Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Top Ten Ways to Make Your Seder Not Suck by Amanda Pogany | Jewcy.com
My grandparents were holocaust survivors. When they came to America, their primary focus was becoming American. So instead of Hebrew school, my mom was a girl scout. And instead of speaking Yiddish to their children, they struggled through English (with crazy thick accents). When we grandchildren came along, my grandfather (Papa) thought is was a good idea to get a little Judaism back into the family, so they sent us all to day school. When Passover came around, although Papa would sit at the head of the table, it was the grandchildren who led the seder. We divided up the parts and sped through the Hebrew reading and songs we had learned with energy and enthusiasm. While Papa beamed with pride and our parents enjoyed feeling like their money was well spent, everyone over the age of 11 sat watching the show, unable to follow along and unsure how to participate.
As we grew up, the old methods didn’t quite do it for us anymore either. Few 23 year olds are willing to jump on chairs and sing Hebrew songs at the top of their lungs in front of parents and friends. That said, not every great Seder includes loud outbursts of adolescent singing. In fact, some of the best don’t have any. With a bit of preparation and planning, anyone can host an engaging, interactive, totally not-lame Seder. Below are some tips.
1. ZAYDE SHOULDN’T LEAD. EITHER SHOULD YOU.
A good Seder is a group project. Get the group involved early on. Assign parts in advance to all your guests. Give them a section of the Seder; ask them to think about a creative activity, some discussion questions, or an interesting article or text that relates to their topic. Everyone in the room gets to lead a piece and feels invested in the process.
2. PREPARE!
30 minutes of preparation a few nights before the Seder will go a long way. You can ask guests to lead sections, but you can’t expect a Seder to run itself entirely. Look through your haggadah, take notes, decide in advance what pieces you want to skip or definitely want to do. Write out a few questions and ideas that are interesting and relevant to your guests.
3. USE PROPS!
No matter your age, throwing ping-pong balls at people is fun. So is flinging plastic frogs at your sister. Party stores carry lots of options for plagues. Don’t go with the pre-packaged kits, be creative and make your own.
4. CHOOSE THE RIGHT HAGGADAH.
While you may be nostalgic for the Maxwell House version of the past, it is time to graduate to something more interesting, relevant and user friendly. My favorite right now is: A Night To Remember: The Haggadah of Contemporary Voices.
5. BUT DON’T READ IT.
No one wants to sit and read a book for two hours. Be creative about how you retell the story. Come up with games and activities. Bring in contemporary articles about the Arab Spring or the need for a livable wage for discussion or consider including a supplement or two (or three). Put on a play. Just don’t sit in one place and read a book in a foreign language that no one understands.
6. ASK REAL QUESTIONS.
Find ways of inviting everyone’s voice into the room early on. Ask a question that everyone can answer no matter their age, connection to or understanding of the tradition. What makes you feel like a slave? Are there people in our society today that need redeeming?
7. EAT EARLY!
Hunger always gets in the way. The dipping of the parsley actually took the place of the salad course in ancient Rome. Bring back the salad course! Try dipping other things- potatoes, salad, artichokes. Just no matzah yet!
8. GET IN THE MOOD.
This isn’t a formal dinner; it’s a themed dinner party. Wear (or bring) costumes. Decorate part of your house like the desert or a parted sea. Set up a comfortable space for good conversation – no one said a Seder had to take place around a table in a formal dining room. Sit on the floor or on couches. Provide pillows (or invite guests to bring their own) to recline on.
9. GET RID OF THE GUILT.
Pay less attention to what you think should happen at a Seder or your Seder last year, and more attention to who is in the room and the experience you are having in that moment.
10. WHEN ALL ELSE FAILS.
Lots and lots of wine! 4 cups doesn’t mean 4 sips. So lean to the left and down that entire glass of cheap kosher merlot.
Delaware adopts civil unions bill | The News Journal | delawareonline.com
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Why Do People Love Chabad So Much?
It reminds me, frankly, of several very strident Unitarian Universalists I knew in college. I know, you're thinking, "UUs? STRIDENT?" Well, these cats were; something to learn from.
