The Jewish Light Summer 2018

Volume 8, Number 5 Summer 2018

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Serving the Local New Orleans, Northshore, and Baton Rouge Jewish Communities

Louisiana Makes It Illegal for State to Contract With Companies That Boycott Israel or Settlements (JTA) — Louisiana has become the 25th state to make it illegal to do business with companies that boycott Israel and its settlements.

Gov. John Bel Edwards signed an executive order on Tuesday that prohibits the state from contracting with any company that participates in a boycott of Israel “or Israelicontrolled territories.” The order specifically names the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel.

“Israel is America’s closest ally in the Middle East and a beacon of democracy in the region,” Edwards, a Democrat, said in a statement.

“The United States, and by affiliation Louisiana, have benefited in innumerable ways from our deep friendship with Israel. Any effort to boycott Israel is an affront to this longstanding relationship. I am pleased that Louisiana will join

what is now a critical mass of states in supporting our closest ally.”

Pro-Israel activists have celebrated the spread of anti-BDS laws as a blow against efforts to isolate Israel with one-sided and discriminatory boycotts. But some civil libertarians say the laws muzzle free speech; the ACLU last year filed a federal lawsuit challenging an anti-BDS law in Arizona.

Liberal pro-Israel groups also object to the failure of most such orders and laws to distinguish between boycotts of Israel within its 1967 borders, which they reject, and boycotts of settlement good.

Under the Louisiana order a vendor must certify in writing that it is not engaging in a boycott of Israel and will refrain from any boycott of Israel for the duration of its contract.

The order also calls on the state to terminate existing contracts with

BDS supporters protest in New York, October 2015. (BDS Facebook page)

companies if they are boycotting anti-Israel activists that would have Israel or supporting those who do. prohibited investment with human Earlier this year, the New Orleans rights violators.  City Council passed and then rescinded a resolution drafted by

Abraham, Moses, David and Solomon Might Get Cut From the AP World History Curriculum

By Charles Dunst

Moses would get cut out of the AP World History curriculum if the College Board follows through on a proposed change. (Providence Lithograph Company/Flickr)

(JTA) — The College Board recently proposed a controversial change to the AP World History curriculum: start at the year 1450, not the dawn of civilization. The idea, aimed at limiting the amount of material covered in the course, has prompted criticism from educators since it was announced last month.

Time pointed out that if that new curriculum goes into effect, an array

of significant world figures would miss the course’s cutoff. With the help of astrophysicist Michael H. Hart and the MIT Pantheon project, the magazine compiled a list of 200 of the most influential individuals in documented history, from the Pharoah Menes, born in 3201 B.C.E., to President George W. Bush, born in 1946.

Going by this list, students in the

course would no longer study 40 percent of the history’s influential people. Not surprisingly, among those missing the cutoff on the Time list are some of the most important figures in Jewish history: Abraham, Moses, David and Solomon (although some feature more prominently in the course than others).

(If you’re curious about the Jewish figures who still make the 1450 cutoff on the Time list, they’re Karl Marx, Sigmund Freud, Albert Einstein and Gregory Pincus, co-inventor of the birth control pill.)

Critics have noted that the change appears to shift the focus largely to Western history.

“They couldn’t have picked a more Eurocentric date,” World History Association president Merry E. Wiesner-Hanks told The New York Times.

Other teachers expressed similar concerns.

“In a world that is fueled by

quick reactions on social media, bias news (in all directions) and people responding on passion rather than facts, AP World History is needed more than ever,” Tyler George, who teaches the course in Michigan, told Politico. “Students need to understand that there was a beautiful, vast and engaging world before Europeans ‘discovered’ it.”

Due to the vocal opposition, the organization, according to it’s AP program head, Trevor Packer, is reconsidering its decision, weighing moving the start date to “several centuries earlier” than 1450.

The College Board will announce its final decision in July.

“I have a lot of trust and respect for what they do,” Packer said of history teachers. “And so when I heard these concerns expressed so powerfully, I felt like we needed to pay attention.” 

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Send editorial to us via e-mail at jewishnews@bellsouth.net or reach us by phone at (504) 455-8822. Our mailing address is United Media Corp. P.O. Box 3270, Covington, LA 70434 • To place advertising in THE JEWISH LIGHT, call United Media Corp. at: New Orleans (504) 455-8822 Northshore (985) 871-0221 Baton Rouge (225) 925-8774 JEWISH LIGHT carries Jewish Community related news about the Louisiana Jewish community and for the Louisiana Jewish community. Its commitment is to be a “True Community” newspaper, reaching out EQUALLY TO ALL Jewish Agencies, Jewish Organizations and Synagogues. THE JEWISH LIGHT is published monthly by United Media Corporation. We are Louisiana owned, Louisiana published, and Louisiana distributed.

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Table of Contents Community News

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Chai Lights

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Education

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Bookshelf

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The Nosher

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Entertainment

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Financial

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Health

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Focus on Issues

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Israel Under Radar

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Bridal Guide

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If your group has an event that you would like for us to include on the Community Calendar please e-mail the information to jewishnews@bellsouth.net. All submissions are subject to acceptance by the Editor. ì

JCRS Is Off to a Sizzling Summer Summer for the Jewish Children’s Regional Service (JCRS) is always a busy and gratifying season. This summer JCRS is providing over 370 partial scholarships for kids, from Texas to Alabama, and 5 additional mid-South states, to attend Jewish sleep-away camp.

