Date-Fig Bars
This recipe is adapted from the King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion's recipe for Bakery Date Squares.
Marinated Olives
Tu BiShvat: Happy Birthday, You Beautiful Trees!
My commute to work every morning is not typical. I drive through the Roaring Fork Valley with majestic, now snow-covered, mountains on my left and my right. The sky is often a clear, bright blue, and the sun glimmers off the powdery snow that shifts in the wind. I am the cantor at the Aspen Jewish Congregation, and I certainly feel blessed to live and work in such a beautiful place. This quote from Isaiah is particularly fitting for this part of the country, as the people here are very in touch with the nature around them - often finding their spiritual center while skiing a run or hiking in the hills.
In Honor of Tu BiShvat, Some Facts About Trees
Tu BiShvat, the birthday of the trees (or the new year of the trees) is a minor Jewish holiday.
On Tishah B'Av, Turning Remembrance Into Action
Tishah B'Av in a Time of Rockets, Tunnels, and Death
As I watched Israel's Iron Dome intercept a Hamas rocket, I began to get some insight into why we mourn on the Ninth of Av.
On a Day of Fasting, Remembering What We Share
Yesterday began the three-week period leading up to Tishah B’Av (August 4-5 this year), the darkest, saddest day on the Jewish calendar.
Spain to Sephardic Jews: “Sorry, Please Come Home” - But Will They?
The expulsion of the Jews from Spain on July 31, 1492, occurred on the same day as the destruction of the first and second Jerusalem Temples.
Should We Feast or Fast During 4th of July Weekend?
On this holiday weekend, due to a confluence of special days — Independence Day, the 17th of Tammuz and Shabbat — American Jews will have the opportunity to both celebrate our religious freedom and retrace what we did when it was threatened.
Tishah B'Av: What's in a Name?
William Shakespeare wrote in Romeo and Juliet, “What’s in a name?” The holiday of Tishah B’Av, which literally translates to the “Ninth of (the month of) Av” is so named to remember the destruction of the ancient temples in Jerusalem (in 586 BCE and 70 CE) said to have occurred on that day.