Interesting program. While doing some research and preparation for a class I am teaching next week, I learned of a powerful and interesting program called Tzedakah in Action that teaches teens about giving tzedakah, setting up foundations and making difficult choices with money. You can find it at the link above or on Social Action. Go, learn and do.

I’m now using a new desing thanks to the fresh look and new templates at blogger. Let me know if you feel strongly one way or another.

Shavuah tov for another week. I hope you had a good and restful shabbat. I’d like to start this week by sharing a favorite mizrachi (eastern) Jewish food – shakshukah. When I was in Israel at the end of 2003, I at shakshukah on two occassions and fell in love with it. A classic dish eaten by many, it is tomatoes, vegetables, garlic and egg. Mmmmm. Really, give it a chance.

Here are some recipes:
shakshukah recipe from Joan Nathan posted on My Jewish Learning
Shashooka II from Jewish-Food archives
Shakshouka (Eggs in Tomato Sauce) from Jewish Food archives
Shakshuka III from Jewish food archives
Shakshuka IV from Jewish food archives

Enjoy and let me know if you try the recipes

Take a look at Richard Silverstein’s blog which he calls “Tikun Olam: Make the World a Better Place” and which he describes as, “A journal on politics, culture and ideas which reflects my personal interests in Middle East peace, world music, and the outdoors.”

Parashat Emor (Leviticus ) includes a variety of subjects – one of which is the holiday cycle and yearly calendar.

Right now we are in the midst of counting the Omer, the days between Passover and Shavuot. The omer is explained in a variety of places, including in this week’s text.

Rabbi Shimon Felix with The Bronfman Youth Fellowships in Israel explains the Omer in “Our changing observance of the period between Passover and Shavuot reflects our sensitivity to the realities of our history.”

[Do you want to learn about another aspect of this week’s parashah? Try Torah from Dixie or My Jewish Learning.]

Go and study!

Hi. Just a quick note about the fun of technology. Here it is, 9:30 at night and I am blogging from a local foodery. A nosh, a post and a bit of Torah.

Stay tuned for a bit of Torah.

Shalom ya’ll!

As we enter this new week I hope and pray that you and yours do so with health, strength, courage and joy.

May the Holy One bring us and all of the world peace.

Today is Israel’s Remembrance Day. Unlike Memorial Day in the United States, where the focus is on a day off of work, picnics and parades – in Israel the focus is on those who have died, their families and their loved ones. When I lived in Israel and attended the National Ceremony, it was a powerful and moving time. Because of the small size of Israel and the fact that nearly every Israeli serves in the military, most families in Israel have an extended family member within the current and past generations have lost someone. One of the more poignant moments is the 3 minute siren. A siren is blown and the whole country stops. Everyone rises where they are seated and thinks of the too many who have sacrificed their lives for the State of Israel and its freedoms. Cars and buses stop and pull over, their occupants getting out or rising in their seats. All are acutely aware of the sacrifices made and the numbers lost. So powerful that even though the last time I heard the siren was years ago, it still stands out in my memory. Still I remember the warm tears on my cheeks, tears which glistened on the faces of many.

Israeli Government official Site for Yom haZikaron/Remembrance Day, including a link to the prayer in remembrance of the fallen soldiers, read aloud in Hebrew (and fully vocalized).
Letters to the families of the deceased soldiers throughout the years.

The Knesset (Israel’s parliament) website on Memorial Day has a prayer and information.

Resources, lesson plans, readings, prayers, and more can be found on the Jewish Agency site.
Yom Hazikaron at My Jewish Learning.

Programming ideas for Yom Hazikaron can be found at Hillel’s site.

You can read about the day and day’s events at Ha’aretz and Ma’ariv.

This year the lives and deaths of 20,196 soldiers are remembered since the birth of the State of Israel, especially remembering the 184 soldiers who died in the past year.

Shavuah tov, a good new week to each and all of you.

This week an important march will occur in Washington, DC. the March for Women’s Lives, a march in
“support of reproductive freedom and justice for all women. Threats to these rights have never been so systematic and coordinated, and the lives and health of women have never faced such peril. On April 25th, in our Nation’s Capitol we march to uphold – Choice, Justice, Access, Health, Abortion, Global and Family Planning. Please join us for the March for Women’s Lives.” (From March for Women’s Lives website.)

If you can’t go to the march, then learn about the issues and voice your opinion locally.

Are you wondering what the various Jewish organizations say about abortion, choice and reproductive freedom?
Union of Reform Judaism and their participation in the March for Women’s Lives
Reform Judaism’s view of abortion, choice etc…
United Synagogues of Conservative Judaism and their participation in the March for Women’s Lives
Conservative Judaism’s view of abortion, choice etc…
Hadassah’s participation in the March for Women’s Lives
National Councial of Jewish Women (NCJW) & the March for Women’s Lives, NCJW Benmarch Campaign to Save Roe
Jewish Women International (JWI) & the March for Women’s Lives

There are many more resources available. Let me know if you have a link to suggest.
Go, learn and do!

Hi. Just a quick update – look in the right side column for new links: new ring, new blog and a counter for the refuseniks. Let me know what you think.