(Mt. Meron by Lior Golgher • ליאור גולגר – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2277766) Last night there was a tragedy in Israel, people were killed in a terrible accident in the midst of their celebration of Lag B’omer. Rabbi Larry Milder sent this message to his congregation. I want to point out to you…
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Tomorrow is Thanksgiving – not the way we planned it… but still a great holiday. A few thoughts to get you off on the right foot. If your holiday will not be much fun and you already know that, try to change your own mind. Remember, this is just ONE YEAR, next year you can…
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What do most Americans know about Jewish holidays? Typically – Hanukkah, Passover and… not much else. The three big holidays are the pilgrimage festivals. Cantor Linda Hirschhorn of Temple Beth Sholom in San Leandro wrote a lovely, brief description of them. Have a look. In Parshat Re’eh we are given a description of the…
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(Russian girls celebrating a holiday I don’t know about) I recently saw an email with the subject line, The Best Purim Kitsch You Can Buy on the Internet. I almost deleted it since all I need are more tchotchkes. Then I stopped. Purim is not one of those untouchable holy holidays that no one wants…
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(Image: A hamentashen bake with friends) We just observed Tu B’shvat and are now coming up on Purim. Both of these are minor holidays in the Jewish calendar. It can be tempting to say, we don’t need to do anything for them; they aren’t really that important. But pause and consider, why might they be…
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It’s May! I feel like I should burst into song. On the Jewish calendar we are in the midst of counting the Omer AND we celebrated the holiday of Yom HaAtzmaut, the birthday of the modern state of Israel, Wednesday night. POSTPONED I had to postpone my event, This Is Bay Area Jewry. It…
Read More »Our weekly email goes out to hundreds of interfaith couples & families in the Bay Area. Topics cover the many questions and mysteries that interfaith couples want answered.