Laci the Dog (Free subscription) | yesterday
Did you know that Christmas wasn't a federal holiday in the US until 1870 ? Yes, Congress was in session on December 25, 1789, the first Christmas under America's new constitution! Strange as this may sound, Protestant Christians such as the Pilgrims, Puritans, Congregationalists, Quakers, Baptists, and Presbyterians did not celebrate Christmas. Some Christian sects still do not recognise Christmas...
America's Right (Free subscription) | 27/11/2009
On Wednesday, as millions of Americans began to gather family, friends and turkey for the Thanksgiving holiday and in advance of the Christmas and Hanukkah holidays, another holiday of sorts was on the mind of President Barack Obama. The celebrations are Eid-ul-Adha and the Hajj, the latter being the traditional Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca performed by millions of Muslims each and every year. The White...
Weiwen's religion blog (Free subscription) | 25/11/2009
As Americans go to share Thanksgiving meals with family, Rev. Giles Fraser writes for Ekklesia about the liberation meal that Christians share over Eucharist : “I promise you that many will come from the East and from the West to take their place at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in heaven’s reign.” So it says in Matthew's Gospel (8.11). Well, we as a family drove up from south...
The Fly Fishing Rabbi (Free subscription) | 23/11/2009
One day in late November a few years ago I ran into a congregant in the hallway of my Temple. She wished me a Happy Thanksgiving. Then she said: “Oh wait a minute. I didn’t mean to offend you. Do you celebrate Thanksgiving?” I said: “Of course! Jews celebrate Thanksgiving.” She laughed, a little embarrassed, and then I wished her a Happy Thanksgiving too. Picture: A stream...
Monday Artday (Free subscription) | 20/11/2009
The new challenge is: Feast! Illustrate a feast! Up in the northern hemisphere, we have a lot of eating holidays this time of year. The U.S. has Thanksgiving on November 26 this year, Canada had Thanksgiving on October 12, Hanukkah begins at sundown on Friday December 11, Christmas is December 25, and many other religions celebrate the harvest of fall, the shortest day (Winter Solstice, December 21),...
Ethiopian Review (Free subscription) | 19/11/2009
The Beta Israeli Sigd festival falls on the 29th of the Hebrew month of Cheshvan. It is the 50th day, starting with Yom Kippur (analogous to counting 50 days from Pesach to Shavuos), and is a festival unique to the Beta Israel community. For their forebears in Ethiopia, the Sigd was a religious holiday renewing their [...]
Hirhurim - Musings (Free subscription) | 19/11/2009
R. Yosef Tzvi Rimon writes about the Ashkenazic custom to refrain from eating kitniyos on Pesach ( link ): Do The Various Rationales Apply Today? At first glance, one might have thought that all of the reasons mentioned above for forbidding kitniyot on Pesach are no longer relevant today. The truth, however, is that even today these reasons are pertinent. Even today, all types of kitniyot and grains...
jobsanger (Free subscription) | 18/11/2009
It's still over a week before the Thanksgiving holiday, and the American Family Association (AFA) has already started whining about the "war on christmas". They have taken a statement by Gap and made erroneous assumptions about it. Now they are asking people to boycott the Gap, Banana Republic and Old Navy (all stores run by Gap, Inc.). Last year, Gap released a statement saying, "Gap...
The Kentucky Democrat (Free subscription) | 08/11/2009
CAUSE I'M A JEW... Lyrics by Country Yossi I wear a kippah on this head of mine. I daven mincha in the proper time. and by havdalah in my pockets I put wine cause I'm a Jew, I do that too. I put my sh'lok down when it starts to rain. I shake a lulav, which my neighbors think insane I like to bury my gefilte fish in chrein Cause I'm a Jew, I do that too. Chorus: Cause I'm a Jew, cause I'm a Jew, because...
Gila's Big Adventure (Free subscription) | 04/11/2009
One of my reasons for making Aliyah was the seasons. I could never reconcile myself with the fact than in Australia, when we went to synagogue and recited prayers for the beginning of a rainy season, it was the beginning of summer. At Pesach, we learned songs about spring time, just as autumn was beginning. It never made sense. I guess it must be something similar to the experience of being taught...
NY's Funniest Rabbi (Free subscription) | 01/11/2009
They just announced the NYC Marathon winners. A woman from Ethiopia won by eight seconds, a man from the US won (for the first time since '82) by a wide margin. A twenty seven year old American came in fourth. My friend Pesach ran. I hope it is/was a good experience for him. Yesterday at lunch there was a middle aged couple who are both running today. I am grateful to Mrs. Blachor for assigning The...
Sacramento Bee (Free subscription) | 31/10/2009
The new 2009 traditional Christmas stamp. If you dial the clock back to 1961, in the eyes of the U.S. Postal Service, Christmas didn't exist. That's because there was no official Christmas stamp until 1962. The next year, the USPS really got into the Christmas spirit. Postage had then gone up to 5 cents per letter but, during the holidays, if you didn't seal the envelope but merely tucked in the flap,...
Jewish Internet Defense Force (Free subscription) | 26/10/2009
(Vos Iz Neias)A Text book, already being used in NSW schools, claims Jewish people spread the blood of lambs on doorposts on Pesach, blames modern conflicts on “reactions of other groups to the Jewish people”, and says polygamy is “commonly practiced” in Israel. The text book Cambrige Studies of Religion : Stage 6 has been distributed to HSC... [Read more....]
Vos Iz Neais (Free subscription) | 26/10/2009
Sydney, Australia – A Text book, already being used in NSW schools, claims Jewish people spread the blood of lambs on doorposts on Pesach, blames modern conflicts on “reactions of other groups to the Jewish people”, and says polygamy is “commonly practiced” in Israel. The text book Cambrige Studies of Religion: Stage 6 has been distributed [...]
SMITH Magazine (Free subscription) | 23/10/2009
The meanest thing I ever did was send someone flowers. Everything I couldn't abide in another human being was wrapped up into a tiny five feet tall package named Mindy. She was my co-worker at the Jewish non-profit where I’d been employed for seven years. Mindy was the apocryphal Upper West Side girl; Orthodox, Jewish, fresh out of college, and in New York to (chastely) find a mate. Mindy was...
Videos