Tag: purim

  • Baking ‘hamantaschen’ with your Israeli children.

    Ears of a guy we’re meant to love to hate. Jews: still rocking weird drama since 3338. First time making hamantaschen with my kids. Or as an adult. FYI: as you and the diaspora-born father of your kids keep talking about ‘hamentashen,’ your Israeli-born kids are bound to, at some point, look at you oddly. “Oh.…

  • If only it were that simple, eh, Diplomacy?

    It’s on my mind. Constantly. The fact that it’s nearly Purim and everyone wants to draw comparisons doesn’t help. So I’ll let Jon Stewart take on the Iran-Israel-USA dance of doom: Words of Warcraft (And, come on, he totally could’ve saved the erection slip-up by pointing out that it’s all the MEN and TESTASTERONE that is…

  • Einstein spending Purim in Beitar Illit?

    One of the best things about Purim is the idea that you can enjoy the humor, the sass, the tongue-in-cheek quality of opposites. You can turn the world upside-down, you can defy the laws of gravity with a sprinkle of humor and darkness. So why was I so amused to find, in Beitar Illit, my…

  • The state of Purim costumes in Israel: Sexy-blurry edition.

    Ah, Purim. It’s quickly approaching. Its various timings fall out on March 7-9 this year. And as it’s one of Israel’s favorite holidays – kids’ or not – the toy stores have been gearing up around Jerusalem and Beit Shemesh, and the advertisements have been sent in the mail. The brightly colored pages of ‘Purim’…

  • Purim roundup.

    Purim is a different kind of fun with a kid. I don’t think mine’s old enough to be the truly fun kind of kid fun, but we’re getting there. It’s also super-exhausting, although that might have to do with the second baby I’m carrying around. Here are some of the highlights: We got through most…

  • Banking on Purim.

    Here’s what it’s like for Abba and Mama to sign a whole fuck-ton of mortgage papers at the bank on Purim… through the eyes of a nearly two-year-old cookie lover: Koala became very concerned at the whereabouts of our Minnie Mouse-attired bank rep whenever she got up to copy documents. Today has seen a lot…

  • Arabs and Jews, mothers and babies, Amalek and us.

    I don’t like getting political because I’ve been there and it’s an energy-sucking lifestyle. But a few events are coming together that make me have to say this. The Itamar murders were the utmost in terror and hate crime. Killing defenseless people – children – in their sleep is the utmost in cowardly and not…

  • Bunny overload.

    My head is not in Purim this year. I suppose I have a decent excuse, right? So today was the Purim party at Koala’s gan. For a week I’ve been reminded to send him in dressed up. He’s a bit of a particular kid, so I wanted to keep it simple. And who are we…

  • Purim, baby-style.

    Nothing like Purim to separate the early-risers from the late-bed goers from the up all night due to teething painers. Wait, I think we were actually all three… In many ways, Purim is more fun when you have an extra body to shove into a costume. But you kinda miss out on the party-parties. Still…

  • Have a wonderful holiday of hidden miracles.

    Here’s what I love about it being Purim in Israel and being a part of an Israeli community: Coming home after a seuda with new friends (including 342674 kids) and then finding Mishloach Manot at your doorstep – I guess you could say it’s a hidden miracle that we come to Israel single and adventurous…

  • Tonight's online rally for Israel and Sederot.

    The buzz this week – around the Israel blogosphere, Facebook and my inbox – has been about a campaign called Together 4 Israel, which “is putting together the largest ever online rally in support of those living under fire in Israel. All you need to do is return to this site on Thursday, March 20,…

  • Religion: gets high with a little help from its friends.

    I’ve always suspected this myself, but a Hebrew University researcher is daring enough to say it out loud in a recent article: Hebrew University researcher: Moses was tripping at Mount Sinai On perusing the momentous occasion of Moses’ trip up Mount Sinai to collect and deliver God’s words to the people, Professor Benny Shanon is…