I know a lot of people who would give their life for Chabad. And for a long time, I never understood why. These people aren’t orthodox. But Chabad is the greatest thing to them since sliced bread and is responsible for anything that they do in the realm of Jewish. On top of that, our boy Shmuley Boteach recently wrote that Judaism is under “Chabadization”.
Why do people love Chabad so much? I think it’s because Chabad know’s they’re awesome and don’t give a damn what you think.
Take a look at the first sentence of the Chabad FAQ page:
Chabad-Lubavitch is a philosophy, a movement, and an organization. It is considered to be the most dynamic force in Jewish life today.
I like how assertive that is! Frankly, it’s manly. If Chabad were a man, it would be the kind of man that other men want to be and that women want to have a one-night stand with.
Compare that to statements on the Reform website:
The great contribution of Reform Judaism is that it has enabled the Jewish people to introduce innovation while preserving tradition, to embrace diversity while asserting commonality, to affirm beliefs without rejecting those who doubt, and to bring faith to sacred texts without sacrificing critical scholarship.
This statement really bothers me because it’s boring. But also, its tone is very apologetic. It’s like the Reform movement is sorry that it’s innovating and that it promises it’s still traditional Judaism. I think more people would support the Reform movement if their statement said, “look, this isn’t Orthodoxy. This isn’t Israeli-approved Torah derech. Deal with it. We’re 40% of the population and growing.”
OK, so what does the Conservative/Masorti movement have to say for itself?
What is Masorti Judaism? This is not an easy question to answer.
Wow. You are part of something and you can’t even explain it. Maybe that’s why Conservative Judaism is in decline.
Chabad has taken over the Jewish world because it’s bold. You may not like it, but it doesn’t care. And people, I think, respect that. No one likes a wimp.
So my question is this: why is Chabad so bold and why are the other movements (Orthodox and otherwise) so passive?
Why Do People Love Chabad So Much?
Monday, April 11, 2011
In Orthodox Jewish Enclaves, an Alarm Sounds Over Eating Disorders - NYTimes.com
Sunday, April 10, 2011
In anticipation of Pesach: A Message from the Kitniyot Liberation Front
Rabbi Zvi Anshel HaLevi Leshem
Efrat
02-9309133
(Contact louis3105@gmail.com for the full PDF with sources)
1. Some of the oils designated as "kitniot" or "only for those who eat kitniot" are permissible also to Ashkenazim (even according to the position which prohibits kitniot oil), such as peanut, soy, canola and cottonseed oils.
2. Some of the products that are labeled "for those who eat kitniot only" are permissible according to all opinions, since the ratio of kitniot ingredients is less than 50%, and they are therefore annulled in the majority of non-kitniot ingredients. Additionally the kitniot ingredients are often oils such as soybean, that were never included in the prohibition, or derivatives of these oils. Only those foods in which the kitniot ingredients constitute the majority are prohibited. Therefore, many dairy products, "kosher for Pesach" cookies, chocolates and more, which are labeled "kitniot" or "only for those who eat kitniot" or "for those who eat liftit" (liftit and lecithin are both types of canola) are completely permissible for Ashkenazim.
3.Quinoa, which is a very new food (other than for native South Americans), is permissible.
4. There is no problem for an Ashkenazi to be a guest of a Sephardi on Pesach and to eat food prepared in vessels that were used to cook kitniot, even within 24 hours of the meal. This is true since if the kitniot themselves can be annulled in a mixture of a majority of other ingredients, their taste is certainly annulled. Moreover, even if the food contains a kitniot ingredient, as long as it is not the majority and is not recognizable as a separate element of the dish, it is also permitted.
5. Those people who have thus far been careful not to purchase any food item labeled "for those who eat kitniot only", because they believed that this was in fact the Halacha, are not considered to have accepted this as their custom; it is at best a "mistaken custom" and they are not required to perform "vow annulment" in order to eat such items.
6. It is a mitzva to publicize this decision, which is based upon the traditional Halachic methodology of the great authorities throughout the generations, and not upon looking for unnecessary stringencies.