Tag: Judaism
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Another brit, another Jew.
Yesterday we participated in what must be the oldest Jewish ritual, decended straight from (poor) Abraham. I do not envy Sarah, by the way, who had to deal with the healing of not only an 8-day-old with a bruised penis, but a moody teenager and her senior-citizen husband. Yes, the brit mila. Ritually slicing and…
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Once in 28 years.
I’m the type to get excited by the rare traditions in Judiasm. The kind I never heard about in my two decades of formal Jewish education. So waking up at 5:45 this morning to join a minyan on a Tzur Hadassah roof top didn’t really bother me, even after a late night of cooking and…
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Presenting: the sukka boat.
Like the water? Even on Sukkot? No problem. You can build a giant sukka on a giant boat: Big boat… …big sukka. Found on the Herziliya marina yesterday.
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Birkat Kohanim at the kotel.
I had never seen it, and my dad is of the priestly persuasion, so the three of us went down to the kotel in the Old City yesterday to hear/see/be present at the ginormous Birkat Kohanim for chol hamoed Sukkot. Birkat Kohanim – known as ‘duchaning’ in Ashkenaz circles – is like a representation of…
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And a happy 'queer rite of Jews' to you.
Because I already have posted my past homemade sukkot, New York and ghetto Israeli style, I figured I’d post my first own semi-respectable Tzur Hadassah sukka: Spacious because we have a decent-sized mirpeset. Sturdy, because we have paychecks that can buy metal poles. And fun, because I did a search for ‘sukkot’ on Google Images…
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And on the 7th day…
It’s been a long, meatless week. We are coming to the end of the ‘Nine Days’, the mournful count between Rosh Chodesh Av to the Ninth of Av, or as it is (affectionately?) known as Tisha B’Av. During the Nine Days, we refrain from meat, wine, fancy entertainment. You know the drill. I’m tired of…
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A covenant, a conversion, a first.
For me, there aren’t daily Israeli-firsts anymore; it’s more like periods of firsts washing up on the shore. I pick them up and hold them to my ear and listen to the waves of meaning they try to offer. At least, some of the time. I participated as a support/witness for a friend undergoing conversion…
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Jewish news for womyn-folk.
Just found three headlines from the last couple days that I thought I’d share. Consider it a little taste of news in the womyn’s world. Rabbi Metzger: Married women should give up maiden name “Advice to women from the chief rabbi: Married women should give up their maiden name, Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi Yona Metzger told…
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The best plums are the 'stolen' kind.
It’s amazing what can be taken for granted. Most of the year has passed me by and I haven’t once written about it being a שמיטה (shmittah) year. Living in the greater Jerusalem area, not owning a garden or any trees, and mainly associating with kosher people, I’ve just not had to worry about it…
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Welcome home, endangered American Jew.
Here’s the ‘welcome home’ I got while waiting at a bus stop: Hmm. I’m pretty sure it’s not as crazy as they make it sound, but who am i to judge? I’m not living in the wild jungle of dangerousness that is America.* * Ok, ok. I’m being harsh. There is truth to moving to…
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An Israeli county fair in the dream of aliyah.
Spent the evening strolling around the Yom Haatzmaut celebration going on in the Tzur Hadassah elementary schoolyard. Clowns, kids, silly string, shaving cream, noise makers, cotton candy, lights, balloons… This no singles’ event. I started reading old entries from a few years ago, describing my purpose for moving to Israel, my role in the aliyah…
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In appreciation of צהר, or small windows.
I attended a secular wedding last night; if it wasn’t my first Israeli secular wedding, then I have only been to one or two before this. The secular Israeli wedding is something I don’t fully grasp. A Jewish wedding is so chock full of beautiful, wacky and wild traditions, why not have that be a…