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Saadya Notik

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Apr 13, 2018, 7:42 AM

No Shame in Your Game

By Shabbat afternoon, this week's Torah portion, Shemini, will have been read (outside of Israel) eight times in public. Why, of all the portions that could have been read and reread consecutively in private and in public, is Shemini the...

Mar 28, 2018, 1:53 AM

Need Therapy? Just Passover.

I love therapy. It's great. It's important to take incremental steps in our emotional and spiritual growth. But sometimes we’ve got no time for patience. And must grow by leaps and bounds. Now. Every one of us have had moments...

Jan 31, 2018, 12:14 PM

I'm not feeling inspired. But neither was the tree. I'm giving a talk tonight, but I'm not feeling rooted, or even grounded. How am I to spread my branches and give off fruit, if I don't feel connected to my...

Dec 29, 2016, 9:11 PM

Netanyahu, Kerry, and the 5th Night of Chanukah

Yesterday, on the eve of the 5th night of Chanukah, John Kerry stood at a podium and lectured the Jews and Israel on peace and peacemaking and how the settlements are an obstacle to that peace. He spoke harshly...

Oct 15, 2016, 12:00 PM

That Time My Wife Forgot My Birthday

I’ll never forget the moment. It was a little over five years ago. My wife Mushky and I had only been married a few months and now it was July 20th, my birthday. I had turned 28 but my...

Nov 26, 2015, 8:14 PM

Me and the Bum on the 4 Train

Me and the Bum on the 4 train.I stepped onto the crowded 4 train at 14th St and wiggled my way deeper into the seating area where there was only one seat open next to what appeared to be...

Oct 13, 2015, 4:05 PM

Don’t Blame the New York Times

Eyebrows were raised. Diplomats looked at each other in disbelief. Were they really hearing Israel’s top diplomat suggest that they start quoting the Bible in defense of Israel? Likud lawmaker Tzipi Hatovely had just cited 11th century Bible commentator Rashi’s...

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About Me

Born in Brooklyn, raised in California, Saadya Notik traveled the world as an ambassador for the largest Jewish organization before founding the Shabbat Society -- an invite-only Friday night dinner group for New York City's least-affiliated and most talented young Jews.