Queen Esther's Jaffa Poppy Seed Tea Cake with Orange Brandy Sugar Glaze
For Purim, make this cake in miniature loaf pans and pack 2 or 3 of them in each Purim basket.
Almond and Sesame Seed Brittle
Lemon Poppy Seed No-Bake Energy Bars
These no-bake bars are a great way to pack some healthy snacks into your Purim goodie baskets!
Korean Braised Sriracha Brisket
I serve this brisket alongside tri-color Asian coleslaw for Hanukkah, Purim, and Shabbat.
What an Atheist Belgian Musician Taught Me about Judaism
As a teenager, I would sit on my bedroom floor listening to old records of Belgian singer-songwriter, poet, and performer Jacques Brel. I didn’t need to keep a journal, because his lyrics wove together everything I felt at the time. Brel had a fire within, and his anger, longing, passion, and truth blazed through every word he sang. His music, raw and real, transformed and fed my soul; it informed and shaped who I am today.
If I Can’t Fast, How Can I Observe Yom Kippur?
You Are What You Wear
He shall be dressed in a sacral linen tunic, with linen breeches next to his flesh, and be girt with a linen sash, and he shall wear a linen turban. They are sacral vestments; he shall bathe his body in water and then put them on. (Leviticus 16:4)
A few years ago, I was in Jerusalem in a Chasidic neighborhood, surrounded by stores carrying tallitot, kippot, and all sorts of Judaica. To my utter shock, prominently displayed in one store's window was a bright pink tallis! I went inside and started talking to the owner, a Chasid in full regalia: black coat, knickers, side curls, and fur-trimmed shtreimel hat. "Who would buy a pink tallit?" I asked. "A bat mitzvah girl of course," this Chasid said, with no hesitation. ". . . no, not the girls in my community," he added, "but in yours, sure, why not?"
A Jewish Response to Political Scandal
As we witness public figures dismantled by the revelation of ugly episodes from their pasts, we parents must distill these events and their aftermath for our children.
Hester Street: A Poem
Inspired by this week’s Torah portion, this poem plays on the idea of hester panim (the hidden face of God) and the name Esther, a key figure in the holiday of Purim.