(Photo of Smashed fried plantains topped with Cuban-style pot roast make a perfect Hanukkah appetizer. by Faith Kramer) Hanukkah starts tonight. Christmas is two weeks away. Nothing about our holidays will be the same this year. No big dinners, no parties, not even a cozy coffee with a friend. No shopping, no baking and dropping…
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Rabbi Larry Milder of Beth Emek recently sent this explanation to his congregation. It’s a useful, brief history telling us why we light an additional candle each night of Hanukkah instead of the reverse. Increasing the Light in Dark Times Most Jews are accustomed to lighting Hanukkah candles by adding one candle to the…
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Hold your breath and jump in, it’s a week of holidays. First up is Hanukkah which begins this Sunday night, second is Christmas on Wednesday. Full stop! Whether you are doing one or the other holiday or both or neither, I want you to relax and enjoy it. If your family and you won’t be…
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Where Will You Spend Thanksgiving and Christmas/Hanukkah? Non-Jewish families are often confronted with which spouse’s family will get them for Christmas. One solution is to flip back and forth for Thanksgiving and Christmas. For interfaith families the question of “who gets us?” can be, Thanksgiving with the Jewish family and Christmas with the Christian (or…
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A lovely young Irish woman told her mother that she would be attending her first Hanukkah celebration and latkes would be made! Her mother said, “As I understand it, latkes have something to do with potatoes. You’ll be fine!” I’m not Irish and I’m not particularly fond of potatoes. So my latkes include parsnips and…
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A holiday season email from a non-Jewish guy came to my Mixed and Matched column: I love Christmas but my Jewish girlfriend won’t participate with me, and this is our first holiday season together. I’ve told her that Christmas isn’t really religious for me. The tree and Yule log are pagan originally; they have…
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