The Omer: What Are We Counting? And Why?
Why do we count the Omer? Ask 3 people and you might well get 3 answers. We are counting the days between Pesach and Shavuot, the time we left the […]
May 15, 2025
April 24, 2025
Descendants of Holocaust Survivors Share Family Stories
In spaces scattered throughout Beth El Synagogue on Wednesday evening, small groups gathered to hear the stories – heartbreaking and hopeful – of how their families survived the Holocaust. Zikaron […]
April 16, 2025
The Resourceful, Righteous Women Who Helped The Jews From Egypt
At this time of year most women feel as though they are the slaves that came out of Egypt with the never ending Pesach cleaning, cooking and family catering. We […]
April 8, 2025
The Seder Giving Jews In Recovery A Safe Space
When Jane Weiner first started the Jewish Recovery Network’s Freedom From Addiction Passover Seder, she knew that people in the recovery community needed a space to celebrate the holiday. “Then […]
April 3, 2025
How To Manage The Stress Of Passover Kashrut?
Got a question? Fill out this form to submit your anonymous question to be answered in a future column. Dear Miriam, My partner and I are hosting my in-laws for […]
March 25, 2025
Two Seders, One Spirit: Growing Up Jewish on the Prairie
Jan (Shark) Frisch and I are members of Adath Jeshurun Congregation and often marvel at how closely our experiences of growing up Jewish in central North Dakota line up – […]
March 21, 2025
Preparing for Pesach in the Year 5785
We are less than a month away from Pesach, which in the mind of the Jew means it may as well be tomorrow. In fact, if you’re just thinking about […]
March 14, 2025
Understanding Purim Differently
I walked into the Barry Family Campus Purim morning dressed as the Queen of Hearts. I wore a glittering silver tiara, a sweater covered in hearts, pink glittery eyeshadow, and […]
March 13, 2025
How To Politely Turn Down Purim Gifts
Got a question? Fill out this form to submit your anonymous question to be answered in a future column. Dear Miriam, My synagogue is a place where people tend to […]
March 11, 2025
King Ahasuerus: Foolish Puppet or Malevolent Despot?
Some characters in the Purim story are transparent: Queen Esther is good Mordechai is good Haman is bad But what about King Ahasuerus? Most of us remember the story of […]