Noshing Across the Nation

Children, Israel, Food, Torah – things I love and talk about often!

Author: Blogging Across the Nation

  • At the Crossroads

    I was listening to this song the other day Is this how our lives go? The road to eternity is long – I will yet come back. What we do here on earth in our lifetimes, does it really make an effect on eternity? Do we really meet the souls we loved here somewhere in the…

  • Baking for Sukkot

    The sounds of hammers working around my neighborhood are getting more urgent as the last sukkot are being erected. The smells of etrogim permeate the air. The work in the kitchen is no less hectic for many women who are fortunate to have their own homes, but on Sukkot get to work five times as hard providing…

  • New Year, New Life, New Cooking Adventures

    This was the first Rosh haShana ever that I have not made or eaten any meat during the holiday. I cooked myself, and I have sat at the tables of my friends, where meat was served, even my favorite lamb, but I wasn’t moved to try it. Is this a good development in my life?…

  • A Private Beit Midrash?

    Right in the middle of ימים נוראים – Yomim Noraim I find myself thinking about a dilemma: on the one hand, I am totally excited to organize a beit midrash at my house and give the people an opportunity to learn in a non-threatening environment. On the other hand – this is something I am not able to share…

  • Some more of Jewish Food History Trivia before The High Holidays

    It is always fun for me to flip through my cookbooks before a major Holiday. I love to look for stories behind the recipes, origins of foods we eat and their transitions throughout times and continents. Here, I am just going to post some fun facts about my favourite foods:   Dates: First mentioned in Exodus 3:8…

  • The Year 5777 is Coming!

    Sunday,  יום ראשון , October 2 Jews all over the world will celebrate The New Year – רֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה. This year’s number is quite unique – 5777. Number 7 was always kind of magic in the Jewish world – 7 days of the week, 7 days before the brit milah, 7 branches of the Menora as it…

  • Bits of Words Before the Hagim

    We are almost at the end of Elul. And this means that the talk around us is about teshuva. Everyone tries to be more critical of themselves, more open to prayer, tzedakah, and understanding of the other. Everyone is thinking of doing more mitzvot. And, looks like everyone is preaching. Zniut! Wow, if we could only save the world by…

  • The Ghetto and Beyond

    I decided to spend my Sunday and Monday at the Center for Jewish History attending a conference about the Jewish ghetto. The distinguished panel of presenters came from the top universities in the United States, Israel and Italy. A new Medici archives project was presenting materials ranging from general community related papers to personal stories of the individual…

  • Reading Shivhei ha-Besht

    My love of learning anything concerning Jewish history brought me this time to a class on early Hasidism. //ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=US&source=ac&ref=tf_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=noshingacro07-20&marketplace=amazon&region=US&placement=1568211473&asins=1568211473&linkId=9c0e9d167ee0056d2e148390ddfec4d2&show_border=false&link_opens_in_new_window=false&price_color=333333&title_color=0066c0&bg_color=ffffff” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”>The book I bought for the class was first published in Hebrew in 1814 or 1815 from an earlier manuscript written by Rabbi Dov Ber ben Shmuel. The stories are remarkable on several levels, but…

  • Verses Outloud

    What makes a poet? His success? His literary style? The fact that his poems make it into the world of music? The voice of a singer? All of the above? How is it that some poems, whether read or sang are unforgettable, while the others, albeit good ones, stay with you just for a little…