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Pesach: Reading Inserts
Table Tents on Passover & Labor Justice These downloadable sheets can be printed and folded into convenient conversation-starters on the minimum wage for your seder or community event.
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.
Drink Pairings for Your Passover Seder: Getting Creative with the Four Cups
The Passover seder includes the drinking of four cups of wine. In honor of this custom, we’ve gotten creative with the four cups, sharing fun food and wine pairings for your Passover seder and beyond.
Matzah Brei and Beyond: Recipes for a Festive Passover Brunch
Passover is the most celebrated Jewish holiday in America, with almost 90 percent of American Jews attending some sort of Passover gathering – which also makes it a great time to invite friends and family for brunch.
Miriam's Cup: A Supplemental Reading for the Passover Haggadah
For many of us, we look to pay tribute to the girls and women, past and present, who make such important contributions to our lives and to Judaism as a whole. We do this by including Miriam’s Cup in our seder.
There's More to the Haggadah Than Meets the Eye
The Passover Haggadah can be read in the simplest form without much interpretation, but, in fact, the Haggadah is itself interpretation, or midrash.
To Revolt or Not? Deciphering Passover's Secret Code
Because Passover commemorates the liberation of our ancestors from slavery in Egypt, one might think the seder would more likely resemble an ancient Egyptian meal. The seder, in fact, replicates the feast of a later oppressor – the Romans – from reclining, washing hands, beginning with an egg, dipping in salt water, wine libations, and discussions of the afikomen (Greek for “revelry”).
4 Ways to Create Your Most Welcoming Passover Seder Ever
Because Judaism compels us to welcome guests into our “open tent,” it’s important to ensure that your seder is warm, inviting, and audaciously hospitable.