I hope everyone is having a good weekend. Here, I feel like I might as well move to Seattle, where I'm told it rains most of the year. It has not. Stopped. Raining. And at some point during the Shavuot holiday, I realized I had left part of my car's sun roof open...after 48 of virtually non-stop raining of cats and dogs.

Anyway, "Mich Mc" posted a comment in my last post asking to explain a bit more of what Shavuot is. If you ask your average American to name a Jewish Holiday, I'd venture to say that 95% of the time they'd say Chanukkah (or Hanukkah - pick your spelling) - a topic I'll address when we get... more

So, tonight starts Shavuot - yet another one of those Jewish holidays we get to take off from work for. If it seems to you that there is another Jewish holiday every few weeks or every month or two, that's pretty accurate. As I'm scrambling with little time left to go, I'm trying to figure out what's on the menu. As you may or may not know, it's a tradition to serve dairy foods on this holiday. Some say that when the Jews got the Torah, they hadn't yet learned the full extent of the laws of keeping kosher, and therefore only ate dairy so that none of the laws were transgressed. Others say that meat and blood symbolize judgement, and milk and honey symbolize compassion, hence the eating of... more

Tonight starts the holiday of Shavuot - the holiday when we celebrate the giving of the Torah to the Jews. Or, as my husband explains it to his Indian co-workers, the Festival of the Cheescake, because of the tradition to eat dairy on this holiday. I've been trying to think of what to write for this holiday, but came up with nothing until I stumbled onto Reb Barry's blog and his sermon for Shavuot. I bring you an excerpt, but the full text can be found here.

Our ancestors reply when Moses came down the mountain with the Torah... more

So, with still no camera in sight, I am in the final countdown of preparations for Sheva Brachot (literally, seven blessings) that we are hosting at our home tonight. There is a custom for the seven days following a Jewish wedding that friends or family host a party - often a full meal or just a dessert - as a continued celebration of the actual wedding. It's actually one of my favorite traditions - it's much more intimate than the wedding itself and it sends the message that we are happy for the newlywedded couple not... more

One last thing before I sign off for Passover. (I'll be back online Saturday night - you remember, I become Amish during Shabbat or major holidays and don't use the computer...)

Towards the very end of the seder, there is one line that I look forward to every time. The line is, "Next year in Jerusalem!" No matter how traditional or how modern or customized your seder is, this is a line that everyone includes. It is powerful on many levels. It is a line that was said in whispers during the Crusades or the Spanish Inquisition. It was said with anguish during the Holocaust. It was said with tears of joy... more

Tonight, we will celebrate the Passover seder. It is a fourteen part event held over a festive meal on the first and second night of Passover (first only in Israel). I have wonderful memories of growing up, spending Passover at my grandparents and staying up late for the seder. The cousins would get together to put on some dorky play about the story of Passover, which recounts the Exodus of the Jews from Egypt. A good deal of the rituals involved are said to be part of the seder so that the children will be involved. We eat different foods than we usually eat and there is a tradition... more

As we get closer to the holiday of Passover - which starts tomorrow evening - I wanted to take a moment to talk about food. Food plays a large role in our tradition - both regarding when we eat, if we eat at all and what we do or do not eat. The word "kosher" is familiar to many of us - Jewish or not - but I just wanted to take a moment to share a story and a thought or two.

I went to college in a pretty large city compared to my home town. Although that city was home to many other schools with large Jewish populations, this one was not. Needless... more

This has been, by far, one of the busiest and yet somehow one of the slowest weeks in my life. Maybe it's because I'm a huge West Wing addict and I'm not quite sure how I'll get through until Sunday night. And there are only seven more episodes left! I don't watch anything else on TV except the news, and am seriously contemplating what I'll be doing with my extra hour a week after this amazing show ends in May....so sad... What would you do with an extra hour a week?

Anyway, as I was wandering around the Internet, I stumbled on a really cool site - The National Center for the Hebrew Language: Building... more

So, my kitchen smells reeks of ground cloves. I didn't realize what a potent smell it really has until Anna dumped out the contents of an entire jar onto my floor. This is now the day after we have thoroughly cleaned the kitchen and I still smell cloves. At least it's not a bad smell, but it is certainly um.... interesting.

Anyway, as we are getting ready for Purim, I wanted to share a great recipe for Hamantaschen. If... more

There are two basic types of Jewish Holidays. 1) They tried to kill us, we won...let's eat! 2) They tried to kill us, we lost...let's fast.

(Okay, okay...there are other types of holidays. We have lots of holidays throughout the year.) Purim is the first kind of holiday, and one of my favorite. Purim is the next Jewish holiday on the calendar, which starts this coming Monday night and ends Tuesday night (most Jewish holidays start the evening... more