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Galilee Diary: Rainy day

Rabbi Marc J. Rosenstein

Moving from the Midwest to the Mideast involved looking at rainy days in a new way. It took me a number of years to internalize the concept that rainy days are not an inconvenience, but rather a blessing.

Vegan Borscht

Recipe by

Lisa Dawn Angerame

This borscht recipe is really easy, and since it is served cold, you can make it ahead of time. The beets cook into a colorful soup for a festive addition to Jewish holiday meals.

Vegan Challah

Recipe by

Lisa Dawn Angerame

Round challah symbolizes the cycle of the year and are traditional for Rosh HaShanah; challot are traditionally braided for Shabbat. Either way, the key to delicious challah is kneading the dough.

Tu Bishvat: Doing Something About It.

Rabbi Micah Streiffer

I consider myself an environmentalist. I write about the earth, think about the earth, care about the earth. I wrote my rabbinical thesis partly on Judaism and the environment, and I helped found en environmental advocacy committee in my synagogue.

The Roots of Shabbat

Rabbi Bernard M. Zlotowitz

According to traditional Jewish belief, the Sabbath has its origin in God’s divine command to observe the seventh day as a day of rest and sanctification.

Tu BiShvat: Customs and Rituals

The Jewish mystics of the 17th century, the Kabbalists, created a special ritual—modeled after the Passover seder—to celebrate God's presence in nature. Today in modern Israel, Tu BiShvat has become a national holiday, a tree planting festivaTu BiShvat is not mentioned in the Torah. Scholars believe the holiday was originally an agricultural festival, corresponding to the beginning of spring in Israel. But a critical historical event helped Tu BiShvat evolve from a simple celebration of spring to a commemoration of our connection to the land of Israel. After the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 C.E. and the exile that followed, many of the exiled Jews felt a need to bind themselves symbolically to their former homeland. Tu BiShvat served in part to fill that spiritual need. Jews used this time each year to eat a variety of fruits and nuts that could be obtained from Israel. The practice, a sort of physical association with the land, continued for many centuries.l for both Israelis and Jews throughout the world

Tu BiShvat: History

Although the celebration of Tu BiShvat has a long and varied history, the theme most commonly ascribed to the holiday today is the environment.

Attempt to Enter the Promised Land, Take One: Fail

June 11, 2012

The end of this week's parashah includes some short, but memorable pieces of legislation: the explanation for why we tithe a little dough when making challah (Numbers 15:20-21); the killing of the man who gathered wood on Shabbat (Numbers 15:32-36); and the instructions to wear tzitzit w

Fateful Words Can Have Fatal Consequences

June 13, 2011

The Jewish people's turbulent saga of disillusionment with liberation takes a new and momentarily promising turn this Shabbat, with a foray into the land of Canaan by twelve scouts.

The Gift

March 9, 2012

This year, I have the pleasure of studying the Book of Exodus together with the lay-led Hebrew Bible study group at Temple Beth Or in Raleigh, North Carolina, where I serve as senior rabbi.