself, it means no using computers or Treos or iPhones on Shabbos - a whole 25 hours or so.

I do this every single week, so it is not a big deal for me. But Gary has never done this, since he is not an orthodox Jew, he does not hold the same things as I do. After Gary married Lisa, I invited them to come spend a "Shabbos" with us. They took us up on the offer this weekend. It was really nice to show Gary and Lisa our Shabbos routine and customs. But it was even nicer to spend time with the both of them without the distractions of a computer.

I can't imagine how hard it is to turn everything off for 25 hours. I mean, I do it every week, but if I had to do it once when never having experienced it before - that sounds hard.

In any event... Thank you Gary and Lisa for coming - it was really special. Hope to have you guys back soon!

Posted at 8:18 AM | Permalink | Category: Buddies , Religion | Comments (4)

Today is the tenth day of the Jewish month, טבת. It is a fast day today, the fast is cleverly named, Asarah b'Tevet (עשרה בטבת) (i.e. the tenth day of Tevet (name of the month).)

We fast to remember when the first Bet HaMikdash (בית המקדש) Holy Temple was destroyed.

I have never failed to Fast since being 13 years old, and even though I am still a bit weak from being sick, I still plan on finishing out this fast. It is one of the shortest, if not the shortest, fast days we have. Why? Well, we typically fast from Sunrise to Sunset (a bit after sunset). So the fast is over at 5:15 or so EST in my area, while for summer fast days, it can go as late as after 9pm. Just a few more hours.

Posted at 1:17 PM | Permalink | Category: Religion | Comments (3)

Tonight is the first night of Chanukah! Happy Chanukah my Jewish friends.

We have put up a special theme for the 8 days at the Search Engine Roundtable. Here is a static image of that theme for your viewing pleasure.

Happy Chanukah!

Posted at 6:44 PM | Permalink | Category: Religion | Comments (1)

Many of my SEM friends have seen the pictures and stories with messages on Church signs that read "Some questions Google can't answer..." or flavors of that message. It has been spreading through the country actually, just look at the dozens of photos on Flickr of such signs.

I have been in a new Synagogue for about a month now. And although the Rabbi has never mentioned Google in any of his speeches, the president often does during his announcements. He would say, to learn more about Y or to contribute to X, Google [organization name]. Makes me smirk to hear that. In fact, the president I believe is well into his 50s, maybe even young 60s (I hope he doesn't read this - he has no reason to). So the age and, what would be, perceived nature of this man surprised me to mention "Google It." But he does and it works.

Maybe one day I will become president and I will tell people to "Ask.com It."

Oh, not Jewish, not Christian and looking for something to believe in? Try the Church of Google. :)

Posted at 11:54 AM | Permalink | Category: Religion | Comments (0)

Orthodox Jews do not turn on or off lights on Sabbath (Friday night through Saturday night). That is why you never see me blog or online Friday night through Saturday nights.

Due to that law, many prefer to set timers for certain things like lights. I just installed Intermatic Wall Timers in the family room and kitchen eating area. My brother stopped by to drop something off, so I did one of the timers with him, to confirm I was doing it right. This wall timer is actually awesome.

Besides for it being flush against the wall and not sticking out, it has tons of features. The most useful part is the push button to turn on and off the light during normal usage. It has seven on and off settings, which are programmable by day and time. It has a "random feature," which can be set to give your house a lived in feel. It also has a sunrise and sunset feature.

I set it to turn on and off for Shabbos usage times. This way I do not have to leave all the lights on in those rooms for 25 hours or so.

Yes, gas and electric are not cheap.

Posted at 8:55 AM | Permalink | Category: Homey , Religion | Comments (2)

I grew up in a very Jewish area, I have lived here my whole life.

On Christmas, we don't see many lights or ornaments on the homes. During Halloween, we don't see many pumpkins, and such. My whole life, I cannot recall ever having someone walk up to my parents house or my previous house, ring the door bell and say, "Trick or Treat" while being dressed up in a costume. Sounds crazy, but it is true. The area I live in, at least the immediate area, is 99% Jewish. And Halloween is just one of those holidays, we typically do not celebrate.

