Cheesecake and blintzes hold an important place in the realm of Jewish cuisine, but they aren’t the be all and end all of Shavuot foods. In fact, there are many unique dishes — both dairy and nondairy — associated with the holiday that reflect the culinary traditions of Jews around the world. The many names…
When asked during Seder this year, “Why is this night different from all other nights?” Miriam Gable could have answered, “Because I’m missing the first game of my professional football career.” But there was no bitterness — or uncertainty — that Passover would prevail over her season opener. Gable grew up Orthodox, with nine siblings,…
‘That picture is awesome!” said my friend Gayle, as she looked at a painting Josie had made in kindergarten. My daughter had painted a line of orange, yellow and red semi-constructivist children, some with stars over their heads and some with hearts hovering over them. “I know!” I said. “Maxie hasn’t done anything like that…
On the upcoming festival of Shavuot, we commemorate the day when Moses carried the Torah — with its 613 rules, injunctions and guidelines on how to live a Jewish life — down from Mount Sinai. Some of its commandments, like “Do not murder” and “Love the stranger,” ring as true today as they did in…
Forty years ago this month, the new community-controlled school board in the largely black Ocean Hill-Brownsville section of Brooklyn summarily dismissed 18 white teachers and administrators. The school board’s action led to a series of citywide teacher strikes that roiled a city already on edge and strained traditional alliances — pitting liberals against labor and…
I can’t think of a better indication that spring has arrived than the fresh rhubarb ginger crisp currently sitting on my window sill (okay – it’s actually on top of my microwave, but go with me.) The inspiration to make this crisp for Shabbat dinner tonight came to me as I was hurrying through the…
Here is the essence of Jewish outdoor education, based on the five summers I spent teaching it at camp: You’re sure you can’t do it, and then you do it. One of the most memorable afternoons I ever spent was at the bottom of a huge rock face in rural Connecticut, coaching a smart, skinny…
Washington – More than three years after the American Israel Public Affairs Committee fired two senior staffers who were targets of a federal investigation, a lawyer for one of the men is accusing the pro-Israel lobbying organization — and the broader American Jewish community — of mistreating and abandoning the defendants. The charge was made…
On its face, the simultaneous announcements by Israel and Syria this week that they were officially engaged in peace talks mediated by Turkey offered the most tangible evidence to date that Israeli-Palestinian negotiations have stalled. Similar Israeli shifts in the 1990s between the Syrian and the Palestinian negotiating tracks typically meant the abandonment of one…
Not many people are talking these days about the Mosholu Jewish Center, once a hub of Modern Orthodox life in the Bronx. The synagogue closed its doors in 1999, after many members of the congregation had moved or passed away. In a strange twist of fate, the person who may be most actively engaged in…
Haifa, Israel — Ehud Olmert, already struggling with a corruption investigation and criticism from left and right over a troubled peace process, now faces a new, potentially crippling threat to his political survival: squabbling retirees. The Pensioners Party was a powerless splinter from its birth in the early 1990s until the elections of 2006. That…
