Cooking for Hanukkah
A brief history of the food traditions of Hanukkah from across the Diaspora.
Oy Tannenbaum!
It was over brunch on our fourth date when I told him, "This can't go anywhere...I’m Jewish and you’re not." After years of Jewish camp, Hebrew school and lectures from my parents, I was fairly certain that the eleventh commandment was “Thou shalt meet a nice Jewish boy, get married and have beau
Al HaNissim (For the Miracles)
One of the Hanukkah songs we sing begins with the words, al hanissim (for the miracles), and thanks God for all the miracles performed for our fathers, in those days, in this season (the last referring to the Hanukkah season).
A Sustainable Hanukkah
“A great miracle happened there,” we say, as we spin the Hanukkah dreidel each year while eating latkes fried in oil. But what was “the miracle” of Hanukkah? Our tradition recounts more than one.
The Black Jews Are Tired
As fulfilling as it was to engage in Shavuot programs, a lot weighs on me. With COVID-19 continuing to ravage Black communities and racist violence all over the news, I almost feel like it’s Yom Kippur instead – the time when Jews are supposed to be most aware of their own mortality.
And You Shall Love
This week, I tell a friend I’d love to chat but actually I have to run Yom Kippur services are starting soon and I’ve got to repent for my sins before the gates are closed. She laughs. “Well, you’re gay, so you’ve definitely got a lot of repenting to do.”