In total, JCRS will allocate more than $200,000 on these youth to attend 35 different non-profit Jewish camps from coast to coast, including many to Camp Henry S. Jacobs in Utica, MS, Greene Family Camp in Bruceville, TX, Camp Young Judaea – Texas in Wimberley, TX, and Camp Ramah Darom in the North GA mountains. The unique experience of Jewish summer camp helps children gain independence, meet new friends, expose them to new and exciting adventures, and most importantly, support them to create their personal Jewish identity.

Also, this summer, JCRS is pouring through applications for college aid for more than 100 Jewish students looking to begin or continue their studies; students such as Rachel, whose father was recently laid-off from his job and whose family is struggling to afford the costs of in-state college tuition, room and board. JCRS and its volunteer review committees in New Orleans, Houston and Dallas will allocate an average of $2,600 for the 2018-2019 academic year to approximately 100 Jewish students in order to reduce the burden of debt and stress that these students and their families endure in continuing their education.

And, as if the summer heat is getting us confused, JCRS is

requesting families register NOW for its Oscar J. Tolmas Hanukkah Gift Program. For 20 years, JCRS has brightened the Hanukkah celebrations of hundreds of children who are facing difficult times by sending out Hanukkah gifts to boys and girls throughout the 7-state region. Some children are recovering from natural disasters, some have Special Needs, and some are new immigrants. Almost all come from families who are struggling to stay afloat in this economy. JCRS wants these children to know that they are not alone, and that they are remembered by the Jewish community. Registration information can be found here: https://jcrs.org/services/hanukkah-program/ For more information about JCRS programs and services, visit www.jcrs.org or (800)729-5277.

ABOUT JCRS: Established in 1855 as an orphanage in New Orleans, JCRS is currently the oldest existing Jewish children’s social service organization in the US, as well as the only regional Jewish child welfare agency in the country.

JCRS provides needs-based scholarships for summer camp experiences, college aid and assistance to children with special needs. Additional outreach programs include the Oscar J. Tolmas Hanukkah Gift Program and the PJ Library program for Jewish children ages 12 and under. www.jcrs.org 

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Chai Lights Taking care of each other is what

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ChaiLights features announcements of births, B'nai Mitzvahs, engagements, weddings, and honors. To request your special event be published in The Jewish Light send your material to United Media Corp., P.O. Box 3270, Covington, LA 70435 or e-mail jewishnews@bellsouth.net. Events are published on a first come, first served basis, as space permits. Photographs are welcom; professional ones preferred. The must be clear and in focus. ì

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Life CYCLE If you have a condolence that you would like for us to include in Life Cycle please e-mail the information to jewishnews@bellsouth.net. All submissions are subject to acceptance of the Editor. ì

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CONDOLENCES TO..

The Gothard Family on the loss of Jackie Pressner Gothard IN MEMORIAM Avery Bassich, mother of Avery Bassich Corenswet and mother-inlaw of Jay Corenswet Elise Greenwald Jacobs, wife of the late Bernard S. Jacobs, mother of Barry Jacobs and Rick Jacobs, 4

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grandmother of Michael Jacobs and Andrew Jacobs, greatgrandmother of Joshua Jacobs and Caleb Jacobs, sister of the late Joseph Greenwald and daughter of the late Sylvester and Ida Gilston Greenwald Dannie Seth Kleinberger, husband of Janet Kleinberger and father of Niki Kleinberger and Lynn Kleinberger May their memories be for a blessing 

..Sandy Levy on her retirement after 27 years of service as Executive Director of the Jewish Endowment Foundation ..Kim Abramson for co-chairing the annual fundraiser for the Parents’ Association of Country Day School. ..Lee Adler, Catherine Fornias Giarrusso, Luz Molina, D. Skylar Rosenbloom, and Rob Steeg on being selected to City-Business’ 2018 Leadership in Law Class, which recognizes area law professionals for their career and community accomplishments. ..Chad and Vanessa Berg on the birth of their son Brandon Andrew Berg. Mazel tov as well to big brother Michael Berg. ...Darryl and Louellen Berger for underwriting and hosting the Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans’ 8th annual GoldringWoldenberg Major Donor Dinner.

Shout out as well to Alan and Diane Franco for donating the bar. ...Sydney Besthoff, III and Leslie Jacobs for being recognized as New Orleans icons by the TimesPicayune’s 300 for 300 Project. ...Nikki Brown on earning a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant Award. Nikki will teach in the American Culture and Literature department at Ege University in Izmir,Turkey for the 2018-2019 school year. ...Sarah Covert, daughter of Cecile and Martin Covert, for receiving the National Council of Jewish Women Greater New Orleans Section Emerging Leader Award. ...Julie Fink and Nicole Moody on the birth of their nephew Micah Paul Rudick. Michah’s parents are Sarah Fink and Benjamin Rudick. ...Susan Hess on receiving a 2018 American Spirit Medallion

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from the National WWII Museum.

Recipients are chosen for their work and philanthrophy and for exemplifying the highest standards of integrity, discipline, and initiative while making unselfish contributions to their community, state, or nation. ...Max Kesselheim, son of Drs. Aaron and Jennifer Kesselheim and grandson of Rabbi Edward and Andrea Cohn, on scoring in the top tier of a national math exam for the second year in a row. ...David Merlin on his marriage to Erin Haney. Mazel tov also to David’s parents Dr. Al and Carol Merlin, as well as his grandmother Jaqueline S. Hochberg. ...Bill Mimeles for being the 2018 King of the Krewe of Pork and Beads at Bridge House/Grace House’s Cochon Cotillion XXII. The event raises money for Bridge House/Grace House’s substance abuse treatment programs.

