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Let us start at the very beginning of the Seder. After we raise the first cup of wine and recite Kiddush, we wash our hands without a blessing before eating a vegetable, usually parsley, and we make the blessing to God "Creator of the fruit of the earth.” The usual explanation for this is that karpas is the Greek word for vegetation, and Greco-Roman meals would generally begin with the vegetable hors-d'oeuvre together with a ‘dip.' The seder is a reclining meal reminiscent of a Graeco-Roman feast and so we begin the seder evening with this vegetable hors-d'oeuvre /dip. ...

Experimental tables of contents. 105-year-old Bay View Printing still prints on century-old letterpress equipment. LA’s “crosswalk vigilantes” help improve pedestrian safety. “Séance AI” for one last chat with the departed. The US Government is auctioning off lighthouses—some for free. Artificial “e-skin” can communicate with the brain. An Indian food inspector drains a reservoir to retrieve his phone. New Zealand Air to start weighing passengers for “data collection purposes.” The “Hammer Fist” is a bizarre tool. Plastic wine bottles are on their way. All that and mor...

From the blog of David Lerner at The Times of Israel

From the blog of David Walk at The Times of Israel

There are some, say the Talmud, who acquire their world in an hour and others who lose it in an hour.