Holidays

To Tree or not to Tree: What Will We Do for the Holidays?

  You may want to decorate a Christmas tree while your partner wants to make latkes. What will work for you as a family? Whether December is your favorite month – full of Christmas cookies and chocolate gelt – or your most dreaded month – material surfeit and cultural overwhelm – you are invited to…

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Elul, the month before the High Holy Days

This is one of those years when you hear “the holidays are SO late this year!” While the Jewish holidays always fall on the same day of the Jewish calendar, the Jewish calendar and the Gregorian calendar are always moving around. The Gregorian calendar was put into practice by Pope Gregory in 1582. Just thinking…

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Happy Tu B’av! (the Jewish Day of Love)

I really enjoyed this article by Rabbi Larry Milder. He sent it to his congregation, Beth Emek of Pleasanton. It gives you a nice summary of the rather obscure holiday, Tu B’Av. Why not take his advice and tell someone that you love them, maybe even give them flowers. The Jewish Day of Love Today,…

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Tu B’Av, A good time to express love

This week I had the following communication: Delightful woman: Hi Dawn, I receive your newsletter and am wondering what is the best way to honor my (Jewish) daughter-in-law on Tu B’Av? Me: What a lovely idea you have! Tu B’Av is “observed” to the extend that is it observed at all, as a day of…

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