Archive for the 'Holidays' Category

Create an embossed Hanukkah card

Do you have a few Hanukkah cards to get out? whether you do, and you’re feeling crafty, next these embossed cards are the perfect project for you. The images are stenciled in metal or vellum. You could choose one method, or do the front of the card in metal and a velum overlay inside.

Hanukkah th…

Hanukkah hardware: The Nail Menorah

Happy Hanukkah from the Hardware Aisle!

The Nail Menorah’s golden solder and copper candle-holders span a series of creatively reused flat-cut nails.

The elegant cantilevered design reminds me of those “My boss is a Jewish carpenter” bumper stickers I used to see down south–though I don’t…

Simchat Torah - Joy to the World

Weeks of Jewish festivals that mark the beginning of the Jewish year come to a joyful conclusion on Simchat Torah, the last day of the harvest festival (Sukkot). I guess you can say it was the first legal holiday, since, by definition, the words signify celebrating the law. The law referred to is, o…

Security tips for the High Holidays

Against the backdrop of a summer when homeland security officials have issued warnings of potential terror threats against the United States, synagogues across North America are confronting the usual holiday dilemma: how to provide a safe and secure environment for synagogue members and guests while…

Will vanishing bees affect your Rosh Hashanah?

 

Bees are disappearing at an alarming rate. They are leaving their homes and not returning. While scientists remain baffled about the situation, which is being called colony collapse disorder, one thing is certain - the availability and price of honey and apples will be affected.

For some s…

Keeping Shabbat

 

Since we first made the choice to convert to Judaism, we’ve made a lot of changes in the way we do things and how we spend our time. As a family, we’ve always made time together a priority but that time was not always of the highest quality. Each day we learn more and add to the ways we li…

Fun Father’s Day gifts with a touch of Yiddishkeit

 

There are thousands of things you can buy for the dads in your life this Father’s Day. Many are too expensive. Some are too fattening. And lots of others will make you say to yourself, “What was I thinking?“ when they are received less than enthusiastically with a faint, phony smile and …

Hanukkah countdown - only 6 more months to complete holiday projects

After 10 years of writing for Jewish publications, I’ve learned to think ahead, many months ahead. While everyone is eating latkes, I’m thinking Pesach. When we’re all putting away the wine glasses and haggadahs, I’m already in a Rosh Hashanah state of mind.

If sewing is your passion…

High Holidays

The most important time of the Jewish year is often the most misunderstood. Here’s all the basics you need to know.

The High Holiday period actually begins in Elul, the Hebrew month preceding Rosh Hashana. Elul is an important period of introspection, of clarifying life’s goals, and of coming…

Top Ten Ways to Make Shabbat a Fun Family Celebration


Bake Challah with your children
There is nothing like the smell of freshly baked challah to usher in the Shabbat mood and make everyone want to sit down to eat a festive meal together

And there is nothing that makes children so proud as when they can can bring food they made to the table. If c…

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