Shoutout as well to Bruce Katz for serving as the emcee. ...Valorie Polmer and Roel Miranda on the birth of their daughter Azalea Gerard Miranda.

Mazel tov as well to grandparents Helen and Andy Polmer. ...John and EllenRae Shalett on celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary. ...Alon Shaya, for being the featured chef at the 9th annual Second Harvest Food Bank Harvest at Home benefit. Mazel tov as well on the opening of his new restaurant, Saba.

Margaux Schexnider, for being one of three recipients of the Loyola University Outstanding Student Leader Award. This award is presented to non-graduating Loyola undergraduates for demonstrating exceptional leadership on campus. ...Sue Singer, for being named co-chair of the 2019 Jewish Children’s Regional Service gala. THE

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Jewish Camp Counselors Want to Teach Their Kids About the Occupation

By Ben Sales

Participants in a camp counselor training by IfNotNow in Boston, May 27, 2018. (IfNotNow)

(JTA) -- When Aviva Schwartz started praying publicly for Palestinians at her Jewish summer camp, she knew it would be controversial.

Schwartz had grown up ensconced in the Conservative movement, had attended three of its Ramah camps and had moved up the ranks as a staff member at Ramah Wisconsin. When Israel’s war in Gaza broke out in the summer of 2014, she was the unit head for incoming seventh-graders -- a position reserved for staff veterans.

She was also a college student who, after a lifetime of pro-Israel education, was becoming more critical of Israel’s control of the West Bank and its treatment of Palestinians. So when fellow staff members began saying Kaddish, the mourners’ prayer, for Israelis killed in the conflict, she began praying for Palestinian victims as well.

Her superiors let her do it -- but they did not back her up when she felt backlash from her unit counselors.

“I felt pretty strongly that we needed to acknowledge and remember the lives of Palestinians and Israelis,” Schwartz said. “Particularly, Israeli staff were incredibly upset and uncomfortable. I wasn’t told not to do that, and I don’t feel like I was really given support in the form of the camp backing me, to support me in my conversations with upset counselors.”

Now, with tensions in Gaza again running high, Schwartz wants to help other Jewish camp counselors do what she did: talk about Palestinian narratives and challenge Israeli actions while at camp. She was among the organizers of a daylong training for counselors on how to discuss the issue with campers THE

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and staff, both informally and in camp programs. The goal is to encourage counselors to present divergent sides of the conflict rather than solely a pro-Israel line.

The May 27 session in Boston attracted about a dozen counselors from eight Reform, Conservative and liberal Zionist camps. It was run by IfNotNow, a group of young Jews that opposes Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians and American Jewish support of it.

“Having to relearn and re-evaluate your whole childhood and mentorship and teaching because of the feeling of being lied to is a potentially life-shattering moment,” said Schwartz, now an employee of the campus group Hillel at the University of Washington. “I don’t want campers to have to think, oh, did my counselors know the occupation is happening and they’re just lying about it?”

It’s a change of pace for IfNotNow, which focuses much of its energy on public and often disruptive protests of large American Jewish organizations. But in March, members of IfNotNow met with Mitchell Cohen, the national director of Ramah camps, to outline their concerns with what they feel is an overly one-sided Israel curriculum at the camps.

Cohen proudly acknowledged that Israel is portrayed in a positive light at the camps. Ramah, like other Jewish camps, infuses Israeli culture into much of its programming. Campers study Hebrew daily, perform Israeli dances, sing Israeli songs, eat Israeli food and learn about the country’s history. Delegations of Israeli counselors and staff work at all of the camps, whose founding was inspired partly by the ethos of early 20th-century labor Zionism.

Several Ramah staffers attended the training. But Cohen said he wasn't worried about what they discussed and is open to nuanced Israel education -- though any educational program counselors put on this summer will, like all others, have to be vetted by their camps’ senior staff.

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“Some people use the word occupation in quite harsh ways,” he said. “Some people use it in more mild ways. Certainly the fact that there is a difficult situation between the Israeli and Palestinian peoples, a conflict, people suffering on all sides -- this is something we don’t have a problem talking about at camp.”

Cohen said the camps’ top priority is fostering a sense of affection in campers toward Israel as a Jewish homeland. He noted that a range of perspectives exist within Israel regarding the conflict, but there are See OCCUPATION on Page

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red lines.

“To the extent that there are liberal opinions that are critical of Israel that are not Zionist, antiZionist, we would never allow that at camp,” he said. “First we teach a love for Israel. Then we teach the nuances and the conflict.”

Noam Weissman, who is consulting with a Jewish camp on its Israel curriculum, also says an Israel curriculum should combine love and nuance. Weissman, senior vice president for education for Jerusalem U, a video-focused Israel education organization, says kids need to learn about the diversity and complexity of Israel, but from a place of love.

Loving Israel, he said, "builds in a real confidence of Jewish peoplehood, a love for oneself and a confidence for oneself."

"We want to be able to ask tough questions, but we want to do it in a contextualized way that says we love Israel, we care about Israel," Weissman said. "The occupation needs to be discussed and the different perspectives on the occupation need to be discussed, but the foregone conclusion that the occupation is 'bad' is indoctrination just like anything else that they're claiming is indoctrination."

Weissman was referring to claims by some Jewish critics that the "pro-Israel" approach is also indoctrination, and that Israel advocacy groups only discuss the Palestinian side in order to debunk it.

