—Rabbi Jonathan Malamy, Director of Meaningful Life

Good afternoon to all at The New Jewish Home.

I want to wish you each a very Happy Juneteenth.

Juneteenth celebrates the end of slavery in the United States. Though President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation technically took effect on January 1, 1863, the true ending of slavery was not actually in effect until after the end of the Civil War in 1865. On June 19 of that year, Union Army General Gordon Granger announced federal orders in Galveston, TX, that all slaves held in Texas had been freed. The Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution was ratified that December 6th formally ending and forbidding all non-penal slavery everywhere in the United States.

—Rabbi Jonathan Malamy, Director of Meaningful Life

Good Evening Jewish Home Manhattan

Today is Wednesday May 20th.

Let’s talk about multi-tasking — trying to do more than one thing at a time. Some people love the idea of it, accomplishing two (or more) things at once. Some people are suspicious. They know it’s more likely to mean that neither thing will get done as well as it should.