This little essay of mine was originally published by my Yeshiva in our Chanukah Reader. I am hoping to highlight more interesting facts about Shlomzion, the real Jewish queen. Women, the Hidden Heroes of Hanukkah At certain moments in Jewish history, it is easy to confuse what is darkness and what is light. In the…
Author: Blogging Across the Nation
Can we Eat this on Rosh HaShana?
They say life goes fast after you hit a certain age. Life surely flies for me for the last few years. Didn’t we just celebrate a new year? Yet, it is Elul – אֱלוּל again! We should be ready – both physically and spiritually for another Day of Judgement. For the last few years I’ve…
Another (not so new anymore) Adventure or Вот новый поворот.
Summer is coming to an end even though to me it feels like it somehow evaporated without actually being here. It was a strange summer, indeed, weatherlike. Cold and rainy for the most part, then turning to extreme heat for a little while, and now the days start kind of cold already, lots of rain,…
What’s in the Age? Never Late to Learn!
It looks like these tragic days everyone is thinking about time and age. Time that we live, hopefully in peace, and age that our children learn about war. Time that flies away, and age that deepensthe scars. To me, the concept of one’s age is a changing one depending on my mood, experience,and overall outlook…
On Jewish Women in Antiquity and Today. Different times, different tactics
Many women regardless of their life or career choices experience challenges that are unique to their gender. To be sure, men have their own unique challenges, but over the history of mankind women’s challenges were largely overlooked, or at least were not detailed in stories or historic accounts just because the majority of learned and…
Thoughts about Purim this Year – The Origins of Love and Hate
When we talk about the villain of the Purim story, Haman, we most often go to the origins of his ancestor, Amalek, noting how he (his nation) waged war on those of the children of Israel that were week and lingering at the end of the procession on their way out of Egypt: וַיָּבֹ֖א עֲמָלֵ֑ק…
New Healthy Invention – Mushroom, Barley and Collard Greens Supper
It is pretty miserable outside these days here in New York. These are the days that your soul craves for warmth. Potatoes can’t be eaten every day even by those of us that came from the land of root vegetables, namely Russia, correct? Winter is always the time when people gain weight (or is it…
Making Teiglach with my Mom
This Sunday, my mother turned 90! NINETY! Can you imagine? It’s hard for me to imagine since my mom is still the strongest person I know. I am so grateful for her continuous presence in my life. We actually have become closer to each other during the last 10 years than ever before, and it…
What is THE SHUK?
It seems that I have no time for anything these days – back to school and work. How did I do it outside the house before, I have no idea! So happy that at least I don’t have to go on the train every day – saves so much time and most importantly – energy…
Rosh haShana Yearning for PEACE
This erev Rosh haShana as every year I find myself in the kitchen listening to Selichot at the Kotel making my babushka’s Lekach (honey cake) thinking about her life hoping to become one day as good a cook as she was.My grandmother’s life was not easy at all. She had to run from pogroms from…
A Bunch of Ottolenghi’s – Controversial Love
I have a few books in my collection where I am not in sync with the author at all. I guess it is an old question, and we’ve actually learned about this in the Talmud class this year – can you learn/teach Torah from a sage that has gone astray? Think about the arguably most…
Zahav & Israeli Soul
I have written about Michael Solomonov and his book Zahav a little bit. Now I want to highlight a few dishes that I made from it and include some words about his next one – Israeli Soul. Both books are written in collaboration with Steven Cook, and I was lucky to be on the presentations…
Noshing Across the Nation 