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Hezbollah in big Syria battle, Obama ‘concerned’
Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas have fought their biggest battle yet for Syria's beleaguered president, prompting international alarm that the civil war may spread and an urgent call for restraint from the…
What happened to Obama?
You know things are getting rough for President Barack Obama when even The New Yorker, that bastion of liberal thought, starts ridiculing him. Reacting to how the president is distancing himself from his administration’s three emerging scandals—the mishandling of the…
ZOA regains tax-exempt status
After 15 months, the nonprofit pro-Israel Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) has regained its tax-exempt status.
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Mel Brooks’ top 10 Jewy Jewish scenes [VIDEO]
Monday night marks the national premier broadcast of the American Masters installment on Mel Brooks. To mark the occasion, we’ve put together a collection of Brooks’ best Jewish clips.
Alan Dershowitz sends ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’ episode to Netanyahu
Comedian Larry David has been called a lot of things over the course of his long and successful career, but we’re pretty sure “peace maker” has never been one of…
James Franco paints ad for ‘This is The End’
Proving once again that there isn’t anything he doesn’t do, James Franco has created marketing material for his upcoming film “This is The End.” The actor/artist/Ph.D. candidate was spotted in…
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7 Rules for Perfect Hummus
When was the last time you opened a tub of hummus and swooned? When was the last time a restaurant put a plate of hummus in front of you, and…
Survivor: Irene Rosenberg
“Mommy, I’ll be right back.” Irene Rosenberg — then Irene Grunfeld — said as she was leaving the apartment of her cousin Mancy Weiss, where she and her mother were…
The Divine Wedding and Kiss - Parashat Naso
“O for your kiss! For your love / More enticing than wine, / For your scent and sweet name – For all this they love you. Take me away to…
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7 Rules for Perfect Hummus
When was the last time you opened a tub of hummus and swooned? When was the last time a restaurant put a plate of hummus in front of you, and…
What would my Israeli grandmother think?
When I hear about the latest events in Israel – the air strikes on weapons facilities in Syria, the flare-ups over women donning prayer shawls at the Western Wall –…
A hot topic, a great panel, and chance to learn and discuss—immigration at issue
It's a critical time for immigration reform in this country. Washington is getting set to make major changes, the likes of which haven't been seen since the 1980's under President…
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The Good, The Bad, and The Chag
A Passover Conversation
What am I a Slave to?
Should Israel fear “the king which knew not Josef?”
Save the self-pity, choices abound for Passover meals
For the many who feel overwhelmed by Passover because of the demands of cooking without leaven, a word or two: That should not be an obstacle.
Sticks and stones may break my bones, but those green onions scars will eventually heal
Celebrating our Liberation
For your seder table
The following text is excerpted from “The Bronfman Haggadah,” written by Edgar Bronfman with illustrations by Jan Aronson (Rizzoli, 2012).
New role for Moses
For Passover this year, Rizzoli has just released “The Bronfman Haggadah,” written by the businessman, philanthropist and Jewish community leader Edgar Bronfman Sr., illustrated by artist Jan Aronson, who is also Bronfman’s wife.
A politically correct seder
David Mamet's original cartoon.
Nachshon Ben Aminadav - A Hero For All Times
Do you know your family story?
Bruce Feiler mentions Passover only in passing in his new book, “The Secrets of Happy Families,” but in some ways, the book is all about Passover.
On slavery and memory
Judaism is a religion that likes symbols. The Passover Seder table is full of them: There’s the salt that can represent tears or bitterness, the wine as metaphor for blood, the unleavened matzah as a symbol for humility, and so on.
Passover 5773: Once we were slaves in Egypt, and now we are free
Every Passover, we gather with family and friends around the Seder table to read the inspiring foundational story of our people’s liberation from slavery in Egypt. We tell and retell this story every year, and millennia later it informs who we are.
Four questions of Miriam
The name “Miriam” stems from the Hebrew word for “bitter” (mar), and Miriam has every right to feel that way.
Children’s books make Passover come alive
Years ago, Nancy Steiner set out to make her family seder a bit more entertaining for her young kids. She wrote a poem that became very popular among family and friends.
Pesach without wine
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.
