December 04, 2007

Home for Hanukkah with Ron and Ellen

Ah, it's Hanukkah, Judaism's wonderful cold-weather holiday, with a nip in the air to make the candles burn even more brlightly. What better time for couples to share their mutual affection and love than now, to see their pasts and happy futures reflecting in the dancing flames?

America's favorite Jewish couple, Ellen Barkin and Ron Perelman, might be thinking those very thoughts these days, as they come together once more to talk about their powerful emotions for each other. While they are, alas, divorced, I am sure they still have a deep bond of caring.

Continue reading "Home for Hanukkah with Ron and Ellen"

Van | 12/04/07 at 08:14 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Holy Days

November 29, 2007

Nas Haya Gadol Vegas: New Spin on an Old Game

With Thanksgiving over, it's time to get to that Hanukkah shopping. While the followers of that OTHER major monotheistic religion are knocking themselves out running to malls and shopping online, we Jews can take a leisurely approach. Here's the gift I'm most likely to give that doesn't involve the Victoria's Secret catalog:

No Limit Texas Dreidel. The ModernTribe company is selling this game. The name is great, although the company's website is awful. I'm not sure how to play it. One of these days I'll read the FAQs. Here are ideas for organizing a tournament. And here's what the FAQs say in part:

Q: Do I have to know how to play poker to play No Limit Texas Dreidel? A: No. But you will learn much about poker when you play No Limit Texas Dreidel. You will learn about hands and poker betting rules, buttons, betting limits, and bluffing. Poker is a wonderful game that we believe everyone should learn: it has lessons to teach about math, probability, social behavior, and risk-taking. You can begin to learn these lessons too by playing No Limit Texas Dreidel. See, parents, it's educational!

Now, you too can say things like, "Hit me, Bubbeleh."

Van | 11/29/07 at 07:21 AM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Holy Days

October 12, 2007

Scenes from my iTunes library: Angel

Boachem L'shalom, Malachei haShalom, Malachei Elyon. . . .

Angel - Belly
Angel Dance - Los Lobos
Angel in the Dark - Laura Nyro
Angel Mine - Cowboy Junkies
Angel Song - Shlomo Carlebach
Angel's Share - 27
Angels de Menta - L'Ham de Foc
Angels of Grace - Po' Girl
Angels of the Wind - Terry Allen
Angels with Dirty Faces - Los Lobos

Judith | 10/12/07 at 06:00 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Holy Days

March 07, 2007

Darfurism on Purim

Last Thursday was - close your eyes, John Derbyshire - Ta'anit Ester, and in the evening I went to a concert at a local synagogue. The performers were two of my favorite bands - Pharoah's Daughter and Divahn. The lead singer of Divahn is a scion of Persian Jewish classical singers, with family still in Iran, where the Purim story takes place, and the concert was a benefit against genocide.

Pillage Idiot received an email from the Jewish Theological Seminary on this very subject:

Continue reading "Darfurism on Purim"

Judith | 03/07/07 at 11:03 PM | 4 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Holy Days

March 04, 2007

Jews Celebrate Killing of Iranian Anti-Semites

I lifted that headline from this article:

Jews in Israel and throughout the world Saturday night began celebrating the thwarting of a genocidal decree in 356 BCE, which was followed by the two-day killing of tens of thousands of the Iranian anti-Semites who were poised to wipe out the Jews.

In other words, Purim. A holiday with a message for people who are strongly invested in being nice.

As Ariel Beery puts it:

I’ve found that the story of Purim is often recounted till Esther’s victorious triumph over Haman – and the rest is rushed through due to its, eh, violence. Specifically, most people tend to skip over this part:

Continue reading "Jews Celebrate Killing of Iranian Anti-Semites"

Judith | 03/04/07 at 11:11 PM | 1 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Holy Days

March 03, 2007

Chag Sameach Purim

from Israel ......

Via Pissed-off Liberal Jew . . . . Yiddishe hiphopper So-Called:

Judith | 03/03/07 at 06:16 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Holy Days

January 06, 2007

Shabbat music Friday: Deep Purple

Kabbalat Shalom at the Sagol Festival, Hof Dor Beach, Israel October 2006

(I didn't attend this, just trying to find some Shabbat music for today.)

Judith | 01/06/07 at 08:57 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Holy Days

December 29, 2006

Shabbat music Friday: nevel v'kinnor

I've been meaning to post this video for awhile, and since I can't get at my Jewish music files, this is a good time.

More info at the YouTube page.