At the IfNotNow training, participants began by talking about their camps and why they feel attached to them. Following seminars on the history of American Jewish camps and IfNotNow’s activism, participants discussed how to talk about difficult issues with children. After brainstorming ideas of how they would discuss the conflict with their campers, the participants saw a presentation by counselors from Habonim Dror, the liberal Zionist youth movement, about their curriculum on Israel and the Palestinians.

Adina Alpert, a lifelong camper at Ramah in Ojai, California, who co-organized the training, said the event was coming from a positive place: The counselors do not want to hurt their camps, even if they were unhappy with some of the

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Israel education they received there.

Alpert fondly recalled a wealth of Israeli cultural programs at camp.

But she also felt that lessons on Israeli history, the Israeli War of Independence and subsequent events did not present the Palestinian point of view.

“These are not communities we want to be leaving or alienating or becoming isolated from,” she said.

“We want to do this work within our communities because we love our communal moments of joy and growth [while] thinking back and reflecting on the moments where our Israel education wasn’t what we wanted it to be.”

But ahead of the conference, counselors were not exactly sure what their ideal Israeli-Palestinian program would look like. Some suggested having campers read Palestinian stories or poems, or see Palestinian artwork. Others suggested studying Palestinian texts or having a Shabbat program framed around the Palestinian experience.

Another idea was to have campers read a number of opinions and perspectives regarding a recent event in the region, like the recent clashes on the Gaza border.

Alpert said “if campers hear the term ‘Palestinian’ in a non-derogatory way, that would be a success.”

Maya Seckler, an incoming gardening counselor at the Reform Eisner Camp in Massachusetts, wants to expose her campers to Palestinian life by placing signs next to each vegetable with its name in Hebrew, English and Arabic.

"I want to expose kids to Arabic and Palestinian culture," she said.

"That's part of Israeli culture, that all three languages are going to be on every sign, and it's not ignoring a whole group of people in Israeli history and Israeli culture. Both are valid and both are important.

An incoming unit head at Ramah Outdoor Adventure in Colorado, Sylvie Rosen, said she has not formulated programs yet for her campers because she wants to talk first to her counselor staff. But if violence flares up in Israel this summer, she does not want to shy away from it.

“Going into ninth grade, I think they’re old enough to hear stories from families living in the West Bank, living in Gaza,” she said. “If the violence in Gaza continues throughout the summer, that’s something I want to address.”  THE

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'The Israel Bible' Highlights Jewish Links to Land of Israel

By Renee Ghert-Zand

With his new book, "The Israel Bible," Rabbi Tuly Weisz is targeting audiences ranging from Jewish religious Zionists to the world’s 700 million evangelical Christians. (Israel365)

JERUSALEM — In 1903, American evangelist and Christian Zionist William E. Blackstone sent Theodor Herzl a personal Bible. It was a gift with a specific message.

Blackstone had heard that at the Sixth Zionist Congress Herzl had proposed a territory in East Africa as a haven for Eastern European Jews. Opposed to the Uganda Scheme and convinced that a Jewish homeland should be created only in the Holy Land, Blackstone highlighted for Herzl the biblical passages referring to the restoration of the Jews to the Land of Israel.

One hundred and fifteen years later, “The Israel Bible,” a newly published Hebrew Bible (Tanakh in Hebrew) does for today’s readers what Blackstone did for Herzl — and more. Centered around the Land of Israel, the people of Israel and the dynamic relationship between them, this new Tanakh provides explanations and commentaries that amplify Blackstone’s message and bring it up to date 70 years after Israel’s founding and a half-century after Israel’s victory in the 1967 Six-Day War, resulting in Israel’s capture of the biblical heartland and unification of Jerusalem.

“The Israel Bible” speaks to all who believe in biblical prophecy and that the Jews have a God-given right to the entire Land of Israel.

Religious Zionist Jews are an obvious target audience, but so are the world’s 700 million evangelical Christians.

“The Israel Bible” editor Rabbi Tuly Weisz predicts it will be a game changer.

“The Bible that has been a source of division between Jews and Christians can now be what brings unity,” he said.

Weisz is founder and publisher of Israel365, an Israel-based, Jewish-owned and run media company targeting evangelical Christians THE

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interested in connecting with the Holy Land from biblical and prophetic points of view.

“The Israel Bible,” published by Menorah Books, a division of Koren Publishers Jerusalem, uses the Masoretic Hebrew text and a modified version of the 1984 New Jewish Publication Society English translation. Key names and places appear in transliteration, as do all highlighted verses denoting God and the people of Israel’s connection to the Land of Israel or Jerusalem.

Commentaries range from the teachings of classical Torah scholars such as Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki (Rashi) and Isaac ben Judah Abarbanel, to snippets of speeches by Israeli prime ministers Menachem Begin, Golda Meir and Benjamin Netanyahu.

A representative commentary comparing Israeli settlers in Hebron to the biblical Caleb emphasizes loyalty to God and willingness to fight for the land. It mentions the anti-Jewish violence and terror that have plagued the city for decades and how these settlers “bravely preserve both their own community and the rights of the entire Jewish people to pray in the holy Cave of the Machpelah (Cave of the Patriarchs)” in Hebron. The book does not mention the violence or vitriol directed at Hebron’s Arab population by Jewish residents of the city, who are among the most extreme Jewish settlers in the West Bank.

The book includes maps showing the entire biblical Land of Israel as belonging to the modern state of Israel. Though many contemporary maps used in Israel show the same, Israel’s own government has never formally recognized the West Bank as part of Israel.

Inspired by the account of Blackstone and Herzl, Weisz began a project that would eventually lead to the publication of “The Israel Bible.” He carefully read through all 24 books of the Tanakh, making note of every single mention of the Land of Israel. He ended up highlighting at least one verse on almost every page, and found hundreds of mentions of Jerusalem alone.

