February 19, 2021
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Is there a connection between being in the closet and being in bondage in Egypt? What does collective liberation feel like? What do we need to get there? How does it feel to step into the unknown Wilderness? Who has hardened their heart to your suffering? Who is the one who stepped first into the […]
Continue readingFebruary 19, 2021
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JFS is recruiting volunteers for Passover for All, an annual community outreach effort. In partnership with the Minnesota JCC, kosher-for-Passover food and supplies are provided to families to help them celebrate the holiday. There are three opportunities to help with this community outreach effort.
Continue readingFebruary 19, 2021
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Nearly 100 verses (96 to be precise). That’s how many lines of Torah are dedicated, in this week’s parsha, to describing the exact way in which the ark of the covenant should be designed. The text reads like a cross between an instruction manual (“The length of each cloth shall be twenty-eight cubits, and the […]
Continue readingFebruary 5, 2021
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In our home, we have a game that we play several times a day, called Click-Pow. The premise is pretty simple. Our toddler is really into clicking the fasteners on the high chair and stroller into place. When they’re secured, he looks at my wife or me with an expectant eyebrow raise. Then we all […]
Continue readingJanuary 27, 2021
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In modern Western tradition, we understand time as linear; we’re moving along a line, from point A to B to C and so on. Time is a ribbon, pulled taut, and it stretches out both behind us and in front of us, connecting us to histories and futures. We can measure time, in eons or […]
Continue readingJanuary 20, 2021
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There’s nothing like walking into your high school for the first time as a student. Unfortunately for Jewish students in the Eden Prairie School District, the school district is asking students to choose between their faith and their education. Eden Prairie is the only metro area school district that will be starting school on Tuesday, […]
Continue readingJanuary 15, 2021
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Our heroes have been through plenty of trials by now.
Continue readingJanuary 8, 2021
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This week, Jews around the world will gather to hear the first verses of the book of Exodus, or, in Hebrew, Shemot. Exodus is the second book of the Torah, and (spoiler!) the main event is the Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt in chapter 20. Actually, the whole book is full of action-packed moments, […]
Continue readingDecember 15, 2020
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I’m standing in a vaguely dirty room, by the take-a-book-leave-a-book shelves. The smell of dust, sweat, and fried dough tickle my nostrils. The room, which is sort of lit by stubborn yellow bulbs, is lined with overstuffed couches. These are littered with scarves, backpacks, dirty clothes, books, maps. The miscellaneous stuff of backpackers. This place […]
Continue readingDecember 11, 2020
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Nine years ago a magazine featured an article about trifles for the holidays. Not one of the recipes was inspired by Chanukah. I felt Chanukah was made for this type of dish, with its jelly donuts and gelt! So that was the year my family started our own Jelly Donut Trifle Bar, and we have […]
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