In any event. As you know, I moved to a new house a few weeks ago, it is basically on the outskirts of the original community I lived in. Last night, I heard the door bell ring and it was two girls that said, "Trick or Treat."

I was like, um, what do I do. I then think back to TV, my main source of education, and say, "hold on." I yell up to my wife and ask if we have any candy. She says, "um, no..." I look at them, and they say, "Don't worry about it," and then giggle and walk away. I say, "I am sorry."

So my first "Trick or Treat" experience was pretty poor. I feel really bad not having anything for those kids. Maybe, just maybe, we should stock up now on candy... You never know when you will need it.

Posted at 8:51 AM | Permalink | Category: Religion | Comments (4)

Two basketball buddies of mine chatted with me a while back about a new venture they have been working on. One is in the food business another was an investor of sorts. The concept was a vending machine that would produce quality hot foods that were kosher.

Personally, I love the idea. If the food tastes even decent and is in locations where kosher business travelers are located, then this idea can and should take off. Heck, I know I would pump hundreds of dollars into a machine like this over the course of a week's business trip.

The business is named Kosher Vending Industries and they currently service a lot of places, but not enough... One, they need a vending machine locator on their site!

The menu?

• 3 types of hotdogs/sausages
• Deep Dish Cheese Pizza
• Mozzarella Sticks
• Veggie Cutlets
• Potato Knish
• Onion Rings

The New York Times has a write up on them named For Kosher Emergencies, Manna From a Machine and CNBC will be spotlighting them tonight between 7:00pm-8:00pm (EST). To check it out.

Posted at 12:47 PM | Permalink | Category: Religion , Travels | Comments (0)

Tonight is the beginning of Sukkot סוכות, a holiday where we live in a temporary dwelling. If you live in a Jewish area, you may see people putting up these small weird looking rooms. They may look something like this:

Technically, we are suppose to eat, sleep, learn, blog, etc. in the Sukka. I personally did not put up a Sukka this year because we won't be home for most of those days.

Here is a picture of people putting up Sukka's on their balconies in Brooklyn.

Sukkot is a fun holiday. There are many more customs and rituals, but this may be the most noticeable. For more pictures of people putting up Sukka's check out Flickr.

You can read more about it at Wikipedia if you like.

I will be offline Thursday through Saturday, so please, keep the blogging slow... I won't be blogging those days also...

Posted at 11:01 AM | Permalink | Category: Religion | Comments (2)

Tonight is Yom Kippur יוֹם כִּפּוּר, a very serious Jewish holiday. Starting tonight, we fast until about 7:30pm tomorrow (if you are in NY at least, it depends on when it gets dark). Basically, all day tomorrow, we are in synagogue. Pretty much all day... i.e. 8am to 8pm. Maybe we get an hour break at around 2pm.

On a more personal note: This is the first Yom Kippur I am wearing a kittel (קיטל), basically a white robe around my suit. All married men wear it on Yom Kippur during services. The first time I wore it was at my wedding. Then the Yom Kippur after your wedding, it is customary not to wear it, but after that, you are suppose to wear it. So tomorrow is the first time since my wedding, where I will be wearing my kittel.

I would personally like to ask for forgiveness to anyone who I may have hurt in anyway. I am asking for forgiveness or "mechila."

Anyone fasting, have an easy fast and good year!

Posted at 10:27 AM | Permalink | Category: Religion | Comments (1)

At the airport again. Will be home later tonight.

Today is also a fast day, it is called Tzom Gedaliah (Fast of Gedaliah or צום גדליה).

Typically you get a bit dehydrated on the plane, but it is a bit worse on a fast day, when you can't drink or eat. The fast is over about 7:45 tonight, I am looking forward to possibly eating some fresh ziti.

But that comes later.

First we board, then we fly, then we land. After we land, I drive home (parked in short term parking for the past few days). When I get home, I need to remember to switch the phone line from my previous provider to the vonage line, it finally switched over.

