While You Were Sleeping...

Shabbat Table Talk from the desk of Rabbi Alexander Seinfeld

Jan 23-24, 2026 • 6 Shevat 5786 • Bo (Exod 10-13).

In memory of Bertram Walker z''l, whose 40th Yarzheit was recently observed.

Do you know how many days until Tu B'Shvat and Purim?

In case you missed last week's snow crystal message....

Or perhaps you read it but missed clicking on the pic (they're always clickable)...

The link was to this remarkable little book, Ken Libbrecht's Field Guide to Snowflakes. 

Libbrecht is the Cal Tech physics professor who may possibly not be the world's foremost snowflake expert, but anyone who can say, "I'm a Cal Tech physics professor and I study snow crystals" should probably be taken seriously.

Based literally on his credentials and the cover, I bought his book this week. I didn't even bother reading the jacket text, which promises:

The next time the forecast calls for snow, you can be prepared with this fun, informative pocket-sized guide to the amazing world of snowflakes. This guide will not only explain the science behind these one-of-a-kind natural masterpieces, but showcases their delicate beauty through amazing microphotography of real snow crystals. You ll also learn about the most common types of snowflakes, their structures and patterns, when the most beautiful crystals are likely to fall, and how you can best observe and even photograph them.

How, you ask, does a professor in Pasadena, California, become the world's greatest snowflake expert?

For one, he grew up in Fargo, North Dakota.

For two, he makes them from scratch in his lab.

For three, as he tells in his book, he apparently knows the way to LAX, because his little book is full of gorgeous photos of snowflakes that he personally found in places like Ontario and Vermont.

He also provides a chart of the 35 major snow crystal (proper name for a snowflake) types and pictures and short explanations of how each type is formed. 

He also has tips on collecting and photographing snowflakes that anyone can try.

Now, what if you live in a place like Pasadena but don't know the way to LAX? What if you have no access to snow?

Yet another reason for making Aliyah? 


BTW, fun fact: Remember these snowflake stamps from 2006?

Those ain't drawings.

They're photos that Prof. Libbrecht personally took. 

(Not in his lab.)

(And if you click on it, it will take you to another Libbrecht book that won several awards.)

He also holds an official Guinness World Record for the largest snowflake ever documented - 10mm! Check out this beauty!

(BTW, lest anyone think he's a flaky guy, he also studies the sun, gravitational waves, and other heavy-duty physics stuff.)

The beauty and uniqueness of snowflakes, combined with their fragility, prompted last week's question, Are you a snowflake?

This week, since snowflakes are the stuff snowstorms are made of, we'll ask: In what two ways are current events like a snowstorm?

And for a bonus round, here's a trivia question which perhaps alludes to a third answer to the snowstorm question: What color is snow? (hint: not white)

Shabbat Shalom

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As always, the image above is click-able and this message can be read online.

Are You Like a Snowflake?

Shabbat Table Talk from the desk of Rabbi Alexander Seinfeld

Jan 16-17, 2026 • 28 Teves 5786 • Va'eira (Exod 6-9).

The title is meant to be a riff on last week's "Are You a Big Joe"...

Try this one at your table: 

Take a wild guess - how many snowflakes are falling somewhere in the world right now?

The answer is mind-boggling: About a million billion snowflakes fall each second, averaged over a typical year. That's enough snow to make one snowman for every person on earth every ten minutes.

OK, try this one: How many water droplets does it take to make a single snowflake, and how long does it take for it to form?

A: About 100,000 water droplets in a process that takes roughly 30-45 minutes.

The process starts when a single droplet freezes on a tiny (microscopic) spec of dust. 

(Clouds form the same way, just at warmer temperatures.)

I gave this week's message the title, "Are You Like a Snowflake" not because no two snowflakes are identical - I'm absolutely certain you are unique.

Rather, what I had in mind is the way that snowflakes grow. A tiny drop of water - which in our tradition represents Torah wisdom - latches on to what appears to be an insignificant spec of dust, and given the right nurturing can grow into something stunningly beautiful.

Is that you?

What's the catch?

Shabbat Shalom

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Are YOU a Big Joe?

Shabbat Table Talk from the desk of Rabbi Alexander Seinfeld

Jan 9-10, 2026 • 21 Teves 5786 • Shemoth (Exod 1-5).
Happy Birthday shoutout to Marc in MV!

This uplifting story has been going around. The author, Joe Lena, asked for it to go around.

"I'm Big Joe. 58. Long-haul trucker.

Been driving 18-wheelers for 34 years. Sleep in my cab. Eat at truck stops. Talk on CB radio to stay awake.
 

Lonely job. But someone's gotta move America's stuff.
 

Two years ago, I'm driving through Nebraska. 2 am. See a car pulled over. Hazards on.
 

Woman standing outside. Looking scared.
 

I pulled over. She backed away when she saw me. I'm 6'4", 280 pounds, covered in tattoos. I get it.
 

"Ma'am, I'm not stopping to hurt you. I'm stopping to help. What's wrong?"
 

Her car died. Phone dead. She'd been there three hours. Nobody stopped.
 

"Where you headed?"
 

"Hospital. Omaha. My daughter's in emergency surgery. I have to get there."
 

No hesitation. "Get in. I'll take you."
 

"In your truck?"
 

"Safest vehicle on this highway."
 

She hesitated. Then got in.
 

Drove her 60 miles out of my way. Got her there in time. She hugged me hard.
 