Help needed for Passover seder in Warsaw
For a Sweet Pesach - J Street Karpas Supplement for Seder
2013 Passover calendar
Celebrate Passover, Shabbat and family during a Tot Shabbat with Rabbi Karen Bender, Cantor Alison Wissot and Len Levitt and the Levitty Puppets. Sat. 9:30 a.m. Free. Temple Judea, 5429 Lindley Ave., Tarzana. (818) 758-3800. templejudea.com.
On kibbutz, secular seders stray from tradition
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.
Making Passover a ‘seder to savor’
When I was growing up in Toledo in the late fifties and early sixties, every year at Passover we would go to my cousin’s house for the seder. Besides the food, I was thrilled because it meant I was never the youngest and never had to do the four questions.
Save the self-pity, choices abound for Passover meals [RECIPES]
For the many who feel overwhelmed by Passover because of the demands of cooking without leaven, a word or two: That should not be an obstacle.
Spanish town prepares first seder in 500 years
A town in northern Spain is preparing to hold its first Passover seder since 1492.
The seder of Jewish pride
Is it possible to build Jewish pride in a very short period of time, like, say, at one dinner party? Seriously, how can you instill a love of Judaism in the time it takes to watch a Lakers game? And how do you do that without being overly preachy or superficial?
Obama’s planned visit to Israel
As you’ve probably heard, President Obama will visit Israel next month, his first time as president. And for those people still upset with him for not visiting during his first term, here’s the good news: Obama’s visit is still much earlier in his second term than when George W. Bush visited.
For a Thanksgiving seder, it’s all about the ‘hodu’
Sitting down to the well-set table every November, even though it is filled with family and food, I always feel that something is missing -- a Jewish connection to the Thanksgiving story.
This year, more Angelenos than ever get Passover aid from local agencies
This year, more than 1,000 Los Angeles families in need received food from organizations that provide assistance specifically for Passover.
How vegans do Passover
Holidays like Passover are a difficult time for Jewish vegans and animal activists, a time of mixed emotions. As much as we love and find relevance in the meaning of the holiday, it’s difficult to be confronted by a table full of the body parts of animals that we love and fight for daily. Some vegans forgo Passover entirely, and some who celebrate with their families feel pressured to defend their ethical choices, or pressured to eat things that conflict with their values. Some are no longer invited to their family’s tables at all.
Pesach dilemmas in Budapest
Budapest may be the only capital in Europe where a member of Parliament could raise the blood libel accusation against Jews and essentially get away with it.
Jewish man in Kiev attacked after seder
A Jewish man was attacked after he left a seder at a synagogue in Kiev.
Passover is important, so you might as well go to a Seder
The Rest of Passover Cooking [RECIPE]
The Passover Seder: When we all must become children
Obama posts Passover message, to host seder
President Obama will host a seder at the White House on the first night of Passover.
Lost in translation
“Our Passover seder is translated into Arabic,” I used to tell my friends in school. “Arabic?” they responded in bewilderment. “That’s so weird! How could you translate a seder into Arabic? Isn’t Arabic the language of the enemy?”
Jewish-Japanese seder honors Boyle Heights history
Tess Friedman passes Ethel Kamiyama a bowl of charoset, and Kimayama spreads a spoonful of the fruit and nut paste onto her shard of matzah. Kamiyama leans over her plate as the small sandwich crumbles at her bite, and nods at Friedman, signaling that she finds this foray into Jewish culture quite tasty.
Recipes to please the crowd and de-stress the chef
Passover may be the mother of all kitchen yontifs — but stay cool, and don’t stress. Here are some of my favorite recipes from last Passover that you will love this Passover and all year.
‘Nu’ Way to Fund Jewish Art
Artists and musicians, among others, convened in a West Hollywood loft last spring for an event known as SEDER, the Hebrew word for “order” that also refers to the ritual that accompanies the Passover meal. And while they didn’t celebrate Passover that evening, the attendees did contribute to the narrative of the Jewish people.
At Passover, let my people go south
Passover celebrates the Exodus of the Jewish people from slavery in Egypt, their wandering in the desert for 40 years, and their ultimate deliverance to the Promised Land.
The mitzvah of maror
“The most unfortunate thing that happens to a person who fears failure is that he limits himself by becoming afraid to try anything new.”
Liberation
It’s fashionable to look at Passover as a universal idea. This makes sense; after all, how much more universal can you get than the theme of human freedom? Also, it’s a lot easier these days to be outer-directed and feel outrage at injustice.