Then off to work. I have so much to do it is nuts. Seriously nuts. Let's see:

- Payroll
- Payroll taxes
- Estimated taxes
- Insurance stuff
- Bills
- Go through all the office mail
- Mark payments
- Print checks
- Mail checks and other items
- Other misc items

All of this, hopefully in less than an hour. Then I come home with time to spare to pray a bit and then hopefully eat no later than 7:56pm.

That is what I got ahead of me today.

Then tomorrow, I need to get out of the house by 5:14am. Actually, I have to get out of the house at 5:14am Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Friday is later, about 5:44am. Then the following week, we are back to 5:59am.

Hope to get back to a normal schedule tomorrow.

Good day all and go Jets!

Posted at 1:00 PM | Permalink | Category: Religion , RustyBrick , Travels | Comments (1)

Where has the time gone? (Yea, that sounds old)

It is a new year already! Rosh Hashanah is tomorrow night. I am going to the in-laws for the holidays. There will be no blogging from me starting tomorrow night until probably Monday. If you can, don't email me, don't call me, don't mail me anything. :)

Oh, while you are at not doing anything. Please do not announce any new products, don't do any search algorithm or index updates, don't start a huge debate on link building, don't go off and get married, don't twitter, don't blog anything new and exciting - actually, don't get out of bed until I get back.

I hate missing things. But this month, the holidays fall out mostly during the week. So I am not reachable at all for six work days. I am sure Danny is going to love that. ;-)

Ben, Chris, Kim and company will be helping out with the search blog while Tamar and I are out. But we did schedule about 4 posts for both Thursday and Friday, in case things are light those days.

In any event... Those who are part of the tribe.... Happy and healthy new year. May you all have a wonderful, successful, healthy, and happy new year!!!

More on Rosh Hashanah at Ask.com.

Posted at 5:17 PM | Permalink | Category: Religion | Comments (1)

Wednesday night is Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year.

It is a popular time for all Jews to attend synagogue (shuls). Typically, synagogues sell seats for the high holidays (Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur) to their members. Seats can be free to typically a few hundred dollars. But sometimes much more, as I learned...

Synagogue seats go for $1.8M from the AP reports Temple Emanu-El in South Beach had two seats go on eBay (yea, some shuls get high tech when selling seats) for $1.8 million.

The bidding started at $1.8M and they get those seats for the high holidays, plus Seats 1 and 2 of Row 1, Section DD will be engraved their their family names. They also get free parking (um, ok), two custom-made prayer shawls (tallism) and yarmulkes, and "a hefty tax write-off." I think they are life-time seats also.

Yes, this is a conservative congregation, it was founded back in 1940. It has 1,400-seat with 200 families.

Here is their web site, I believe, http://tesobe.org/.

Posted at 11:26 AM | Permalink | Category: Religion | Comments (7)

Evidence suggests that people who attend synagogue live longer from Haaretz reports on a recent study released by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

The study showed that "the death rate was 75 percent higher among the group that did not attend synagogue than it was among the group that attended synagogue regularly."

In 1997 the Bureau of Statistics conducted a survey of 5,000 Israeli men and women aged 60. They were interviewed about their way of life. In 2004, 38 percent had passed away.

Those with depression had a 80 percent higher rate of death. But it also showed that those who did not go to synagogue regularly had a 75 percent higher rate of death.

Of course, attending synagogue regularly provides an individual with more social stimulates.

Litwin said that there is no clear-cut explanation for the synagogue attendance effect, but outlined two main possibilities.

"One explanation is spiritual, that is, the individual faith factor," he said. "A series of studies that have been conducted in recent years, especially in the United States, argue that faith helps people deal with psychological pressure. People who believe and pray apparently survive longer," said Litwin.

"Another explanation is the connection between attending synagogue and belonging to a supportive community," he added.

So there you go. You pray and the heavens let you live longer. It is now science.

