The Cooks are Happy! Hamentashen Baking Day has become an annual event with my friend, Laurie. She makes up several batches of dough and filling in advance of the Sunday before Purim. Then she invites friends and family to join her in her kitchen for the assembly line production of hundreds of Hamentashen – the…
Read More »Holidays
Purim Fun
PURIM! Be Happy! It’s Adar! There are so many fun things to do for Purim – make costumes, bake cookies – and other foods, give food gifts to friends, wear crowns and masks. Lots of playing opportunities for kids and adults. The drinking and carousing should be for the grown-ups, and kept within reason….
Read More »What if my child doesn’t look Jewish?
Last month I talked about raising kids in an interfaith family – will we raise them Jewish or some other religion? One of the concerns that can arise for parents is: How will it feel raising kids Jewish if they don’t “look” Jewish? The first question is – To whom do they not look Jewish?…
Read More »Tu Bishvat
The Holiday Ahead Tu Bishvat (many spellings, same sounds) will begin next Monday at sundown. This holiday is much more widely embraced and celebrated by a younger generation for it’s environmental focus. Tu Bishvat Seder Many years ago I attended my first Tu Bishvat seder led by Claire Sherman, daughter of the legendary Berkeley Jewish…
Read More »Tu Bishvat Seder
A number of years ago I experienced my first Tu Bishvat Seder. It was led by Claire Sherman at the Berkeley JCC. I loved it. It inspired me to return to my women’s group and start doing seders with them. Below is a seder we created. Copy, borrow, change. Have your own fun and…
Read More »New Year of the Trees
The next holiday on the Jewish calendar has interesting roots. Tu Bishvat (spelled many different ways, just make the sounds as best you can) has it’s roots in the Torah. Among the laws given for living in the land of Israel were the ones that outlined sacrifices given to the Temple. A portion of the…
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