Four questions of Miriam

Published on March 21, 2013

The name “Miriam” stems from the Hebrew word for “bitter” (mar), and Miriam has every right to feel that way.

Pesach without wine

Published on March 21, 2013

How can we have Passover without wine? This is a question that is asked of me each year as Passover approaches. I always answer that the blessing is over the fruit of the vine and grape juice is perfectly acceptable. I then ask a different set of questions.

On kibbutz, secular seders stray from tradition

Published on March 14, 2013

The families surround long tables covered by white tablecloths. Festive decorations line the walls, and the kitchen is free of chametz, the leavened foods forbidden on Passover. Seder plates sit in front of hungry participants.

The Passover Seder: When we all must become children

By Rabbi Hyim Shafner
Published on April 5, 2012

Readings for Your Home Seder - 5772

By Rabbi John Rosove
Published on April 4, 2012

Letters to the Editor: Survivor’s pension, Philanthropy, Passover Seder, Jane Harman, Tom Cruise

Published on May 3, 2011

Holocaust survivor's pension, Philanthropy, Passover Seder

Drinking does not drive the Purim celebration

Published on March 11, 2011

We are an American generation sadly marred by excess, addiction, and reduced public morals. On line at the supermarket we see magazines that headline Lindsay Lohan, Brittany Spears, and Charlie Sheen. Purim is around the corner, and the question arises: What’s the deal with getting drunk on Purim? So here’s the deal:

A sweet gefilte fish like his Polish grandma used to make

By Judy Zeidler
Published on March 22, 2007

The Blessing of Bibhilu

By Rabbi Daniel Bouskila
Published on April 21, 2005

A book's opening chapter is crucial to setting the mood and aura for the remainder of the book's journey. Likewise, the opening scene of a film usually helps set the tone for what will ensue.

The Passover seder is both a reader's experience and a moviegoer's. We sit around the table and read the haggadah, and we also witness a host of rituals. But how does the seder leader creatively capture an audience and draw it into the experience from the beginning?

Artists Converge After ‘The Passion’

By David Finnigan
Published on March 31, 2005

Christian children wearing their Sunday best for last week's Easter services understandably could forget, amidst their Easter egg hunts, that the Last Supper of Jesus was a Passover seder.

But in this season of Easter and Passover, connections between the holidays has inspired an art exhibit showcasing Christian and Jewish artists motivated by religious themes. The exhibit is housed in downtown Los Angeles at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels. Its aspirations and the artworks themselves are impressive, though the effort has suffered from uneven presentation of the artwork.

The "Passion/Passover" exhibit could be viewed as a positive response to Jewish-Catholic tensions surrounding last year's "The Passion of the Christ" by filmmaker Mel Gibson. His film was praised by Catholic church officials, though many Jewish leaders said the film unreasonably cast Jews as villains.

The hidden benefits of Meshuggeneh relatives

By Leonard Felder
Published on April 1, 2004

The Passover seder is a wonderful chance to connect with certain relatives that you love, along with hearing again the inspiring account of moving out of enslavement and fear while moving toward freedom and compassion for all who are hungry or mistreated. But for the majority of Jewish families, it's also a stressful time when personality clashes and unresolved conflicts with a few particular relatives spring up once again.

Behind Kitchen Door No. 1

By Beverly Levitt
Published on March 25, 2004

Monty Hall spent 27 years making outrageous deals with anxious contestants on his TV game show, "Let's Make a Deal." But the sweetest deal he ever made with his mishpachah was for a plate of pickled herring if they'd join him for Passover seder.

Seder, The Spago Way

By Judy Bart Kancigor
Published on March 14, 2002

You'd think after serving 1,650 at the Governor's Ball following the Oscars, chef Wolfgang Puck would take a vacation. But four days later, on March 28, he and wife, interior designer Barbara Lazaroff, will host their 18th annual Passover seder gathering at his famed Spago Beverly Hills.

Bringing Back Memories

By Wendy J. Madnick
Published on March 14, 2002

A woman in a peach-colored sweatsuit sits in a sunlit hallway at the Silverado Senior Living Center in Calabasas. Once she was a professor at a California State University campus, teaching English literature. Now, because of the effects of Alzheimer's disease, she barely has a word to share, only a bemused smile for people she thinks she recognizes.

Out of Egypt

By Andrea Gappell
Published on April 5, 2001

At every Passover seder, in each generation, Jews are reminded to see themselves as though they came out of Egypt in person.