Posted at 11:15 AM | Permalink | Category: Just Interesting , Religion | Comments (1)

The whole doctor being poor post got me thinking a bit about costs.

Specifically, what it costs to be what is called a "Modern Orthodox Jew" in the New York Tri-State area. Now, I do not have a family yet, so I don't have these costs. I also do not know exactly how much each item costs, but I took educated guesses in my numbers.

The biggest item is tuition. I would guess if you had four or five kids in private school, they would give you a break on tuition. Imagine $60,000 a year for four kids, $75,000 for five kids. I assume you get a discount as you keep adding kids. Keep in mind, all your kids are not the same age, so then you have High School and college.

Another thing about being an orthodox Jew and living in New York is that you have to really live in a "Jewish neighborhood." Homes are simply not cheap in NY, especially in areas where there is demand set by having to be in walking distance to a local synagogue. A typically home in Teaneck, NJ would go for a $800,000 to $1.2M on average. Out by me, maybe $600,000 to $850,000 on average. Brooklyn, Manhattan, forget about it. Figure your mortgage will cost you at least $40,000 per year with taxes, if you bought now.

These numbers may be off, but I think the approximates are not bad. I can be wrong, if so, feel free to correct me.

Honestly, these numbers seem too high. Something doesn't seem right...

Posted at 10:40 AM | Permalink | Category: Family , Religion | Comments (15)

Update: I have launched an iPhone Siddur for the iPhone / iPod Touch 2.0 software. More at http://www.rustybrick.com/iphone-siddur.php or search at the Apple iTunes store for Siddur.

Practicing Jew? Got an iPhone? Stuck in an airport without a pocket Siddur (prayer book)? No worries.

Say your תפלות on your iPhone סידור by just going to mincha.com.

To bad, isiddur.com is taken...

Posted at 2:07 PM | Permalink | Category: Apple Macs , Religion , iPhone | Comments (4)

The other day, I went to the new Kosher Dunkin Donuts by my office.

This woman comes in and orders a muffin. She then immediately asks for a manager. The person behind the counter got nervous. He asked, "was there something I did?" She said no, not you.

The manager comes out and she explains in very angry tone that there are other people who come to Dunkin and like non-kosher items. She explained she was very upset that she can no longer order a sausage sandwich from this specific Dunkin. She goes off complaining that it isn't right that they changed it to kosher.

Meanwhile, I am standing there with my Kippa (thing on my head that shows I am Jewish). The manager explains that it wasn't necessarily a kosher thing. They made a management decision based on profits to stop selling all meats. They said, on average, they sold ten to fifteen meat sandwiches per day. It was not enough volume to cover the costs involved in buying the meats. So they stopped selling meat items, which then made it possible for them to easily make the place kosher.

She then paid for her muffin and stormed out yelling. She was yelling that there are other people in this world besides "for them."

Now, I don't think she is anti-semtic or anything. At least I hope not. I think she is just upset she can't get her sausage sandwich at Dunkin anymore. Honestly, I felt bad and upset overall the whole episode.

As soon as she left, everyone behind the counter began laughing.

Just a shame.

Posted at 11:08 AM | Permalink | Category: Food , Religion | Comments (3)

This morning, a friend of mine had a Brit Milah בְרִית מִילָה for his new son.

They honored my wife and I with the "kovod" (honor) of being the Kvatter.

What is a Brit Milah or Bris? Basically a circumcision, but with a religious ceremony around it. It is kind of funny watching a bris. All the woman are standing, smiling, eagerly awaiting the snip snip from the circumcision. And all the men are standing with their heads down, with a grimacing expression. The the Mohel, the person who performs the circumcision, does the snip (hopefully once) and you hear the baby cry.

The Kvatter are those that carry the baby from the mother to the mohel and then back from the mohel to the mother. My wife took the baby from the mother, handed off the baby to me. I then sprinted (well, walked) down to the mohel and handed the baby off. They do the snip and then some blessings and then they hand the baby back to me. I then hand the baby to my wife, who hands the baby to the mother.

