Comments (0)Inside Scoop
January 2010
Local Time
If there were to be an official Jewish app developer for the iPhone it would be RustyBrick. With over 2.5 million downloads of their apps, most of them Jewish in nature, they do a great job of creating apps that are useful for the Jewish community.
One of their few free apps is called Shabbat Shalom and it does all the work of figuring out when to light your Shabbat candles, what the current weeks Parsha reading is and when Havdalah is.
The app is sponsored by advertisements but don’t worry, they don’t make it difficult to use. Adding a new ‘location’ is as easy as touching the ‘i’ at the bottom of the screen and entering your location.
But don’t take our word for it, at a price of free you might as well download it.
— Matthew Forr
My Greenspace
Tu B’Shevat is a perfect holiday for “green” projects, as it celebrates the birthday of the trees. In Israel, the holiday comes at the end of the rainy season when buds first begin to appear.
On Tu B’Shevat it is customary to begin growing parsley that will be ready to “harvest” in time for Passover.
To do so: Take a plastic “clamshell” container (one used for grape tomatoes, potatoes etc.) and fill the bottom with small pebbles. Layer with potting soil. Sow some parsley seeds into the soil. Keep moist. Place in a sunny window and watch your herb garden grow.
— Elinor Spokes
Thirty Seconds With Nicole Samuel
I am: a Connecticut high school and Washington University in St. Louis graduate, a mother of 11-month-old Zachary and a freelance graphic artist.
My Favorite:
Movie: “The Notebook”
Artist: Vincent Van Gogh
Restaurant: Pio Pio (Peruvian-style rotisserie chicken restaurant) in New York City.
Most interesting project: decorating my son’s nursery. I painted trees growing through the seasons and decoupaged his furniture with trees, birds, stars, etc.
My New Year’s resolution: I want to enjoy the moment.
If I could meet anyone it would be: Larry David. I would want to know how he comes up with his story lines.
Best advice my mother gave me: Never leave home without earrings. It always finishes the look.
— Rochelle Eisenberg
Dining with… Maria Dennis
Mix 106.5’s Maria Dennis is known for dishing celebrity dirt from 12-2 in the afternoon, but she can also dish some great food as well!
“I’ve been cooking certain different dishes and desserts for years,” Dennis explains. “My mother introduced me to cooking at an early age. I was the only girl in my family, so my Mom and I really bonded in the kitchen. I enjoy baking primarily, though. I have a wicked sweet tooth!”
Although Dennis wasn’t originally Jewish, she decided to convert after marrying her husband.
“Judaism is a very positive and uplifting religion to me,” she says. “My boys attend Jewish school and often teach me words in Hebrew. We’re always learning together.”
— Brandon Goldner
ON BOOKSHELVES
36 Arguments for the Existence of God: A Work of Fiction
By Rebecca Goldstein, Pantheon, hardcover, 2010, 416 pages, $27.95
Award-winning novelist and MacArthur Fellow Rebecca Goldstein has written this work of fiction which explores one of the great religious debates of the day — between those who believe in God and those who do not.
In this novel, Cass Seltzer, a university professor who specializes in the “psychology of religion” writes an unexpected bestseller. His success, along with an unexpected visit by an old flame, leads him into a contemplation of his past, which includes his failed marriage and the memories of a former mentor and a six-year-old mathematical genius.
Receiving a starred review from Publisher’s Weekly, this novel is said to hilariously explore religious convictions in all varieties.
— Rochelle Eisenberg