Galilee Diary: New Grain
Driving across the Jezreel Valley these days, you can't miss the biblical echoes of the landscape. On Pesach we are to eat only cereal products made from the last year's harvest, baked with no leavening – and at the same time we are to clean out completely any remnants of any grain products from the old supply.
Double Coconut Chocolate Macaroons
Macaroons - cookies generally made from ground almonds, sugar, and egg whites - are popular for Passover because the recipe doesn’t use flour.
Lag BaOmer: Little Sleep, Lots of Smoke
Lag BaOmer was completely off our radar when we lived in the United States. We never had any real exposure to it until we made Aliyah, and now its approach is easily recognizable by kids walking down the street, schlepping huge pieces of wood, old furniture, sticks, and anything else that burns.
Lag BaOmer
Lag BaOmer is a break, a time out, a moment to recall an ancient plague that may or may not have occurred, and perhaps a moment for reflection.
Living Lag BaOmer
The Hebrew letter equivalent of 33 is pronounced Lag (lamed gimel), giving rise to the name Lag BaOmer for this particular day. There is no one particular reason that this day stands out from the other 48 days counted between Pesach and Shavuot, yet many fascinating traditions surround the special nature of this day.
Reaching My Own Promised Land
When I think about my life
All that I’ve seen and done
I ask myself: Have I achieved
All that I might become…O… yes!…and no…
It is hard to reach all I can be
When oppression’s living within me
O help me now to end this slavery
An SOS from my OS seder
At future Passovers, if we consider the Jewish implications of the recent hit movie Her, we all could be using a talking computer operating system with artificial intelligence to lead our seders.
Considering "Next Year in Jerusalem"
On a recent trip to Jerusalem, my son decided that his favorite color was gold. Whenever he’s asked why, he replies with a wry smile befitting a 5-year-old.
“Jerusalem is the city of gold, of course,” he says.
How Purim and Pesach Can Save Us
Most of us are probably all too well familiar with the old canard regarding Jewish holidays: “They tried to kill us, we survived, let’s eat!” Though the popularity of the formula may have sad implications regarding how people regard these sacred observances, we have to acknowledge that it contain
How Lent Started With Passover
Many Christians and Jews know of the connection between Passover and Easter. But what about the connection between the 40 days of Lent and Passover?