The Kvatter is typically given to a new married couple that does not have kids yet. It is in merit of the young couple to have kids of their own in the future. It was a very very nice honor to get.

Oh, that picture at the top right. It is some random picture from Flickr.

Posted at 9:07 AM | Permalink | Category: Religion | Comments (2)

The phone rings and I pick up and this guy named Hanoch Teller introduces himself. I am thinking, is that the famous Hanoch Teller or some other guy?

He then describes that he has a web site at HanochTeller.com that gets virtually no traffic. I take a quick look and quickly see why.

To make a short story shorter, he is coming to meet with me Friday. He will be in America and can make it to my office this Friday. I feel bad, his site is in bad shape - very bad shape - hopefully we can help him out.

I do see that he has a Wikipedia entry, so that is nice... I told my wife that he is coming and she said, "Get out!!!!"

Here is a bio I found on the web - it may or may not be accurate:

Rabbi Hanoch Teller, renowned story-teller and modern-day maggid, has addressed audiences in 19 countries on five continents. A prolific writer, he is the author of 20 books, including the "Soul Stories" series. Rabbi Teller is also a highly respected instructor in numerous seminaries for women in Jerusalem, and the producer of the newly-released video, Do You Believe in Miracles? Rabbi Teller's talks present a thought-provoking contemporary view of issues relevant to every concerned Jew, featuring heart-warming personal observations on the human condition and Jewish life.

Posted at 11:59 AM | Permalink | Category: Religion , RustyBrick | Comments (5)

This is a heads up that the holiday of Shavuot (שבועות) starts tonight and ends late Thursday night. I wont be reachable or blogging those days. Tamar and I do have several posts scheduled to go live at the Search Engine Roundtable tomorrow and the day after, but they won't be live posts. Ben will be managing the blog and deleting any comment spam.

So why am I off? Well, the holiday of Shavuot (שבועות). It is the day we were given the Torah תורה or chumash חוּמָשׁ on Mount Sinai.

Tonight, it is customary for us to stay up all night learning Torah. So that means, no sleep. We stay up until the sun comes out. So technically, I will be up for well over 24 hours straight now. We start morning prayers at around 4:30am, so that we time it so when we say a certain portion of the prayers, we begin it at sunrise.

The rest of the holiday, it is customary to eat dairy meals. Cheesecakes, lasagna, cheese-filled blintzes and more. I personally prefer meat. The synagogues and homes are dressed up with green plants and nice flowers. We read Megillat Ruth (מגילת רות) in syanagogue. And more...

What is with the image above, well a Flickr search on shavuot returned results for that. Why? Well, the image was taken on an Israeli kibbutz (קיבוץ), aka a place where a community goes to live off the land. So what does this have to do with Shavuot? It shows the Bikkurim, giving of the first fruit, which was brought the first day of Shavuot to Bet HaMikdash (בית המקדש) aka Holy Temple.

Some good resources at Wikipedia, Holidays, JewFaq.org and Chabad.org.

Note that I covered a new feature at Google Trends named hot trends. It basically shows the hottest keywords being search on today at Google. Number 36 is the word shavuot - kinda neat!

Posted at 10:39 AM | Permalink | Category: Religion | Comments (2)

There is a Charity Link Meme going around. I think I was "tagged" for it three times. David Wallace tagged me, Donna tagged me and AIM Clear taggedme.

So where do I give charity to?

Well, by Jewish law, I have to give at least 10% of my income to charity. Where does that go?

Mostly Jewish organizations. I rather not list them by name. But they consist of local Jewish day schools, yeshivas, synagogues, local food for poor, and many others.

Charity is called Tzedakah (צדקה) in Judaism. Tzedakah is often not the 10%, the 10% is technically not mine, so I am 100%, but I think it is not Tzedakah. The 10% comes from Devarim (דברים) where it says "You shall set aside every year a tenth part of all the yield of your sowing that is brought from the field." It is called Maeser (not sure if I am spelling it right). Here is another good resource on Jewish charity.

