For a whirlwind seven days in November, an interfaith and bipartisan group of 10 Minnesota legislators and their guests toured Israel. They visited the country’s historical and political sites from Masada to Yad Vashem, its Christian holy sites in Bethlehem, social services organizations, and Israeli high tech companies. The met with Israelis and Palestinians on all sides of the political spectrum.
Shavua Tov! Check out this week’s top Jewish news stories: a boxing champion and aspiring rabbi, a woman’s Western Wall arrest for wearing a talit, the Jew behind the vampires of “Twilight,” debate on Israeli settlements, the Reform Movement on abortion, a bagel fiasco in New York, and a special offer if you want to fly to Israel this winter.
Veteran’s Day rolled around last week and incited a variety of emotions. Was anyone else’s facebook news feed teaming with complaints about not having the day off? Hmm…For most of us, Veteran’s Day gave a moment of pause to reflect upon people whom we love, admire and respect for committing and sometimes sacrificing themselves for our country and for us.
It’s a week of Bob Dylan madness. First, Dylan confuses all his Jewish Minnesota brothers and sisters with a recording of the Christmas song “Must be Santa” that sounds remarkably like Klezmer music. Don’t believe me? Watch the video below.
With the festive season approaching, it seemed the perfect time to highlight some pareve (dairy-free) dessert options available across the Twin Cities. While most of these places won’t call their offerings “pareve,” the advent of a growing vegan population has created a wealth of options for those of us who are looking for dairy-free goods for other reasons (like not mixing meat and milk). This is by no means an exhaustive list, but I hope it’ll get you started.
Ah, Hanukkah. (And yes, that’s my default spelling; feel free to disagree with me, but that’s how I roll.) The scent of fried potatoes, half-melted chocolates, gift-wrapping stress, and of course, the annual pressure of creating nightly candle color schemes. I’m not going to lie, I’m a total Hanukkah cynic.
I know you’re all busy, especially during the week, balancing work, family, social lives and everything else you do, but if you have a few extra hours and want to get a little revved up about the future of Jewish life, thought, community and politics, head over to Adath in Minnetonka on Wednesday night to hear Arnold Eisen speak.
The best events of the next couple of weeks, November 17th through December 2nd, are all connected to music in one way or another. There’s the spirited Instrumental Minyan at Beth El, a super hip concert at the Varsity Theatre, and the Minneapolis Jewish Federation’s Super Sunday, notably the After Dark party featuring karaoke. Now I may be biased, but I find the musical experience among the most religious of all experiences. Nevertheless, whether you want to be a part of it, or simply appreciate the talents of others, get out there and have a great couple of weeks. There will be plenty of time for sitting around during Thanksgiving.
At what point in a relationship do you introduce your children to your special friend? The easy answer is, “Whenever you know that the relationship has a good chance of being long term”. It’s an accurate answer, safe, uncontroversial, at times realistic, and very boring. I’m not ready to accept that one, at least for this discussion. I want something more.
It’s not every day that you hear about someone who was jailed and charged with a crime deserving of the death penalty for helping to register African-Americans to vote in the South. Or someone who was beaten and jailed in Alabama for protesting the murder of a postal worker.