A New African Tradition for Hanukkah
For Meskerem Gebreyohannes, all of the Jewish holidays bring doro wat, a luxurious chicken dish she makes with slowly cooked onions and a red chile sauce layered with flavors from the African spice trail.
Despite...
Stump the seder guests: A mystery for each day of the holiday
Why is this year going to be different from all other years? Because this year, you can stump your guests with the meaning behind many of the mysterious rites that comprise the Passover seder.
Let’s...
Major Orthodox groups urge Jews to limit Passover prep to just the ‘essentials’
Leaders of six major Orthodox organizations released a joint statement on Monday asking Jews to limit preparations for Passover to only essentials as a further measure against the health threat presented by the coronavirus...
Yom Kippur 5780, music and memory
In just a little while, the notes of Kol Nidre will start playing, that melody that moves the one who knows its meaning as much as the one who knows nothing about it. Theodor...
Inside Israel’s $75,000 designer Sukkah
Visitors to Jerusalem during the holiday of Sukkot are often struck by a unique site: overtaking balconies across the city’s Jewish neighborhoods, little metal and wooden huts topped with branches and leaves huddle against one another....
Today, 75 years of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising are commemorated. A history of resistance...
It is 75 years since the beginning of one of the most heroic deeds of the Jewish people: the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, during which less than a thousand Jews confronted the powerful Nazi army...
Orthodox Jewish leaders in Florida dissuade Passover visitors due to coronavirus
Ahead of Passover and deep into the coronavirus pandemic, Orthodox Jewish leaders and medical professionals in Florida have warned against an exodus of visitors from their homes to the Sunshine State to celebrate the...
This Shabbat before Passover is, for us Jews, about sacrifice and service
This week we celebrate Shabbat Ha Gadol, the great Shabbat heralding Pesach (or Passover). The Lord commands Moses to transmit the Torah (teaching) of sacrifice and service to his brother Aaron, and to Aaron's...
Lag B’Omer: the Jewish holiday of bonfires and marshmallows!
This is a Judaism celebrated annually on the 33rd day of the Counting of the Omer (which is the 49 day period between Passover and Shavuot in the Jewish calendar, which according to the Torah...
How Christmas Transformed Hanukkah in America
Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights, celebrates the victory, in 164 BCE of armed Jewish rebels led by Judah the Maccabee over the army of the Syrian despot Antiochus IV. Against all odds, the courageous, resourceful,...