"Nobody stops anymore," she cried. "Thank you for seeing me."
 

Got back on the road. Couldn't stop thinking about it.
 

Got on the CB. Told other truckers. "We see everything out here. We should do something."
 

Started a code. "Code Angel" we call it. When truckers see someone broken down, stranded, in trouble, we stop.

We help.

Word spread. Truckers across the country joined.

Last year, we helped 1,200 people. Dead batteries. Out of gas. Medical emergencies. Domestic violence victims escaping. Runaways needing safe transport to shelters.

We've got a network now. Truckers, CB radio, truck stops. Someone needs help? We mobilize.

Saved six lives last year. People broken down in dangerous spots. Diabetics in crisis. A kidnapping victim we spotted and reported.

But here's my favorite story.

Last month, I'm at a truck stop. Young kid approaches me. Maybe 19. Scared.

"Are you Big Joe?"

"Yeah."

"You know how to ride in a truck?"

His eyes filled. "You'd help me?"

"That's what we do."

I didn't go to San Francisco. But I got him to a trucker who was. She took him the rest of the way.

He made it. Safe.

Now there's 4,000 truckers in Code Angel. We've got an app. Dispatchers. Resources.

News called us "Guardian Angels of the Highway."

But we're just truckers. Doing what's right.

That woman in Nebraska? Her daughter survived surgery. She sends me Christmas cards every year.

The kid I helped? He's in college now. Studying social work. Says he wants to help invisible people like truckers helped him.

I'm Big Joe. I drive a truck. Sleep in parking lots. Smell like diesel.

But I learned something.

The loneliest roads are where people need help most. And the scariest-looking people are sometimes the ones who stop.

So tomorrow, if you break down, if you're stranded, if you're running from something bad,

Look for the trucks. We're watching. We're listening.

We might look rough. But we'll get you home.

Because the highway doesn't have to be lonely.

Not when 4,000 truckers refuse to drive past people in trouble."

- Joe Lena

Question for your table: For many years, many Jewish communities have had local "angel" groups called Hatzalah and Chaverim, as well as countless gemachim. So why are Code Angels newsworthy?

More important: Do you believe in guardian angels?

Shabbat Shalom

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Is It Worth The Time?

Shabbat Table Talk from the desk of Rabbi Alexander Seinfeld

Jan 2-3, 2026 • 14 Teves 5786 • Vayechi (Gen 47-50).

Thank you to all who responded last week's end-of-2025 JSLI appeal!! If you'd like to launch 2026 with a mitzvah, please consider a tax-deductible gift or monthly pledge. Even as little as $18/month can go a long way to help us achieve our mission of transforming Jewish education.

What would you do with three extra days a year?

If I told you that with a little extra effort, you could add three days a year to your life, would you believe me?

That would mean an extra month per decade.

There are in fact many ways to do this. Here’s one example.

Many people make multiple weekly trips to the grocery store.

There's the main shop, then there's the running back for the things that you forgot. And sometimes there's the tertiary shop. 

Even if it's only ten minutes away, the round trip to get that forgotten item is half an hour. And if you go during peak times, that extra trip could easily be 45 minutes to an hour.

And if this is your weekly pattern - that means that your extra trips to the store are costing you 4-6 hours a month. If a day consists of 16 productive hours, that's a full day every 4 months, or 3 days a year!

Now, because your three days of extra time are spread out in small chunks, the best way to utilize this extra time is by adding an activity that is specifically meaningful in small chunks, such as:

- Learning Jewish wisdom, one nugget at a time.

- Learning Hebrew (or any language), one phrase at a time.

- Learning to play banjo (or any instrument), one note at a time. 

- Learning to meditate, one breath at a time.

How can you save this time?

By investing a small amount of time in order to make your grocery shopping (or any repetitive daily or weekly task) more efficient.

1. Make a meal plan before you go. It's a boring task, but it liberates you. No more indecision in the grocery store. 

2. Once every two months, stock up on your regular non-perishables so that most weeks you only need to buy perishables. Peanut butter, grains, anything in a box or jar that you eat weekly, get 10x. 

3. Avoid peak hours (4-7 pm).

I'm using shopping as an example and it's one of the biggest opportunities to save time. But know that those saved minutes do add up - not to mention the benefit of lower stress. All that for the small effort of better planning.

Now, should you think, "This message doesn't really apply to me, as I don't do the shopping," or "I'm already as efficient as I can be," or "I don't believe that those saved hours really are worth the effort of being more organized," there's a fourth hack that is universal and is actually counter-intuitive for most people.

Despite our best efforts, we all end up waiting in a line once in awhile. And if it's not at the grocery store, it may be at the bank, or the doctor's office, the airport, or wherever.

Is that waiting time "hackable"? 

We all know how most people use that time - "doom-scrolling" - or, as someone calls it, "dumb-scrolling." 

What if you used such waiting-room moments to 

- Learn a nugget of Jewish wisdom?

- Learn one Hebrew (or any language) phrase?

- Practice ear training? 

- Meditate?

(I know someone who uses every red light for a nugget of study!)

"The day is short, the work is abundant... You are not required to complete the work, yet you are not free to desist from it" - Rabbi Tarfon
"Do not say 'When I have free time I will study,' for perhaps you will not have free time." - Hillel
"Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom." - Moses (Psalm 92)
"If you love life, you love time, for time is the stuff life is made of." - Ben Franklin

Question for your table: What would you do with three extra days a year?

Shabbat Shalom


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