There is another Jewish law that you cannot give more than you can afford to give. So even though it is a great thing to give lots of Tzedakah, if you will give more than you can afford it is a bad thing. You need to support your family and you need to support yourself.

Ill Tag:

- Patrick Gavin at Link Building Blog
- Judah Gutwein at Bling Bling Blog
- Jeremy at ShoeMoney
- Chris Boggs at his blog
- Tamar Weinberg at Techipedia

Posted at 12:29 PM | Permalink | Category: Religion | Comments (0)

As I told you, I was honored to be invited to Gary & Lisa Price's Wedding that took place yesterday. My wife and I tripped up to Chicago for the weekend. We spent the "shabbos" with Yisha's friends in Chicago and then went up to the wedding Sunday morning.

I spotted Gary about 11am as he was walking into the Ketubah signing room. We took a quick picture together.

Then after some explanatory and technical matters I was privileged to sign Gary and Lisa's Ketubah. Here I am doing that:

My signature came out pretty well. I signed in script but this is how it looks like in print.

ברוך יעקב בן אריה יוסף שוורץ

Then after I signed, others signed as well, and then we moved to the ceremony part. Everyone in the family walked down to music.

There is Gary and Lisa under the chuppa (aka canopy) getting married. They read some things, read the ketubah, say the 7 blessings, Gary gives the ring, they drink a bit of wine, then Gary breaks the glass and they are married.

Gary and Lisa go out, they hide for 18 minutes or so while the friends and family go to the reception area.

Then Gary and Lisa join us. The bride and groom are kings on this day and should be treated as such.

There were plenty of search geeks at the wedding, including a number of Ask.com folks and librarians. But so was Danny and Chris.

Let me just tell you, Gary looked so calm and relaxed. He looked incredibly happy. I am so happy for Lisa and Gary!

Mazol Tov!

Posted at 10:36 AM | Permalink | Category: Buddies , Religion | Comments (2)

Not fully a religion thing, some may argue - but I am not getting into that. In any event, today is Israel's 59th birthday. Israel has become an independent state on 5th day of Iyar (ה' באייר), which is today on the Hebrew Calendar.

Ask.com has a smart answer for it and Wikipedia has a lot more information on it.

Yom Ha'atzmaut (Hebrew: יום העצמאות yom hā-‘aṣmā’ūṯ), Israeli Independence Day, commemorates the declaration of independence of Israel in 1948.

It falls on the 5th of the Jewish lunar month Iyar, celebrating the declaration of the state of Israel by David Ben-Gurion in Tel Aviv on May 14, 1948, and the end of the British Mandate in Israel.

It is always preceded by Yom Hazikaron, the Israel fallen soldiers Remembrance Day on the 4th of Iyar.

An official ceremony is held every year on Mount Herzl on the eve of Yom Ha'atzmaut. The ceremony includes a speech by the speaker of the Knesset (the Israeli Parliament), a dramatic presentation, a ritual march of soldiers carrying the Flag of Israel, forming elaborate structures (such as a Menorah, Magen David and a number which represents the age of Israel) and the lighting of twelve beacons (each for every one of the Tribes of Israel). Every year a dozen Israeli citizens, who made a significant contribution in a selected area, are invited to light the beacons.

Posted at 5:09 PM | Permalink | Category: Religion | Comments (2)

Monday and Tuesday, my wife and I will be at my parents for the last days of Passover.

For you SEO people, I will be off the blog until Wednesday. The other authors will be writing, plus we will have live SES NYC coverage Tuesday.

I will be joining the rest of you at SES NY on Wednesday.

See you there!

Happy Pesach!

Posted at 4:48 PM | Permalink | Category: Family , Religion | Comments (0)

Passover, aka Pesach, aka פֶּסַח, is just around the corner. There is a lot of prep required for the holiday.

Think of it as spring cleaning for the Jews.