Judith | 12/29/06 at 04:54 PM | 2 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Holy Days

December 23, 2006

Shabbat music Saturday: Shabbat menucha

Laura Wetzler sings about the day of rest.
An old Sephardic melody - you can hear the flamenco influence.

I didn't go to the kotel for Shabbat after all. It was raining. I hate rain anyway and standing outside for several hours in cold rain, even with an umbrella, even singing hallel on the last day of Hanukkah . . . . nah. I slept instead.

I had been to a nice Shabbat dinner the previous evening, beginning with a long walk through alleys and parks and narrow winding roads and overhanging trees and stoneblock apartment buildings with ironwork balconies and arched doorways and planters spilling over with flowers, occasional cars speeding by, more frequently other groups heading to Shabbat meals, passing with "good Shabbes!" and nods, finally to a spacious apartment with a table set for 20 and kids, parents, relatives, invited strangers.

And I kept falling asleep at the table. Jet lag? Running on empty throughout the conference? Emotional drain from too many people in too short a time? Worry about planning the rest of my trip? The insidious Jerusalem madness? After dinner I settled in an easy chair and fell asleep again while the others conversed. My friends woke me and we walked all the way back, raining now, me with umbrella, pleasantly tired, getting back to my little borrowed apartment at the back of an alley off Agron, across from the park. Where I slept, and woke, and slept, and finally got up about 6 PM Saturday evening. Sacking out for 18 hours is pretty shabbasdik, I think.

Judith | 12/23/06 at 11:44 PM | 4 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Holy Days

December 22, 2006

Hanukkah 8: Hip Hop Hoodios do Ochos Candelikas

Last night of Hanukkah . . . .

Judith | 12/22/06 at 03:52 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Holy Days

Hanukkah 7: And the gas lasted for 8 days

Precious moments captured by a video-enabled cell phone . . . .

Judith | 12/22/06 at 12:34 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Holy Days

December 21, 2006

Chabad's Flying Fickle Finger of Fate, or, Hanukkah on Ice!

The Chabad menorah ice sculpture on Fifth Avenue in New York was looking a little worse for wear this evening, like some Grinch-like anti-semites took a hammer to it. Still, I'm impressed by its size and the message of Jewish Soul on Ice.

With the missing parts, it looks like a strange map of Texas or even a Chabad Flying Fickle Finger of Fate. Click the image to get a full-size version of it.

Van | 12/21/06 at 10:10 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Holy Days

December 20, 2006

Hanukkah 6: The Chocolate Coin Rap

You know, Jews and bling . . . .

Judith | 12/20/06 at 12:37 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Holy Days

December 19, 2006

Hanukkah 5: Lights in the window

I linked before to this photo-essay on Hanukkah in Jerusalem. Indeed I see these modest oil-lamps in window after window. Often in boxes like this, on the window sill or gate. (Although I have only seen them one or maybe two at a time.)

Rahel Jaskow has a story about another hanukkiyah in a window, its photograph in a book, and her connection to the family who owned it. . . .

Continue reading "Hanukkah 5: Lights in the window"

Judith | 12/19/06 at 05:34 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Holy Days

December 18, 2006

Hanukkah 4: A shiur from Jerusalem

Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz on the meaning of Hanukkah:

Judith | 12/18/06 at 11:01 AM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Holy Days

December 17, 2006

Hanukkah 2: The 2nd night Hanukah candle

A day late, but very cute . . . , . . . more »

Judith | 12/17/06 at 10:24 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Holy Days

December 15, 2006

Happy Hanukkah from Jerusalem

I am in Jerusalem, about to have Shabbat dinner with Richard Landes and a few other people who will be at the conference which begins Saturday night in Herzliyah: Media as Theater of War, the Blogosphere, and the Global . . . more »

Judith | 12/15/06 at 09:18 AM | 2 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Holy Days

JDub presents hipster Hanukkah

If you are in selected locations in the USA, many Hanukkah events for you: . . . more »

Judith | 12/15/06 at 09:09 AM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Holy Days

December 08, 2006

Shabbat music Friday: Once a week God throws a party

. . . more »

Judith | 12/08/06 at 03:20 PM | 1 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Holy Days

December 02, 2006

Shabbat music Saturday: My soul longs for the candle and the spices

A Yemenite diwan for havdalah. My soul longs for the candle and the spices. If only you would pour me a cup of wine for Havdalah. O angels on high, pave a way for me, clear the path for the . . . more »

Judith | 12/02/06 at 08:46 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Holy Days