This was enough to convince Weisz to immigrate to Israel with his family from Columbus, Ohio in 2011, and to found Israel365 as a way to engage non-Jews in their biblically prescribed role in the

Bookshelf ingathering of the exiles and the rebirth of Israel.

Weisz began by sending out daily emails with one of these biblical verses, along with a short commentary. Within a short time, his distribution list had grown into the tens of thousands. He knew he was on to something.

Weisz recruited a team of local Torah scholars to help produce additional content, and in 2014, Israel365 self-published a booklet with the verses, commentaries and supplemental resources for the Book of Genesis. By December 2015, booklets for all 24 books of the Tanakh were complete. At that point, Weisz approached Koren, a respected Judaica publisher, about putting all of them together into a professionally edited and produced Hebrew Bible.

“I wasn’t necessarily looking to write a book for Christians. Our staff is Jewish and we wanted it to be authentic,” he said “But it was important for it to speak in a universal way so that non-Jews could understand the references and nuances.”

Rev. David Swaggerty, senior pastor at CharismaLife Ministries in Whitehall, Ohio, recently toured Israel with a copy of “The Israel Bible” in hand.

“This is a necessity for the library of any student of the word of God,” Swaggerty said.

“I have seven or eight Bible commentaries on my shelf, and they only give a limited knowledge of the original Hebrew context. That makes them merely opinion,” he added.

“This Bible gives a first-hand understanding, clarity and invaluable insights. It helps us better understand what God is conveying to us.”

Swaggerty emphasized that most evangelicals already believe wholeheartedly that “God gave the Land of Israel to Abraham and his seed.”

“However, this Bible solidifies this for those who question. And the contemporary commentaries, like those of Netanyahu and [Jewish Agency Chairman Natan] Sharansky bring it up to date, showing that

St. Catherine

the prophecy is unfolding today and nothing can stop it,” the pastor said.

Rabbi Shomo Riskin, chief rabbi of Efrat and founder of the Center for Jewish-Christian Understanding & Cooperation, contributed a foreword to “The Israel Bible.” He views it as a tool to ensure biblical literacy among Jews.

“If we are to truly enjoy the Land of Israel, it is incumbent upon us to continually study the Torah,” Riskin wrote. “'The Israel Bible' provides us the lyrical content to express our joy in living in the Land that God calls holy.”

(This article was sponsored by and produced in partnership with the American Jewish Press Association. This article was produced by JTA’s native content team.) 

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The 9 Jewish Yemenite Foods You Must Try From spicy zhug to sweet kubaneh, you are going to love these traditional dishes.

soaking the ground spice in water for many hours, then blending it up smooth with garlic, lemon and fresh cilantro, this whipped raw sauce is a welcome addition to soups, as a condiment, or simply sopped up with bread. And did we mention that it’s a super food too? Fenugreek is known to boost milk supply in nursing mothers, aid digestion and lower cholesterol, among a myriad of other health benefits.

Lachoh

By Jessica Halfin Drive down any main highway in Israel on a Saturday, and you’re bound to run into a makeshift jachnun stand on the side of the road.

The best-known food of the Yemenite Jewish community has now become a part of mainstream Israeli cuisine, along with a whole host of other Yemenite dishes, and for good reason. Buttery, doughy, rich, and slowcooked, Yemenite cuisine get its kick from spicy and herbaceous condiments, and spice blends that aren’t afraid to go bold or go home. Perfect for warming up mid-winter, or sweating it out in the summer heat, these are nine Yemenite foods you’ve got to try ASAP.

Jachnun

is as versatile as they come. Malawach can be stuffed and eaten as a sandwich, or enjoyed on its own, smothered in spicy zhug, freshly grated tomato and oh-so-Israeli cottage cheese. And did we mention malawach pizza is a thing too?

Resourceful home cooks use malawach as a recipe base, and Israeli celebrity chef Karin Goren even uses the frozen version available in Israeli supermarkets to make apple strudel, yum, yum and yum.

An everyday flatbread for Yemenite Jews, lachoh is like a big savory pancake that is cooked on one side, producing a soft and spongy round bread. Similar to the Ethiopian bread, injera, lachoh is traditionally cooked up in giant frying pans and is eaten alongside salads, spreads, soups. It can even be used as a sandwich wrap.

Zhug

Kubaneh

The king of Yemenite foods in Israel, jachun is a Saturday morning slow-cooked brunch food, made from homemade pastry dough layered with clarified butter (ghee), rolled up into a jelly roll shape, and then cooked stacked up in a slow cooker overnight. The resulting golden brown logs are dense and lightly sweet pastries, that will fill you up until well into the afternoon.

Traditionally served with a slowcooked hard-boiled egg, freshly grated tomato and hot sauce (zhug), jachnun is just as good when enjoyed with a drizzle of honey or the jam of your choice.

Who needs challah when you have kubaneh? This bread, which like jachnun, is cooked overnight in a pot and enjoyed as a Saturday breakfast treat, is like a slow baked Yemenite brioche. The bread is rolled up into rose-shaped rolls and made into a pull-apart loaf, which not only makes it fun to eat, but easy to share with friends and family. A true centerpiece bread, kubaneh, is also eaten alongside anything from stewed eggs, which are often cooked on top of the bread Malawach The puffed up round version of in the same vessel, to fresh grated its cousin, jachnun, malawach is as tomato, zhug, and any other salads Israeli as falafel, and a favorite with and dips you desire on your breakchildren. Once formed, this slightly fast table.

