SAN FRANCISCO (JTA) -- It was December 1982, and my kibbutz ulpan had just been invited to light the Hanukkah menorah for the Israeli Knesset. The Israeli army was deep in the heart of Lebanon, the Cold War was raging, talks with the PLO were years away,...
BOSTON (JTA) -- Rhyming verse, lively family scenes, a cute pig who eats kosher pickles -- and yes, menorahs, latkes and the Maccabees -- are featured in a new crop of Hanukkah books for children written by some of the country's most popular award-winning...
By Natasha Rosenstock
• Published November 23, 2010
WASHINGTON (MyJewishLearning) -- Most American Jews can rattle off a list of Hanukkah traditions such as lighting the menorah each night; playing dreidel games; eating foods cooked in oil; and giving gifts. However, many wonder if this last tradition...
ROCKVILLE, Md. (MyJewishLearning) -- Hanukkah's proximity to Christmas can complicate the holiday. For those who try to make Hanukkah more like Christmas, it inevitably seems to fall short. Yet while Hanukkah was traditionally not one of the most central...
NEW YORK (JTA) -- Susie Fishbein is the author of seven best-selling cookbooks in the "Kosher by Design" series. Her latest cookbook, released in October, is "Kosher by Design -- Teens and 20-Somethings: Cooking for the next generation (ArtScroll Shaar...
NEW YORK (JTA) -- Fat may be a dirty word now, but we can chart the history of American Jews through the fats they've used to fry their Hanukkah latkes. Early immigrants relied on goose fat, which was replaced by chicken fat, which was eclipsed by Crisco,...
By Jamie Geller, JTA
• Published November 17, 2010
MONSEY, N.Y. - Hanukkah, O Hanukkah ... it's one of my favorite times of year - and certainly one of the busiest!I host several parties because you know how it goes: Aunt Jenny won't come if Uncle Oscar is in the room, and Scott isn't talking to Heather,...
NEW YORK - When I walked into our local Kmart the night after Labor Day, Christmas music already beckoned shoppers to do what they do best during the great white winter holiday: consume. Traditional Christians probably decry the way in which the focus...
Experience "Hanukkah: Festival of Lights" at the Missouri Botanical Garden, Sunday, Nov. 28.Festivities begin with a menorah lighting, followed by student performances by the Saul Mirowitz Day School -Reform Jewish Academy School, the Solomon Schechter...
by E. Kinney Zalesne, WASHINGTON JEWISH WEEK
• Published November 12, 2010
A few years ago, my family stumbled onto the 1990 six-volume DVD-set Shalom Sesame, a kitschy but completely adorable romp through Israeli and Jewish culture led by Oscar the Grouch's Israeli cousin, Moishe Ufnick; Kippi ben Kippod, a large pink hedgehog...
Thanksgiving 2009 has passed and with it went the cranberries. What a pity. While there is little evidence to suggest that this tart native berry was served at the first Thanksgiving feast, it has become a holiday staple, sauced alongside the traditional...