November 24, 2006

Shabbat music Friday: Proclaim freedom

Someone else out there likes Divahn. Here's a YouTube creation using their version of popular Shabbat song Dror Yikra as a soundtrack to images of Jews and Israel: I can't wait till that second album comes out. In the meantime, . . . more »

Judith | 11/24/06 at 11:47 AM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Holy Days

November 23, 2006

Now be thankful

An early live recording of Fairport Convention, in the spirit of the season: Back when Dave Swarbrick and Richard Thompson had baby faces...... . . . more »

Judith | 11/23/06 at 12:20 PM | 2 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Holy Days

November 18, 2006

Shabbat Music Saturday: In honor of my heart's desire

I forgot to make a Shabbat Music Friday entry yesterday, so here's a Shabbat Music Saturday tune, for Havdalah. Pharoah's Daughter performs a Sephardic version of "Hamavdil ben Chodesh L'Chol" . . . . with some Ladino interwoven amongst the . . . more »

Judith | 11/18/06 at 09:21 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Holy Days

November 10, 2006

Shabbat music Friday: If I guard Shabbat

Two weeks ago I featured Mizrachi versions of well-known Shabbat songs, from the former Iraqi community (driven out in the 1950s after a residence which goes back 2500 years). One being Ki Eshmera Shabbat. This Ashkenazi version is by Rahel . . . more »

Judith | 11/10/06 at 05:34 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Holy Days

November 03, 2006

Shabbat Music Friday: Nigerian nusach

Shabbat with Jews of the Kodesh L'Hashem Nigerian Hebrew Communities, including members from the following Igbo congregations: Ibo, Annang, Ogoni and Ibibio. . . . more »

Judith | 11/03/06 at 05:12 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Holy Days

October 27, 2006

Shabbat Music Friday: Back to Babylon

Back to Babylon: 2000 Years of Jewish Life in Iraq is a conference being held at Sephardic House in NYC the first weekend of November. It is inexpensive for a 4-day conference, so if you are in the NYC . . . more »

Judith | 10/27/06 at 05:17 PM | 0 Comments | 1 TrackBacks | Categories: - Holy Days

October 20, 2006

Shabbat: Ribbons, pearls, golden flags

I am going to do a Shabbat music post every Friday. You will be able to find them all here, along with other holidays that are neither chagim nor yamim noraim. Here's the Klezmatics with Joshua Nelson, singing "Shnirele, Perele" . . . more »

Judith | 10/20/06 at 05:53 PM | 2 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Holy Days

October 19, 2006

One Night With the King

Check this out - a cheesy costume drama of Megillat Esther! (via Life of Rubin) I still want to see it, tho. It's got John Rhys-Davies and Omar Sharif and Peter O'Toole. The scenery-chewing will be first-class. (Find a theater . . . more »

Judith | 10/19/06 at 08:36 PM | 3 Comments | 1 TrackBacks | Categories: - Holy Days

September 28, 2006

Survivors, on Prayer Island

I got this story through the Stamford Jewish mailing list and found it very thought provoking. A voyaging ship was wrecked during a storm at sea and only two of the men on it were able to swim to a . . . more »

Van | 09/28/06 at 10:19 AM | 1 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Holy Days

September 22, 2006

- A Good and Sweet New Year

- A Good and Sweet New Year to everyone. See you back here after the weekend after much praying and eating and socializing. . . . more »

Alcibiades | 09/22/06 at 06:30 PM | 3 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Holy Days

September 11, 2006

Suggestions for memorializing 9-11, from the Jewish tradition

All 9-11 entries here. I am reposting this from the old Blogger incarnation of Kesher Talk, from 9/11/2002. I think Bruce Hill speaks for many of us when he expresses apprehension about the first anniversary of the World Trade Center . . . more »

Judith | 09/11/06 at 01:43 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Holy Days

September 08, 2006

Shabbat Ellul 16: Lama tishon?