Fenugreek Sauce (Hilbeh) sweet flaky flatbread takes only a A sauce that people either love to minute or two in a hot frying pan to show off its puffy layers of dough love or love to hate, hilbeh carries and clarified butter. And this puff the distinctive taste of sweet and pastry with a Middle Eastern twist slightly bitter fenugreek. Made from 8

Summer 2018

A staple condiment at any Yemenite table, and now showing its face everywhere from falafel stands to Israeli hummus joints, this spicy herbaceous hot sauce comes in both red and green varieties, depending on which chili peppers you use.

Traditionally ground between two stones, the fiery hot chimichurri-like sauce has a base of hot peppers, fresh cilantro and parsley, lemon, and garlic, and is spiced with caraway, cumin and cardamom. Eat it alongside any dish to awaken your palate and make your eyes water.

Oxtail Soup

Wondering what soup would be

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best to eat all of this delicious Yemenite bread with? Wonder no longer: Oxtail soup is the chicken soup of the Yemenite Jewish grandmother world. The slow-cooked tender oxtail meat, and broth infused with marrow bone and warming spices, will soothe your soul, and have you up and running in no time. Slurp it up with a dollop of fenugreek sauce to add a nutritious super-food punch, while you’re at it.

Hawaij (Spice Mix)

A term that simply means “spice mix,” hawaij comes in two forms: one for coffee and one for soup.

Consisting of ground spicy ginger, lemony cardamom, sweet cinnamon, and warm and spicy cloves, hawaij for coffee will remind you of an Arabic chai spice mix; while the hawaij meant to flavor soups and stews typically contains the sharp flavors of ground peppercorns and cloves, earthy cumin, light and mellow coriander and cardamom, and a good hit of turmeric, which lends the mixture its deep yellow hue.

Mix up your own to make spicing your Middle Eastern dishes a snap, or buy it already mixed from a Middle Eastern market or online.

Basbusa Cake

Found in Middle Eastern homes and bakeries across many cultures, including that of Yemenite Jews, basbusa is a semolina flour cake that is soaked in perfumed syrup, and eats like a confection. Luckily for busy cooks, the inundation of syrup preserves the cake and keeps it fresh for several days on end, while adding beautiful floral notes of rose or orange blossom. The cornbread-like texture of the semolina lends an interesting texture, and makes this exotic cake feel strangely familiar.

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5 Jewish Facts About the New Han Solo ‘star Wars’ Movie

By Gabe Friedman

Alden Ehrenreich is the new Han Solo.

(Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)

(JTA) — “Star Wars” fans are eagerly awaiting the franchise’s latest film, “Solo: A Star Wars Story.”

As its title suggests, the flick focuses on Han Solo, the legendary character made famous by Harrison Ford in the series’ first films from the late '70s.

The “Solo” movie, which hit theaters on May 25, is the second of what are being called the “Star Wars” anthology films — or offshoots of the main series (which, for now, is made up of three trilogies: the original films, the early 2000s prequels and the more recent sequels -- got that?). The first anthology film was “Rogue One,” released in 2016.

“Solo” follows a young version of the intergalactic smuggler on the planet Corellia, and his furry sidekick Chewbacca. The “space western,” as it’s being called, premiered at the Cannes Film Festival this week and has been described as “crackingly enjoyable” and a “winning chapter” in the “Star Wars” canon.

Here are some Jewish facts about the film (and its titular character) you might not have known.

The new Han Solo is a nice Jewish boy from LA His name is Alden Ehrenreich, and he attended a Reconstructionist synagogue in Los Angeles’ Pacific Palisades neighborhood. Ehrenreich, 28, is not yet a recognizable star, but he has appeared in films such as Woody Allen’s “Blue Jasmine” and the Coen brothers’ “Hail, Caesar!” According to at least one interview, he seems to enjoy the famous Canter’s Jewish deli.

The old Han Solo is also (partly) Jewish Harrison Ford once delivered one of the strangest lines ever said about Jewish identity: “As a man I’ve always felt Irish, as an actor I’ve always felt Jewish,” he said on “Inside the Actors Studio” in 2000 Ford's father was Irish, and his THE

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maternal grandparents were Jewish emigrants from Belarus. (Ehrenreich referenced Ford’s Jewishness in a recent interview.) We'll leave it to the reader to interpret the quote.

Steven Spielberg discovered Ehrenreich at a bat mitzvah Fourteen years ago, Ehrenreich made a home movie to show at his friend’s bat mitzvah. Steven Spielberg’s daughter happened to be friends with the bat mitzvah girl, and the director attended the ceremony. Ehrenreich described the movie as a “piece of sh--,” but Spielberg clearly saw something in Ehrenreich’s performance. He invited Ehrenreich to his Dreamworks studio and introduced him to fellow legend Francis Ford Coppola, who would later cast him in multiple films. Ehrenreich’s well-reviewed performance in Coppola’s “Tetro” in 2009 put him on the map.

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Harrison Ford, who originated the role, had a Jewish mother. (Flickr)

4 other Jewish actors were considered for the role After thousands auditioned for the coveted Han Solo role, a final list of around a dozen actors was announced in early 2016. Among the finalists were four different Jewish actors: Logan Lerman (known for roles in “Fury,” alongside Brad Pitt, and “The Perks of Being a Wallflower”), Dave Franco (James Franco’s brother, who’s now a marquee star), Ansel Elgort (star of the action film “Baby Driver,” whose non-Jewish grandmother helped Norwegian Jews escape Nazis) and Emory Cohen (best known for co-starring in “Brooklyn” with Saoirse Ronan).

