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All That Glitters
Parshat EmorWhen you think of laundry, you probably think of piles of dirty clothing, sitting at the bottom of the laundry chute, waiting to be sorted into darks, lights, and whites. But to a very specific subset of human beings, laundering has a lot more to do with mountains of cash than polo shirts, shorts, and […]
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Boeing Nowhere Fast….Parshat Kedoshim 5779
On the morning of March 10, 2019, Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 took off from Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, and headed toward Nairobi, Kenya. Six minutes into the flight, the airplane, a Boeing 737 Max 8, began a nosedive and slammed into the ground, killing all 157 people on board. Even before the smoldering […]
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Moooove over!
Parshat Achrei Mot 5779Dairy cows are prodigious producers. You pump about one hundred pounds of feed into a dairy cow over the course of a day; usually a mixture of hay, grain, soybean meal or some other protein, and silage, which is fermented wet grass or grain. While it sits there placidly ruminating, all sorts of machinery starts […]
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My Grandmother and Goering
Parshat Metzora 5779My grandmother was one of the most fascinating people I ever met. Me’me, as we called her, fought in the French resistance, ran a DP camp in post-war Europe, was a professor in Columbia University and traveled the world extensively.
Me’me had been an emerging actress in pre-war Paris, and came from a family of well-heeled […] -
Toto, We’re Not in Kansas
Parshat Tazria 5779Sutton’s Law, a rule taught in medical schools around the country, is named after Willie Sutton, one of the most famous bank robbers in US history. Willie stole over two million dollars from banks over the course of a forty-year crime spree which included three prison breakouts. His most famous line, which he later denied […]
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I’ll have a Cup of Beetlejuice
Parshat Shmini
A female chochineal on the left and the much rarer male on the right…. A cluster of female chocineals chilling on their cactus pad
Alfonso Hernandez is a farmer who grows infected cacti on the Canary Islands (Pop Quiz! Where in the world are the Canary Islands?) While cactus plants are generally considered a nuisance, and […] -
Love Your Head
Parshat Vayikra/PurimIt was clear that Paul Bryant was different the moment he was born. He did look a bit strange, his head seemed almost bigger than his body, but all babies are born looking a little strange, so his parents weren’t too worried. Within twenty minutes of his birth, five doctors had stopped by the delivery […]
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Call Me Nano-Man
Parshat Vayakhel 5779Hello Everybody,
Call me Nano-Man. I am the future. I laugh silently at the geek in front of me as he pulls a 5 pound laptop out of his carry-on, and places it its own basket in the security line at the airport. I laugh at the security guard who has no idea that I’m carrying […] -
A Simple Tip to have an Amazing Life
Parshat Ki TisaFor those who don’t pay their credit card bills on time, credit cards are one of the most destructive forces in the US economy. In a report released on January 30, 2019, the average Annual Percentage Rate (APR) for a credit card in the US stands at an all time high of 17.52%. But people […]
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How Many Flavors of Ice Cream Would You Try?
Parshat Termuah 5779I like ice cream. I like it a lot. There is almost no flavor of ice cream I don’t like. I recently had a scoop of basil infused ice cream and found it delicious. If you put me in a room with 50 tubs of ice cream and a box of little spoons, I would […]
Leiby Burnham has created 147 entries
Leiby Burnham
