For most communities, the coronavirus has cancelled Shavuot. That’s because the standard Shavuot celebration revolves around public, shared space events like all-night Jewish learning at a synagogue or JCC. But there is a way to bring this experience home and, in doing so, make it far better. The all-night Shavuot program is a flawed product….
I spent last Shavuot at a “walking, sitting, writing” retreat in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Seven thousand feet above sea level, I planted my feet in the red-brown earth at the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. I held a pen between my fingers. I wrote on a page. When I signed up for…
“I went away full and have returned empty” (Ruth 1:21) This Shavuot, when the Jewish people open up the book of Ruth, it will be Naomi’s cry that will resonate in our souls. There is a natural catastrophe, resulting in geographic displacement and economic insecurity. The deaths of Naomi’s husband and two sons are devastating,…
If you’re from New York, the name Ratner’s gives you dewy-eyed nostalgia for the great dairy restaurant of yore. But I’m from LA, and Ratner’s just makes me think of my dentist, Dr. Farkas, whose office is on Ratner St. There’s a connection– Alex Ratner came west in 1914 to beat back tuberculosis, and he…
A cream cheese shortage that struck at the worst possible time has been resolved, said a prominent kosher dairy company — but not all customers are reassured. Kosher cream cheese is the latest in a list of consumer goods, from toilet paper to meat, made scarce by coronavirus. The dairy spread has become an increasingly…
Although Shavuot probably originated as a pre-Judaic agricultural festival marking the first harvest, for Jews the holiday commemorates God’s gift of the Torah on Mount Sinai. Shavuot takes place exactly seven weeks after Passover, on the day when, according to the Torah, God gave the Torah to the Jews. In ancient times, Jews combined appreciation…
The vegan version is made with chocolate and a surprise ingredient, that requires special tools to open!
The ancient harvest festival of Shavuot, which begins this Saturday at sunset, is an all-night bacchanal of reading, arguing, and cheese. It’s a celebration of a lot of things: the grain harvest season, God’s giving of the Torah to the people of Israel, and the right to eat dairy. On Shavuot, we read the Book…
