Jewish Holidays and Culture

Shabbat Afternoon Hatikva

May 25, 2006

We were sitting on our third floor terrace on a warm Shabbat afternoon. It was one of the perfect Jerusalem days – not uncomfortably hot, not borderline cold; the air just lapping lightly at your skin with no unwelcome humidity to mar the moment. My wife Jody and I were reading the paper, eight-year-old Aviv […]

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Matzomeletes

April 17, 2006

Let me start off by saying that cooking has never been my forte. Growing up, my mother wouldn’t even let my brother and me into the kitchen. That was great as a kid, with all these wonderful meals magically appearing and us having virtually no idea how they came into being. But as an adult […]

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Locusts and Lentils

April 11, 2006

Rachel just doesn’t get it. I’ve explained it again and again. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. A chance to become a part of Jewish history. To not just live as a minority in some other culture’s history, but to make our own. How can someone who feels such a connection to the Jewish people – […]

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Munich in Florida

March 17, 2006

I almost didn’t go to see Steven Spielberg’s latest film “Munich.” I wouldn’t have been alone in that decision; many of my friends had already refused to attend. The film was biased against Israel, bordering on anti-Semitic at worst; difficult and violent at best, they’d heard. In the end, journalistic and Zionist curiosity won out. […]

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Matisya Who?

December 12, 2005

We were on the first day of a two week car trip through Europe. My wife Jody and I and our three kids had packed the rented Nissan Almera full of our gear and were settling in for the three hour drive from the Milan airport to our bed and breakfast in Italy’s picturesque Lake […]

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Bat Mitzvah Treasure Hunt

November 14, 2005

Merav’s bat mitzvah had been going great…we’d finished the first round of dancing and the guests had loaded up their plates with homemade ravioli and teriyaki salmon. The bat mitzvah girl was beaming from all the attention and we were generally feeling like everything was under control and proceeding according to our carefully crafted plan. […]

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Thinking Out of the Hut

October 17, 2005

I dare say we must have the easiest sukka in the world to build. A sukka is an outdoor dwelling that Jews traditionally build during the holiday of Sukkot to commemorate our ancestors’ exodus from Egypt when they had to live in this type of desert hut. Now, our apartment is on the top floor […]

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More Cheese Please

June 12, 2005

 “What are we going to do today?” six-year-old Aviv demanded as he shoveled in his tenth spoonful of cornflakes in as many seconds. It was shortly before the Jewish holiday of Shavuot last year and the kids were off school. Then ten-year-old Merav and twelve-year-old Amir were now looking up from their breakfasts as well, […]

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Korczak’s Children

May 5, 2005

Janusz Korczak was a Polish Jewish educator who ran an orphanage in the Warsaw Ghetto just prior to its liquidation in 1942. His story is at once tragic and courageous. Given the chance to escape the ghetto, Korczak chose to stay with his children, ultimately perishing along with them at Treblinka. “Korczak’s Children” is also […]

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The Magic of Pesach

April 22, 2005

Pesach is probably the most magical of Jewish holidays. And that really bugs the heck out of me! Before we go any further: here’s a spoiler alert: just like in a movie review, if you don’t want to know too much about the way I really think about some of the more obscure Pesach traditions, […]

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