We have to make sure there is no bread food anywhere in our possession. That means, no crumbs either. Not in our kitchen, not in our homes, not in our offices, not in our cars, no where in our possession. There are some technicalities where you can sell your bread (known as Chametz (חמץ) during Passover), to a non-Jew, so that it is not in our possession during the holiday. But we still need to lock up any food that is in our homes, but sold to a non-Jew.

So that is the most amount of work. Cleaning your house, car, office and so on for Pesach is a ton of work.

Outside of that, you need to buy or make Matzo (מַצָּה) as our bread. You need to prepare for the Seder (סֵדֶר). And then some general holiday stuff.

Lucky me, my wife and I don't have to do much. Since we won't be home for the meals of Passover... HA HA

The holiday is observed, outside of Israel, for 8 days.

I will be one day late to SES NY because it falls out on the last day of Passover.

More at:
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passover
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matzo
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chametz
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passover_Seder

Posted at 12:16 PM | Permalink | Category: Religion | Comments (4)

Yesterday was the holiday of Purim (פורים). Purim is a happy holiday for the Jewish people, because if you read the the story of Esther you will see things turned out A-OK for us.

Saturday night is when we read the Megillah. Which is nice, since normally, you stay in synagogue after evening services to hear the Megillah but you are still fasting for the 45 minutes of reading the Megillah. Since the fast fell out on Shabbat, we moved the fast forward to Thursday and read the Megillah on Saturday night, and celebrated Purim Sunday.

Technically, today is Shushan Purim.

I live in a very very jewish area and you don't want to be on the streets on Purim, because it is a mad house. Seriously, you have kids and adults driving and walking around all dressed up; some as clowns, some as bears, some as queens, some as soldiers and so on. Some even dress up their cars, some rent limos for the day. People go around giving friends and family mishloach manot (gifts of food) and charity to the poor (more info on that here). They often drink at their friends and some get a bit too drunk, hence why some rent drivers and limos.

I was at work in the morning.

I got home about 1:30pm and my wife and I dropped of mishloach manot to friends. Then we went to my parents for Seudat Purim, I am still full from that. Ours was a bit like Thanksgiving meal, but without the football.

That was my purim and the picture above is my niece, all dressed up. :)

Posted at 2:24 PM | Permalink | Category: Religion | Comments (2)

Today is תענית אסתר, pronounced Ta'anit Ester. Ta'anit means fast - so it is the fast of Esther today. It comes from Megillah (Book) of Esther. Esther and the Jewish people fasted while Ahasuerus (אֲחַשְׁוֵרוֹשׁ), the king of Persia, was in charge and Haman was pretty influential.

It is a very long story - you can learn about it at Wikipedia.

In short, today we fast - do not eat, to commemorate Esther's fast. In fact, the true fast is this Saturday, but since Saturday is Shabbat, we push the fast forward to today, Thursday. Most fast days, if they fall out on Shabbat, we do not fast - but some we do.

Also check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fast_of_Esther.

Purim (פורים) follows תענית אסתר where children (and some adults) dress up, drink, eat a big meal, give friends presents and give the poor food and money. More on Purim, on Purim (this Sunday).

Posted at 2:07 PM | Permalink | Category: Religion | Comments (3)

Have to thank Judah over at Diamond Vues for spotting this puppy.

LEDKippah.com is selling Kippah's, the thing some Jews wear on their heads, with scrolling LEDs on them.

A Kippah (כִּפָּה), also known as a yarmulka (יאַרמלקע) is a head covering for a Jewish male. You see it on my cartoon picture above. They came in various colors, styles, sizes and fabrics.

This is the first geeked out one I have seen. So guess what? I ordered one.

They are pretty expensive, but I figured - I'll splurge on this one.

1 - 5 Pieces $20
6 - 24 Pieces $18
25 - 50 Pieces $16
51 - 100 Pieces $15
101+ Pieces $14.50

I think shipping is $10.

I'll let you know when I get it and Ill post some head-shots.

Posted at 4:18 PM | Permalink | Category: Religion | Comments (18)

Being a kosher person, I found this video very interesting. It is a 9 minute video from Hogan Knows Best, Hulk Hogan's reality show...

