Making Soup, Making Shabbat
When I was a kid, my family did not keep kosher. The closest we got was the story my mother told about how, when she was growing up, her father once yelled at her as she poured a glass of milk to go with her BLT sandwich: “We don’t mix milk and meat!”
Purim, the Bible, and a Vengeful God
Cruelty and bloodshed abound in the Bible as, for example, the Pharaoh's ruthless treatment of his Israelite slaves and Moses' vengeful slaying of the Egyptian taskmaster in the Passover story.
The Four Children of Climate Change
We often talk at the seder about the Four Children: the Wise, the Wicked, the Simple, and the Silent children (or, as the last is often called, the Child Who Does Not Know How To Ask).
Kimchee on the Seder Plate: A Look at Multiracial Jewishness on Passover and Beyond
As a mixed-race couple with two young, mixed-race children living in a small community, we see an American Judaism that is ready to be open and responsive to the increasing demographic diversity in our country.
The Calendar, Yet Again
The number of months, with God, is 12 in the Book of God, the day that He created the heavens and the earth… The month postponed is an increase of unbelief whereby the unbelievers go astray; one year they make it profane, and hallow it another…
-Quran 9:36-37
We Get to Be Jewish
Growing up the child of a Jew-by-choice, everything about Judaism was a choice for us. For my mother, Judaism was a gift. She felt very proud to count herself among the Jewish people. She felt blessed to have the opportunity to do Jewish things.
Giving Thanks for #GivingTuesday
Thanksgiving used to be a day unto itself; now we have a whole Thanksgiving season! Americans' shopping habits brought us catchily-named, add-on "holidays" like Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday.
Celebrating Passover, Then and Now
Jews all over the world will begin to celebrate Passover with a ritualized meal called the seder, a Hebrew word meaning “order” that refers to the order of the prayers that are recited and the symbolic foods that are eaten
This Year's Best Passover Parody Videos
Last year's Passover parody videos were almost universally set to the tune of Frozen's "Let It Go." It doesn't get more Passo
Five Easy Steps for Keeping Passover Simple
Passover can be overwhelming. Why not simplify it? Here are five easy tips for reconnecting with the meaning of the holiday.