The Balagan

Ralphie’s Summer Vacation: A Bushel and a Peck of Tall Tales, Part 3

by Rafael Alvarez | Sep 18, 2017 | Blogs, The Balagan

Four Weeks, Nine Cities & 3,000 Miles “Packed up the Dylan and the Man Ray and the Joyce, I left a note that said…” —Walter Becker, 1950 to 2017 My 2017 summer vacation/do-it-yourself book tour began the morning of July 11 at the grave of Edgar Allan Poe,...

Jewish Cookbook Author Joan Nathan Partners with Whole Foods

by Amanda Krotki | Sep 7, 2017 | Blogs, The Balagan

A James Beard Award-winning cookbook author and authority on all things Jewish food-related is partnering with Whole Foods Market. The grocer will offer Joan Nathan’s prepared dishes and recipes during the High Holiday season. Dishes from Nathan’s latest cookbook,...

Ralphie’s Summer Vacation: Shabbos in Memphis, Part 2

by Rafael Alvarez | Sep 6, 2017 | Blogs, The Balagan

Record Store Owners & Glass Blowers “When I first came to Memphis in 1969, I did my best to imagine the world as it must once have been…” –Peter Guralnick, Elvis scholar The world as it must have been… As the haunting zemiros of Shabbos harken back to...

Ralphie’s Summer Vacation: Shabbos in Memphis!

by Rafael Alvarez | Aug 10, 2017 | Blogs, The Balagan

“He finds endless ways to digress into autobiographical tangents, usually with some crying and kibitzing …” –The New York Times on the travel writing of Stanley Elkin (1930-1995) Cry me a river … As the Shabbos Queen approached the birthplace of the late,...

A Firsthand Look at Friends of the Israel Defense Forces

by Jaime Neaman | Aug 4, 2017 | Blogs, The Balagan

Last month, I had the honor of representing Friends of the Israel Defense Forces (FIDF)’s mid-Atlantic region on FIDF’s National Young Leadership Mission to Israel. FIDF has a clear mission – to offer educational, cultural, recreational and social programs and...

You Are What You Read

by Rafael Alvarez | Jul 28, 2017 | Blogs, The Balagan

From secular to frum and all the Dewey Decimals in between, what are the Jews of Baltimore reading during the dog days of August? Bedside, poolside or in the cool dark of the basement, nothing is as transporting as a book so good you forget you’re reading. For while...

Jmore’s Guide to Camp Artscape 2017

by Amanda Krotki | Jul 20, 2017 | Blogs, The Balagan

It’s that time of summer again when hundreds of thousands of Baltimore residents and mid-Atlantic tourists descend on the area between Mount Royal, Bolton Hill, Station North and Mount Vernon for three days of people-watching and culture-collecting. There’s a lot to...

At The Corner of Pulaski and Eagle

by Rafael Alvarez | Jun 26, 2017 | Blogs, The Balagan

Throughout Gilbert Cohen’s childhood – during the Great Depression when his family of seven lived in a narrow Southwest Baltimore rowhouse near railroad tracks and a cookie factory — it was risky to play cards on the corner and fatal to express love. Only once...

A Personal Reminiscence of O’s Sportscaster Fred Manfra

by Jeff Seidel | Jun 7, 2017 | Blogs, The Balagan

I remember one evening last summer walking toward the cafeteria at Oriole Park at Camden Yards where the press and team’s staff usually eat dinner. Walking slowly, since I did not have all of my strength and energy due to a recent chemotherapy treatment, I had...

Aly Raisman Only Jewish Athlete in 100 Most Famous Sports Stars List

by Ben Sales, JTA | Jun 6, 2017 | Blogs, The Balagan

(JTA) — Three Olympic gold medals. Six total. Captain of the victorious 2012 and 2016 U.S. women’s gymnastics teams. Now Aly Raisman can add one more accolade to her list: Most famous Jewish athlete in the world. Raisman, 23, the two-time U.S. Olympian from...