Alon Shaya’s Safta’s Table, an Israeli-inspired neighbourhood café in New Orleans, has been awarded a Bib Gourmand in the 2026 Michelin Guide American South, just seven months after opening.

I play mah jongg. I teach mah jongg. I have strong opinions about mah jongg tiles. I’ve also become an avid needlepointer, with an ever-growing collection of canvases, an alarming investment in colorful threads and more than a few opinions about both. Somewhere along the way, my free time became devoted to what the internet has affectionately dubbed “granny hobbies.”

“It connected me to other people that were very instrumental to my broader Yiddish interests,” said Lana Adler, a 2013 Hampshire graduate who went on to work at the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, which houses the largest collection of Yiddish-language works in the world. “It was an incredibly important space for Yiddish.”

What ever happened to the Dat protocol? It seemed like it was going so strong and now there’s this confusing site about everything but the protocol.

Howdy y'all, I just wanted to say hi and thanks for having me! You might know me as @em@babka.social. I'm most often a lurker on social media, but since there's nothing telling me what I should post here, I'm doing this!

Thinks I'm currently thinking a lot about:

• building a DnD one shot campaign for my friends
• writing a shiur on kabbalah + hanukkah for my shul
• making our house more cozy / beautiful

nice to see / meet y'all

We deserve nice things.

(CW for food b/c alcohol and dinner mentions)
Yesterday, I went to a wedding and took Jamie along. Jamie didn't know anyone there but me, and I only knew three other people: the bride, the groom, and the rabbi. And, of course, those are the three people you don't really get to spend much time talking to at a wedding!

But it was an absolutely wonderful, fun, joyful experience. Watching the ceremony under the chuppah, looking at the ketubah, and just seeing how much the bride was smiling. Allison was SO happy. The love and affection were just contagious. It was beautiful.

We also got to meet a bunch of their friends from faraway lands, particularly Texas. A lot of them were college friends, and I ended up fielding quite a few questions about Judaism, which was interesting and fun.

I'd actually met some of them at synagogue the day before, which led to a particularly funny exchange.

The rabbi had called a bunch of people over for l'chaims, and this young woman named Judy, probably in her mid-20s, exclaimed, "Allison! I LOVE this synagogue!"

Naturally, a few minutes later I wandered over and asked, "So, I heard you say you love this synagogue. Is that because you haven't been to many synagogues before, or because this one is particularly different?"

She explained that she'd grown up Southern Baptist, and they would NEVER have had alcohol at something like that!

Anyway, everyone was having a wonderful time, and I think they really appreciated being able to ask questions about Judaism, explore things they were curious about, and show genuine interest without anyone trying to recruit them.

And I loved the dancing! Although, to be fair, my feet had been hurting since cocktail hour, so by the time dinner and dancing rolled around, they were already pretty sore. Apparently, standing around socializing is harder on my feet than I'd like to admit!

It was just a lovely weekend, full of joy, affection, curiosity, and people enjoying one another's company. And a very happy bride. I really can't overstate how wonderful it was to see her smiling so much.

One question that comes up for me is why Oscar is green while his cousin Moishe Oofnik is brown.

The answer appears to be that Oscar is actually orange, as he appeared in the first season of Sesame Street in 1970. Only in Season 2 and later did he appear green, as explained:

Within the narrative of the show, Oscar explained his color change by claiming he went on summer vacation to a damp swamp resort called Swamp Mushy Muddy, where he became completely covered in slime and mold.

I'm thinking about the next features for Rugela.

There are some ideas which I think are obvious: photo stories, for example, as well as avatars, and communities.

These are all coming in the next few months.

But I'm also wondering about more radical design changes or interactivity ideas. I have some pretty wild idea and I want your ideas too!

What are some of your wildest ideas of what this site could do as a forum?

I don't care how weird or out there your idea is! Name it!

The legal process for getting this merger across the finish line is weighing on me.

It feels weird - even with some of my transition committee - to have to remind them that I actually have another job. I'm full-time employed outside of the synagogue, and I have two teenage sons (one of whom is significantly disabled), and synagogue work is on top of that.

So a lot of time this week's been spent with our M&A attorneys, talking about how we actually get this across the finish line in compliance with state law.

Another pair of synagogues in town merged about ten years ago, so we have their example to follow... but there, they didn't have much opposition - both synagogues were in a hint of crisis at the time, whereas ours is a little more one-sided. Their leadership, to be fair, hasn't been as responsive to our outreach for lessons-learned, and the movement's been honest that they don't know the idiosyncrasies of our state's laws.

Though hopefully today's phone call will at least finish hammering out the process for voting, and leave us clear to move towards that last legal obstacle.

Shabbat shalom, everyone.

It's our fourth Shabbat together! This is a weekly thread where we come together at the end of the week to share.

Let us know something about yourself. Say something that's alive in you, your thoughts, feelings, something on your mind.

Whatever this Shabbat looks like for you, you’re welcome at this table.

If you're intimidated, one sentence is plenty, or more if you feel like sharing. The thread will be here afterwards if you want to come back to it.

During the winter months I like shepherd's pie, and this seems like a very cute presentation method.

The man is an old school master of French cuisine but I'm sorry.. saying you can use black beans, and peanut butter, and then adding hot sauce directly to the hummus... This man doesn't know how to make hummus.