Teshuva contemplations every day until Yom Kippur here. You can also find the link on the sidebar under "Yamim Noraim." Rabbi Amy Scheinerman's guide to teshuvah using the text of Psalm 27 focuses this week on Rejection. Richard Kaplan . . . more »

Judith | 09/08/06 at 07:11 PM | 0 Comments | 1 TrackBacks | Categories: - Holy Days

August 25, 2006

Hallel and Shabbat music

Teshuva contemplations every day until Yom Kippur here. You can also find the link on the sidebar under "Yamim Noraim." Rabbi Amy Scheinerman's guide to teshuvah focuses this week on Responsibility. In honor of the day, some Rosh Chodesh . . . more »

Judith | 08/25/06 at 06:41 PM | 2 Comments | 2 TrackBacks | Categories: - Holy Days

August 22, 2006

Rosh Chodesh Ellul begins this Thursday evening

As a harbinger of new beginnings and the upcoming ritual marking the season of new beginnings . . . . Our latest fun sidebar item (lower left right, under the still-grossly-underpopulated and intermittant del.icio.us tag cloud as part of a . . . more »

Judith | 08/22/06 at 07:36 AM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Holy Days

August 18, 2006

Shabbat Shalom! from Sfat

Some Shabbat music for you, from Shira Chadasha, the feminist Orthodox minyan in Jerusalem. (This is from a CD and I can't find order info online - will post it when I do.) [L'cha Dodi] was composed in the . . . more »

Judith | 08/18/06 at 06:27 PM | 5 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Holy Days

August 06, 2006

Post Tisha B'Av blogging

Some photos from Tisha B'Av at the Kotel: Mobius and Jewlicious. (Some overlap) HNN. Here in NYC it was 95 degrees on Wednesday and had been broiling for days. I was used to this kind of weather in Austin but . . . more »

Judith | 08/06/06 at 11:57 AM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Holy Days

August 03, 2006

Trying to avoid sinat chinam

[ Very RELATED: Pamela's interview with Caroline Glick at PJ Media. Listen to the whole thing. Also Glick's latest op-ed. ] Last year's disengagement from Gaza took place two days after Tisha B'Av, and some pundits connected the two events, . . . more »

Judith | 08/03/06 at 01:07 AM | 5 Comments | 2 TrackBacks | Categories: - Holy Days

August 02, 2006

The War of Dire Straits

( A musical setting of the traditional melody for chanting "Lamentations" on Tisha B'Av, with lyrics from the first few verses, by Pharoah's Daughter.) Brian Blum says no one knows what to name the damn thing. The war began on . . . more »

Judith | 08/02/06 at 06:50 PM | 4 Comments | 2 TrackBacks | Categories: - Holy Days

April 05, 2006

Thus Saith the Lord, "The Children of Israel Shall Rock"

Want to add a little aural l'chaim to those upcoming seders? Then turn your TV to VH1 on April 13, crank the volume up to 11, and enjoy the headbangingly heimishe sounds of "Matzo and Metal II: Back To The . . . more »

Van | 04/05/06 at 08:00 AM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Holy Days

March 14, 2006

Pi Day

By Kosmic Koincidence, today is not only Purim, it's Pi Day! for Americans anyway. If you don't get the reference, go here and be educated and buy stuff. According to John Derbyshire: There is a plot being hatched by those . . . more »

Judith | 03/14/06 at 09:07 AM | 0 Comments | 1 TrackBacks | Categories: - Holy Days

March 13, 2006

It's Purim, get out your shovel

Several years ago, Jordan Max, while digging out his driveway in Toronto, imagined various Jewish leaders giving him advice on shovelling snow, his parody travelled around the internet, and inspired me to lampoon the Jewish Renewal leaders I was fond . . . more »

Judith | 03/13/06 at 02:13 PM | 1 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Holy Days

Hot Jewish Girls

Best Purim parody evah. (Especially coming from such a granola organization.) if the Makor event has more of this, it might be the place to be tonight. The Storahtelling parade might be for you if you want to cruise along . . . more »

Judith | 03/13/06 at 01:25 PM | 3 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Holy Days

January 01, 2006

Hanukkah: Siete kandelikas.

All Chanukkah entries can be found here. Meryl is keeping track of menorah vandalisms. There seem to be a lot this year. But the zeitgeist is on our side, so fuck 'em. Sephardic minhag for Hanukkah. The Mystical Understanding of . . . more »

Judith | 01/01/06 at 04:41 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Holy Days

December 30, 2005

Hanukkah: Sez kandelikas.

All Chanukkah entries can be found here. Lighting a hanukkah menorah on Erev Shabbat. . . . more »

Judith | 12/30/05 at 04:08 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Holy Days

December 29, 2005

Hanukkah: Sintju kandelikas.

All Chanukkah entries can be found here. A Melty Menorah from Shabot. Don't put your menorah on the radiator cover! Mirty thinks about co-existing with Christians in Austin TX. The main theme of Hanukkah is in direct conflict with the . . . more »

Judith | 12/29/05 at 03:38 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Holy Days

December 28, 2005

Hanukkah: Kuatros kandelikas.