The script was written by a Jewish father-and-son duo “Solo” was penned by Lawrence and Jonathan Kasdan. Lawrence co-wrote two of the original “Star Wars” films, “The Empire Strikes Back” and “Return of the Jedi,” and has said this will be the last “Star

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FINANCIAL

Randi Zuckerberg: You Can Have It All, Just Not Every Day

By Randi Zuckerberg

Randi Zuckerberg speaking at an event organized by Virago, a strategic advisory company supporting women entrepreneurs, in New York City, Nov. 2, 2016. (Monica Schipper/Getty Images)

“The entrepreneur’s dilemma: Maintaining friendships. Building a great company. Spending time w/ family. Staying fit. Getting sleep.

Pick 3.” — @randizuckerberg, December 9, 2011.

When I first posted this tweet in 2011, I discovered I truly touched a nerve, and not just among entrepreneurs. CEOs, parents, students, freelancers and everyone in between seemed to be struggling with how to truly have it all, on their own terms.

The truth is that you can have it

all — just not every day. Each day, you can pick three different things to focus on — work, sleep, and family, for example — but in any 24-hour period, you can truly only have three at a time.

Since then, I’ve spent several years researching Pick Three: living my life by this mantra, speaking publicly about the benefits of being “well-lopsided,” and, eventually, getting down to tachles — the essence — about how it all works for my second book, "Pick Three," which is out this month.

While writing "Pick Three," I scanned the globe, from India to Indiana, from Australia to Arizona, talking to people of every phase and walk of life about how they prioritize their own Pick Three and why. I studied the pros and cons of prioritization, and what happens if we become too lopsided in any one area, or what happens if we eliminate any one area altogether. (Like sleep — and, moms, we’ve all been

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there. Am I right?)

Without giving away too much from my interviews with the likes of Arianna Huffington, fitness guru Tony Horton, and Karen Zuckerberg (because who can give better advice than a Jewish mom?), here are three of my biggest takeaways I learned: 1) You do not have to be an entrepreneur to suffer from the “Entrepreneur’s Dilemma” We are ALL busy. With the welcome — and sometimes annoying — addition/addiction of technology into our lives, we not only have to keep up with our day-to-day realities, we also have an online persona, personal brand and social life to keep up with, too.

We’re all trying to establish a sense of “balance” in our everyday lives. Hitting each of the Work, Sleep, Family, Fitness, and Friends buckets on the daily is nearly impossible. But if we focus on nailing only three different tasks every day, we have a better chance of balancing out in the long run.

Everyone needs to prioritize, not just Fortune 500 executives. In fact, I’ve realized that it’s even more important to live life by Pick Three if you don't have that high-powered career (yet!), because when you do, you’ll have a whole slew of resources to turn to. The Entrepreneur’s Dilemma is really Everyone’s Dilemma.

2) Get some sleep!

In "Pick Three," I spoke with several sleep experts and doctors, as well as business superstar Arianna Huffington about her experience collapsing from over-exhaustion. After her scary wake-up call, Arianna decided to step down from the Huffington Post and focus on personal well being.

I was so inspired by her story that I took a step back and evaluated my own sleeping habits and — oy gevalt —was it bad. Between my major coffee habit, two young children, and way too many nights spent on transatlantic red eye flights, I realized I was heading for a potential collapse myself if I didn’t make some major changes, fast.

One thing we can all work on is how technology affects our sleep.

Arianna talked about the importance of removing technology from the bedroom, and after reading a stat that 90% of 18-29-year-olds sleep with their phones right next to their beds every night I made a resolution to put my phone away an hour before I go to bed myself. I’ve also been a big advocate of taking a digital Sabbath, a weekly block of

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time to truly unplug, and have even served as spokesperson for the National Day of Unplugging.

Matthew Walker, a sleep scientist (yes, that’s a real profession), told me there is quantifiable data that heart disease is directly correlated to not getting enough sleep. He also said there’s a decrease in heart attacks when we gain an hour of sleep with daylight savings time.

Every disease that’s killing us in the developed world has clear links to a lack of sleep and, with the average American adult sleeping less than the recommended seven hours a night, these diseases are killing us at a greater rate than other countries who respect the ritual of sleep.

So essentially, if you want to live longer, pick sleep!!

3) Find what family means to you, and choose it often Family can be complicated, and I wanted to make sure this category fit everyone — not just people with children. Family can mean the family you were born into, a family you choose, a faith-based community that looks out for one another, or any number of definitions that morph throughout different stages of life.

While our personal well-being relies on being healthy mentally, emotionally, and physically, our happiness is rooted in family — a sense of community and belonging.

While it’s easy to pick family if you have young children to care for, it can be harder to remember to prioritize this if you live far from relatives or are working your way through a difficult situation. We are blessed that so many Jewish traditions and holidays are centered on family to remind us of the importance of prioritizing this area of our lives.

Living by the Pick Three mantra has completely changed my notion of what success and happiness looks like in my own life, and I look forward to seeing what it does for you. If you have any comments on your own experiences, or want to share what #PickThree means to you, please tweet or Instagram me @RandiZuckerberg to share your thoughts.

In the meantime, happy picking!

Randi Zuckerberg is an entrepreneur, investor, bestselling author, and founder and CEO of Zuckerberg Media THE

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These Jews Are Leading the Fight for Equal Treatment of Women in Health Care

Health

By Abigail Pickus

By the time Starr Mirza went into cardiac arrest at age 22 and nearly died, she had spent a lifetime trying to convince doctors she was sick.

