Sami Steigmann crashes Clubhouse
On a blustery day in late January, Holocaust survivor Sami Steigmann, 81, made his debut on Clubhouse—the buzzy, audio-based, social-media platform that launched in the venture capital and Hollywood communities last spring and now connects millions...
The most unlikely Passover seder
On the eve of Passover, I was one of 13 people driving through the rolling sand dunes between Abu Dhabi and the remote Arabian Nights Bedouin Village on the way to celebrating a most...
An Immigrant’s Struggle to Learn Hebrew
A recent article (by Elaine Samuels, on Facebook and in the Israel Telegraph online) recounted the trials and tribulations she experienced in her efforts to learn and speak Hebrew. This triggered long-dormant memories of my attempt...
Recipe: Gluten-Free Brownies for Passover
Recipe: Eva Giesener , z”l; Recipe Research and Twist: Jeffery Giesener
“Mit Nuts or Ohne Nut’s”… That what my Mom used to ask us as she always made two batches of her delish brownies for...
Sephardic envy at Passover time
Passover is here, and I am triggered. Every Ashkenazi Jew gets a little Sephardic-envy this time of year thinking about all the rice our fellow Jews will be eating while we suffer through a kitniyot lockdown....
March 31, 1492: The Alhambra Decree was issued to expel Jews from the country
On 31 March 1492 the Catholic Monarchs, Ferdinand and Isabella, issued the Alhambra Decree, also known as the Edict of Expulsion, giving notice to all practising Jews to leave the kingdoms of Castile and...
March 31, 1927: César Chávez, founder of the United Farm Workers, was born
The founder of the United Farm Workers, César Chávez, was born on this date in 1927. Chávez, a disciple of Saul Alinsky, became a master of non-violent resistance who sparked the modern Hispanic civil...
This Passover, a song of thanks
It’s hard to believe that only a year has passed since Passover of 5780 (2020). Since the late Rabbi Menachem Mendel Gafner of blessed memory reinstated the tradition of the Priestly Blessing some 50...
First ever book about the Jewish festivals for emerging Jewish communities released in time...
“Hands-On Jewish Holidays”, a book about the Jewish festivals specifically targeted to emerging Jewish communities, those communities who are discovering Jewish ancestry and wishing to reconnect to the traditions of their ancestors, has been...
A very special Pesach
Today I must give thanks for the perseverance of our people and the cultivation of the traditions that, like Pesach, are transmitted generation after generation through the education that our Imams and Sabbaths gave...