All in
Two years ago, before our very eyes, a liberation movement of great courage and hope began to unfold halfway around the world. Blood ran like water in the streets of distant capitals, and still people fought, flesh against tanks, citizens against infantry, poets against police.
Coming to a seder near you: A haggadah on your iPad
This Passover, Jews can still reliably be called “the people of the book.” If sales of newly published versions of the haggadah are any indication, on the first night of Passover, when it comes time to tell the story of the Exodus, most people sitting at seder tables will be holding in their hands a text that consists of printed words and images on paper.
DIYers take on Pesach
At first glance, it’s hard to tell if Eileen Levinson’s Alternative Seder Plate is deeply thoughtful or merely playful. Or perhaps just coolly irreverent.
Ethiopian emigres hold model seders
Ethiopian immigrants to Israel held model seders in absorption centers throughout the country in preparation for their first Passover in Israel.
Questionable behavior for after the seder
Why is the day after the seder different from all other days? Is it because we are exhausted? Or our clothes no longer button? Possibly. More likely, I suspect the day after is different because of all the newly minted questions that drop into our brains like zuzim.
How not to feel like a matzah ball on Passover
It's April and steel shopping carts clang and collide like bumper cars in the kosher-for-Passover aisle of my local supermarket. Even in this mob I find soul mates, shoppers who share my angst about eating many of the hechshered-for-the-holiday packaged foods. Foods made with what blogger Lisa Rose calls the "four food groups of Passover: cottonseed oil, MSG, white sugar and potato starch."
Another Bad Seder [VIDEO]
Jewish organizations host National Hunger Seder
Looking for chametz in car, coat and computer
Who are the chametz seekers, those dutiful service technicians who in preparation for Passover, and for a fee, help us search and destroy the hidden, unexpected unleaven in our lives?
Jonathan Foer’s ‘New American Haggadah’: Extremely unsurprising and incredibly similar
The haggadah, the user’s manual to the Passover seder, might be the world’s oldest annually practiced ritual, and the story of the Jews’ freedom from slavery in Egypt is, Jonathan Safran Foer said recently, “the best-known greatest continuously read story” in book form.
Position yourself for Passover’s traditions
After many years of reciting the Passover story around our dining room table, we made a major change. My family decided to re-create the seders held long ago. According to the haggadah, when people live in freedom, they can eat in a reclining or relaxed manner.
10 years later, Passover Massacre victims find solace in one another
For many years, Moti Amir tried to block out any memory of the horrors that she witnessed on the night of the 2002 seder terrorist attack in this seaside city.
Crafting a memorable Passover with unique ritual objects
To prepare for their first Passover seders, Zoe Scheffy, Lesley Frost and Joanna Brichetto drew on their creative instincts: Scheffy pulled out her knitting needles; Frost gathered scraps of felt, braided ribbon and tacky glue; and Brichetto rounded up household items, her kids' plastic frogs and Beanie Babies.
Seder can be splendid the second time around
Rabbi Stuart Rosenblatt, a suburban Washington spiritual leader, jokes that "The second night of Passover was invented because God knew there would be in-laws."
Ignorance is Bliss…
A seder for broken Jews
The big fashion of recent times has been to rewrite or repackage the Passover haggadah to fit our individual tastes. If you’re vegetarian, there is the “Haggadah for the Liberated Lamb”; if you’re interested in Buddhism, there is the “Haggadah for Jews & Buddhists: A Passover Ritual”; if your thing is spiritual traditions, there is “The Santa Cruz Haggadah: A Passover Haggadah, Coloring Book, and Journal for the Evolving Consciousness”; for all you social justice lovers, there is Arthur Waskow’s “Freedom Seder: A New Haggadah for Passover”; if you are gay, you can try “Like an Orange on a Seder Plate: Our Lesbian Haggadah”; and if you don’t believe in God, don’t worry, you can get “The Liberated Haggadah: A Passover Celebration for Cultural, Secular and Humanistic Jews.”
This seder honors today’s Egyptians
Jews have long celebrated freedom as part of the Passover seder, but any look at a newspaper these days provides a reminder that the topic is as relevant as ever.
Ethiopians to hold large seders in Israel
Some 5,500 Ethiopian immigrants will celebrate the seder together in 16 absorption centers throughout Israel. About 1,000 of the new Ethiopian immigrants have arrived in recent months and will celebrate their first Passover in Israel, according to the Jewish Agency for Israel.
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