I remember watching the show Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader and thinking, “Did I really ever learn this information?” I know I had an excellent education, but some of the information I was taught either a) went right over my head or b) I didn’t think I would ever need the info, so…
President’s Day was always a weird holiday for me. When I was growing up, we usually got off school for both President Lincoln’s AND President Washington’s birthdays. I don’t remember when we stopped celebrating President Washington’s birthday by itself and had his lumped in with P…
Hi…, my name is Jason Moss, and I am a proud member of the Jewish community.
My Judaism is something I have been proud of for as long as I can remember. I was THAT kid who loved Sunday School and Hebrew School. I never thought of it as something I HAD to do…rather… it was something I …
This past Saturday, January 27, was UN International Holocaust Remembrance Day. As we have done for the past six years, our Jewish Federation brought the community together for our Sixth Annual Every Person Has a Name – our 25-hour Holocaust Commemoration and Vigil that the City of Pasade…
As our two daughters have grown up, they know that I'm who they should ask anytime they have a question about history or need help on a history-related assignment. And when they have a science or math question, they need to ask my wife.
I do not know when I realized that I found history…
Many people have asked me over the years: "What exactly does an Executive Director of a nonprofit do?" They tend to be able to see and understand the programs and services that our Jewish Federation provides. However, it is the behind-the-scenes work we do that is often hard to clearly artic…
This past Sunday, our Jewish Federation held its 29th Annual Meeting. This event each year is a chance for us to look back at all we have done in the year prior and what is in store for the year to come. In addition, this year, we awarded two scholarships – the Kimberly Dawn Ellis scholars…
As you might expect, I interact with a lot of people. It just comes with my position and the fact that I try to be “out and about” as much as possible. Over the last couple of months, these interactions have taken a bit of a turn, depending on whether I am talking with Jews or non-Jews.
One of my favorite aspects of this time of year are the retrospective looks at the year that was – what the memorable highlights were, as well as the events that will leave their indelible mark for years to come.
I have done the same thing for the last several years for our Jewish Federat…
I did something last night that I have not done for quite a while…. I went with my daughter to see a movie (on a school night) that began at 8:45 p.m. While I knew that I would probably be a bit tired this morning, spending this time with my daughter, who is home on break from college, wa…
I am a lifelong sports fan, and this is a favorite time of the year for fans like me. The baseball playoffs are just starting, and college and professional football are in full swing. Plus, the preseason of basketball and hockey is beginning as well. It is an exciting time. For the Jewish co…
As I write this week's column, I am streaming Radio Hanukkah on my computer from SiriusXM (Channel 638). I have been listening as I usually do each year, off and on since it began. I love that during Hanukkah, people can listen to Hanukkah and Jewish songs (on the radio), especially at this …
I have a confession to make. Hanukkah snuck up on me this year. Whether it is because my attention has been focused on other things lately or that as I have gotten older, this holiday doesn’t hold the same meaning as it once did, it was not until after I got back from my family’s Thanksg…
I absolutely love that society has "adopted" special days to celebrate certain things during the year. I mean days like International Talk Like a Pirate Day (September 19), National Coffee Day (September 29), National Hamburger Day (May 28), and my personal favorite… National Doughnut Day …
One day, my oldest daughter shared with me that she had finally figured out what I did for a living. When I asked, she said, "You schmooze." I thought about it for a while and realized she was right. Not in a negative way but more so the fact that I enjoy talking to people. Earlier this morn…