All Chanukkah entries can be found here. Happy Hanukkah from the echinoderms at McMurdo Sound, Antarctica. More in the extended entry. . . . more »

Judith | 12/28/05 at 08:05 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Holy Days

December 27, 2005

Hanukkah: Trez kandelikas

All Chanukkah entries can be found here. Another menorah, with a 3 hour playlist, and a latke recipe, (and a partridge in a pear tree) from Plum Crazy. (I made up the last item.) Dave Kopel calls Hanukkah “Armed Jews . . . more »

Judith | 12/27/05 at 09:26 PM | 1 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Holy Days

Happy Hanukah -- some factoids

For those wanting a serious but easily readable account of the history of the period surrounding Hanukah, I recommend the short but spectacularly clear and impressively researched, From Ezra to the Last of the Maccabees by Elias Bickerman. It's . . . more »

Alcibiades | 12/27/05 at 10:46 AM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Holy Days

December 26, 2005

Hanukkah: Doz kandelikas.

All Chanukkah entries can be found here. Chanukah 101 - for visitors who need a basic orientation. This menorah was lit in Saddam's former throne room in 2003. It was transported to Baghdad by lawyer Carole Basri, whose great-grandfather was . . . more »

Judith | 12/26/05 at 06:38 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Holy Days

December 25, 2005

Hanukkah: Universalism or particularism?

All Chanukkah entries can be found here. Liberal modern Jews grappled with the zealousness of the Maccabees in a blog discussion several years ago (read each piece in full to appreciate the full arguments, and Jonathan's comment thread is also . . . more »

Judith | 12/25/05 at 09:55 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Holy Days

Hanukkah: Una kandelika

All Chanukkah entries can be found here. (Chagim and Yamim Noraim have their own categories.) Every day of Chanukkah we are going to feature: a virtual blogger menorah, or one with some interesting history. Some customs of the holidays Some . . . more »

Judith | 12/25/05 at 06:48 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Holy Days

Miracle on 47th Street: A Heartwarming Holiday Encounter

On Friday I took a late-morning train into New York. A young woman sat beside me with a rolling suitcase. Once she got arranged we started talking. She lives in Connecticut and was going into the city to meet her . . . more »

Van | 12/25/05 at 02:16 PM | 1 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Holy Days

December 21, 2005

Al hatshu'ot ve'al hamilchamot

I like this idea. A tyrant rules over Iran today and his mad quest for nuclear weapons is now matched by a murderous rhetoric against the Jewish people and the state of Israel. . . . Yet, there is . . . more »

Judith | 12/21/05 at 10:00 AM | 0 Comments | 1 TrackBacks | Categories: - Holy Days

August 15, 2005

Disengagement and Tisha B'Av

Tisha B'Av Temple Mount blogburst main page. Of course the juxtaposition can't be ignored. Lynn says:The story [of Kamtsa and Bar Kamtsa, which is said to precipitate the Roman destruction of the 2nd Temple] is like a puzzle in which . . . more »

Judith | 08/15/05 at 07:33 AM | 0 Comments | 1 TrackBacks | Categories: - Holy Days

August 12, 2005

Temple Mount blogburst: Introduction and Index

Tisha B'Av - which begins tomorrow evening - commemorates the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem in 586 BCE by Nebuchadnetzar (which led to the founding of the influential Jewish community of Babylonia), and again in 70 CE, by the . . . more »

Judith | 08/12/05 at 04:49 PM | 2 Comments | 15 TrackBacks | Categories: - Holy Days

Temple Mount blogburst: Tisha B'Av

Tisha B'Av Temple Mount blogburst main page. Tisha B'Av is the 9th day of Av, the 11th month. This is the original 9-11 of the Jewish people. . . . 1.1 million Jews were murdered by the Romans during the . . . more »

Judith | 08/12/05 at 04:00 PM | 2 Comments | 10 TrackBacks | Categories: - Holy Days

Temple Mount blogburst: The Mount since 1967

Tisha B'Av Temple Mount blogburst main page. If you want to contribute to the rescue of artifacts from the rubble dumped in the Kidron Valley, this comment at Solomonia has information on how to donate. (If you don't know what . . . more »

Judith | 08/12/05 at 03:30 PM | 0 Comments | 4 TrackBacks | Categories: - Holy Days

