That’s right, that’s right…it’s been a long time coming, butJewish dogs are finally having their day! In other words, someone has thrown them a bone. Who to thank for this? None other than Isaac Mizrahi. I was walking through my local Tar-zshay yesterday as if it were a Christmas-themed obstacle course. Red and green stuff was everywhere*. I had to pass the pet section to get to the frozen foods area and was single-minded in my errand, when suddenly, lo and behold, I saw something…different. Was it? Nah, couldn’t be. It was! BLUE! Much to my surprise, after years of having few choices when it came to Roxie’s Hanukkah (and…
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Ignore That…It’s Just My Stomach Growling.
Today is Yom Kippur*, which is the most holy Jewish holiday of the entire year. To make a long explanation short, it is also known as the “Day of Atonement”, where we basically atone for the sins of the past year. We don’t work or go to school and we spend alot of time in services, just like on Rosh Hashanah, but this holiday is totally solemn. Another distinctive feature of Yom Kippur is the fasting. From sundown the night before for 25 hours, Jews do not eat or drink anything (even water). The reason for the fast is to be able to completely focus on repentance. Children under 13…
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Happy New Year!
Today’s post marks the return of Jew Stuff! I wasn’t leaving it out, really; it’s just that bulk of the Jewish holidays are crushed together between mid-fall and early spring. Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish New Year. It literally means “Head of the Year”. Why do we celebrate our New Year on what seems like a random day each year in September/October? I’ll tell ya why: because Rosh Hashanah actually occurs on the FIRST day of the FIRST month…of the Hebrew Calendar. Where the Gregorian calendar (January, February, March, et al) is related to the sun and how the earth moves around it, the Hebrew calendar is related to the…
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It’s Confirmed…He’s Been Confirmed!
Yesterday was a proud day for our family, and a very happy one for the fifteen-year-old specifically. His religious school class was confirmed, basically meaning that these upcoming high school Juniors are “confirming their commitment to Judaism”. It also means that they are finished with their “formal” religious training (=no more Sunday School), however in the Jewish religion, we are supposed to always seek ways to educate ourselves further in other ways. These kids, however, were not thinking about getting more education last night; they were focusing on the “No More Religious School!” part, which is fine for now. Confirmation is different from a Bar or Bat Mitzvah; to read…
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Passing Down the Passover 4-1-1
Hello again, my little Jew Stuff students…it’s time to talk a little bit about the Jewish holiday that begins at sundown this evening: Passover. If you would like to read more detail than I will post here, go to this place and you can learn all about it. I am more interested today in writing about one of our favorite Passover foods than the historical significance of the holiday. But since I’m here and you are all usually pretty receptive about learning, I’ll summarize. To make a long story short, Passover celebrates the Exodus of the Jewish people from Egypt, led by Moses. The name of the holiday comes from…