They move to a Jewish neighborhood in Miami, Florida and want to have the neighbors over...

Posted at 7:08 AM | Permalink | Category: Religion | Comments (0)

As I promised, I told you I would share the gifts I got for this Chanukah. So here are some of them...

My wife got me the Linksys Wireless-G Travel Router with SpeedBooster that I hinted she should get me the other day. I set it up already, without using the CD they gave me (WIndows only). Can't wait to use it at hotels, clients or in random places. Here is a picture from the buy.com site, no need for me to take an actual image of it.

My brother and sister-in-law bought me a Projection Alarm Clock with Weather from La Crosse. Pretty neat and the projection is a very nice feature. Plus, my wife won't ask me what the outside temperature is, it tells us. Plus, for that question... "Is it hot in here? Well, it also tells you the inside temperature and humidity. A picture from the manufacturers web site...

Finally, my parents did not know what to get me so they went to ThinkGeek.com and picked something geeky...

Yes, it is a /dev/pillow. :)

My wife got some other presents, but nothing geeks would be into...

Posted at 10:37 PM | Permalink | Category: Religion | Comments (1)

Chanukah (חנכה) is tomorrow night, it is probably the most favorite Jewish holiday for kids. This is the holiday kids are dripping with gifts from their parents and relatives. Of course, the Wikipedia has a fairly nice write up on Chanukah.

That is me, dressed up as a "Dreidel," which is a toy kids play with on the holiday. The four sides of the dreidel (a top) have letters on them standing for נס גדול היה שם. How does the game work? Well, you spin the dreidel and depending on which side it lands gets you something:

• נ - Nun - nisht - "not" - nothing happens and the next player spins
• ג - Gimel - gants - "all" - the player takes the entire pot
• ה - Hey - halb - "half" - the player takes half of the pot, rounding up if there is an odd number
• ש - Shin - shtel ayn - "put in" - the player puts one marker in the pot

Aside for that, we light the menorah eight nights, we sometime eat special food and we give gifts. I'll let you know what I get this year.

Some other good resources for the holiday at OU.org, Aish HaTorah and for the kids TorahTots.com.

Here is a preview of the Search Engine Roundtable's special logo for the 8 days.

Posted at 3:00 PM | Permalink | Category: Religion | Comments (9)

You may have noticed how I put up a Halloween logo at the Search Engine Roundtable just recently. So why no special costume like Matt, for Halloween for Cartoon Barry?

Well, I do not celebrate Halloween.

Possibly the closest Jewish holiday to this, in terms of "dressing up," may be Purim (פורים). Typically, children dress up, go to parties and eat a ton of candies on Purim. Plus there are many other things we do, but that is how it is similar to Halloween, I think.

More details at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purim.

Happy Halloween to everyone who celebrates!

Posted at 12:24 PM | Permalink | Category: Religion | Comments (2)

My Dad bought me this wonderful present, it enables me to learn some Torah (תּוֹרָה) during my day. Torah is the Jewish Bible, orthodox Jews are suppose to learn from the Torah throughout the day. We are suppose to live by it and observe the laws and guidelines - in short, it is our way of life. I have to admit, one of my downfalls is that I do not make enough time for this aspect in my life. I pray with a Minyan twice a day but this I fall short with.

My Dad knows this and he bought me a new book from Artscroll named The Daily Dose. It is great, it is about 18 minutes of learning per day (18 the number has a special meaning in Judaism). Each day includes a bunch of aspects from the Torah including:

• A Torah Thought for the Day
• Mishnah (משנה) of the Day
• Gems from the Gemara (גמרא)
• A Mussar (מוּסַּר) Thought for the Day
• Halachah (הלכה) of the Day
• A Closer Look at the Siddur
• Question for the Day
• Taste of Lomdus (deep thought), once a week

Thanks Dad!

Posted at 11:09 AM | Permalink | Category: Daily Grind , Religion | Comments (6)