Temple Mount blogburst: Poetry pierces the iron curtain

Tisha B'Av Temple Mount blogburst main page. Jews confront the historical reality of our calamities, but we also transform the potent metaphors of our prophetic tradition into moral lessons. The Three Weeks begins the season of repentence which culminates in . . . more »

Judith | 08/12/05 at 02:53 PM | 1 Comments | 4 TrackBacks | Categories: - Holy Days

March 28, 2005

A final bit of Purim

This week's Havel Havelim Jewish blog roundup is all about Purim. Many many Jewish blogs on the topic, and a nice way to get acquainted with more of the Jewish blogosphere if you haven't already. Gideon's Blog on Purim, . . . more »

Judith | 03/28/05 at 12:18 AM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Holy Days

March 25, 2005

They tried to kill us, they failed, let's eat hamentaschen

Meryl Yourish:Purim is the holiday where the Jews kicked the crap out of the Persians. And that was using only swords. A lesson for Iran to think about today.The story. And more on Purim and its customs here. . . . more »

Judith | 03/25/05 at 05:49 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Holy Days

March 20, 2005

Purim carnival

Soccer Dad is hosting a special Purim edition of Havel Havelim, the weekly Jewish blog showcase. If Purim inspires your creative funnybone, send him your entries. A handy guide to creating Purim schpiels. . . . more »

Judith | 03/20/05 at 08:01 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Holy Days

January 25, 2005

Tu B'Shvat

Tu B'Shvat is over, although there's one more seder tonight at the JCC, which I won't be attending as it is a very crunchy environmentalist event, and there will be much hand-wringing over the election, which I don't want . . . more »

Judith | 01/25/05 at 06:53 PM | 2 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Holy Days

December 14, 2004

Last night of Hanukkah!

Last year's entry. The original texts on observing Hanukkah. I'll let Roger and Madeleine have the last post. UPDATE: Must not leave out Naomi Chana's Hanukkah post-denominational post-assimilationist, post-halachic ruminations, For the Miracles (a deconstruction of the Al-HaNissim paragraph), . . . more »

Judith | 12/14/04 at 10:28 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Holy Days

July 26, 2004

Fast days

It's Tisha b'Av. This Tikkun commentary does a good job of arguing Walter Benjamin's point that the role of history is one of rescue, and showing how that relates to the holiday. And here's a range of 9 Av . . . more »

Judith | 07/26/04 at 09:15 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Holy Days

July 06, 2004

Preparing for disaster, despair . . . and repair

Today was the 17th of Tammuz in the Jewish calendar, which is a minor fast day marking the start of the Three Weeks before the major fast day of Tisha B'Av, and onward to the Yamim Noraim. . . . more »

Rachel | 07/06/04 at 10:33 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Holy Days

May 09, 2004

More Lag B'Omer

From what I can tell, most Diaspora Jews ignore this holiday; most Israeli Jews go to bonfires. (At least, that's the portrait the blogosphere paints.) Hence the relative paucity of American posts about it (though here's mine), and the relative . . . more »

Judith | 05/09/04 at 10:02 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Holy Days

Lag B'Omer

One of those minor holidays, much celebrated in Israel. Here's the deal about Lag B'Omer and weddings. There are several events in Riverside Park today, but I think I'm going to finish staining and waxing my IKEA shelves so . . . more »

Judith | 05/09/04 at 01:50 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Holy Days

April 25, 2004

Yom yom

YomHa-Zikkaron. Yom Ha-Atzmaut. . . . more »

Judith | 04/25/04 at 07:19 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Holy Days

April 20, 2004

Shoah

Holocaust Remembrance Day was yesterday, and I blew it off as usual. I figure since both of my parents were refugees, I've got the remembrance covered. (I know that's glib - the all-night ritual of reading the names is . . . more »

Judith | 04/20/04 at 03:33 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Holy Days

March 04, 2004

AWOL

Blogging from me will be light this week. I'm apartment hunting in Manhattan, which is more than a full-time job. But I want to mention that Purim starts Saturday night, and there will be some righteous partying among the . . . more »

Judith | 03/04/04 at 10:03 AM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Holy Days

February 07, 2004

Tu B'shvat is today

Aish offers some background and the basics for running your own Tu B'Shvat seder, in case you're not hanging with Judith for her birthday in New York... . . . more »

Judith | 02/07/04 at 08:40 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Holy Days

January 29, 2004

I am the Lorax! I speak for the Trees!

Okay, not quite, but Tu BiShvat is coming soon. . . . more »

Rachel | 01/29/04 at 07:29 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Holy Days