“The doctors were always pulling my parents aside and saying, ‘She’s doing this for attention.

There is nothing physically wrong with her. You need to send her to a psychiatrist,’” recalled Mirza, now 38, who lives in Silver Spring, Maryland.

But despite seeing more than 100 doctors during her teenage years to treat extreme fatigue and regular fainting spells, it wasn’t until Mirza went into cardiac arrest in 2002 that her doctors finally did the tests necessary to determine her diagnosis.

They discovered Mirza has Long QT syndrome, a genetic disorder that affects the heart’s rhythm and sometimes causes sudden death.

“The electrical part of my heart was short-circuiting,” Mirza said.

“But because I am female, I was just considered hysterical all these years.”

She’s not alone. Recent studies have shown that female patients routinely are undertreated and forced to wait longer than males for appropriate medication -- by doctors of both genders. Women also are likely to receive less aggressive medical treatment than men in their initial encounters with the health care system until they prove that they are as sick as male patients.

That phenomenon was dubbed the “Yentl syndrome” by cardiologist Bernadine Healy in 1991 after the Isaac Bashevis Singer character, a young shtetl girl who pretends to be a boy so she can study in a yeshiva.

The gender disparity extends to all sorts of areas. Women metabolize drugs differently than men and often present symptoms differently.

Yet medical research, diagnostic tools and treatments usually are centered on male physiology – even in animal and cellular research subjects. As a result, women suffer THE

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greater risks from inadequate prevention strategies and medical treatment.

For example, an advanced artificial heart that was designed to fit 86 percent of men’s chest cavities fit just 20 percent of women’s. The original prescribed dose for the sleep aid Ambien turned out to have dangerous side effects for women; it had been tested exclusively on men. Women under age 55 experiencing a heart attack are seven times more likely to be misdiagnosed and sent home from the emergency room than males presenting with the same symptoms, according to research recently published in The New England Journal of Medicine.

Hadassah, The Women's Zionist Organization of America has made leveling the playing field for women a top priority. Two years ago, Hadassah launched the Coalition for Women’s Health Equity, so the nation's most prominent women’s and health organizations could create a unified force to advocate for women's health equity. Today, the 28-member coalition is focused on raising awareness and advocating for policies to address women’s health disparities.

Coalition members helped push legislators in Congress to introduce the Preventing Maternal Deaths Act of 2017, a bill to help reduce the death rate among mothers during pregnancy, childbirth and postpartum. The United States ranks 50th globally for its infant mortality rate and is one of eight countries where the rate is climbing.

During last year’s back and forth over the Affordable Care Act, the coalition pushed Senate leaders to oppose changes in the law, informally known as Obamacare, that would have limited access to preventive health services, disproportionately affecting women of color, women with disabilities and lowincome women.

In a few weeks, Hadassah and the coalition will host the 2nd Annual Women’s Health Empowerment Summit in Washington, D.C., to coincide with Women’s Health Week (May 13-19). The May 16 conference will bring together women's health experts and Washington offi-

cials to discuss risks, research and legislative recommendations to promote women's health equity. Mirza will be among the speakers.

“Hadassah is committed to pooling our organization’s wisdom, experience and resources in the fight against gender disparities and inequities in all aspects of health,” said Ellen Hershkin, Hadassah’s national president. “We believe every woman deserves quality, affordable and equitable health care, and we will continue to work alongside coalition members and policymakers until we achieve that."

Hadassah is well known in Israel for bringing modern health care to the country in 1912. Originally founded to provide emergency care to infants and mothers in prestate Israel, Hadassah Hospitals’ medical and research centers have led to breakthroughs in treatments of such diseases as multiple sclerosis, melanoma and macular degeneration.

In America, where the women’s organization has over 300,000 members, Hadassah has been focusing on education and grassroots advocacy – particularly when it comes to equity in women’s medical research.

Jill Lesser, president of WomenAgainstAlzheimer’s, one of the original members of the Coalition for Women’s Health Equity, says it’s important that the conversation about women’s health issues not be limited to women’s reproductive parts -- “bikini medicine” -- such as breast cancer, ovarian cancer and

death during childbirth.

Alzheimer’s, for example, is predominately a women’s disease: Nearly two-thirds of the 5.4 million Americans living with Alzheimer's are women, according to WomenAgaintAlzheimer’s.

“When we talk about women’s health and women’s health equity, we really need to talk about women’s health at all ages, not just the ‘bikini health’ thinking about women’s reproductive organs,” Lesser said. “That’s why what Hadassah is doing by convening this coalition is so important.”

Hershkin says Hadassah’s work in this area is just beginning. In conjunction with the summit, Hadassah will be hosting a women’s health and advocacy conference in Washington, “From Passion to Action,” scheduled for May 15-17. On the 17th, Hershkin will be leading a delegation of women from across the country for a day of lobbying on Capitol Hill.

“Women’s health doesn’t advance itself,” Hershkin said. “We have to fight to advance it.”

(This article was sponsored by and produced in partnership with Hadassah, The Women's Zionist Organization of America, Inc., which is celebrating the 100th year of Hadassah Medical Organization, the Henrietta Szold HadassahHebrew University School of Nursing and the Hadassah Ophthalmology Department. This article was produced by JTA’s native content team.)  24 Hour Pick-uP & Delivery commercial cHarge accounts Welcome metairie’s First & Finest

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Focus Issues on

To Fight Anti-Semitism, First You Have to Define It

By Andrew Baker (JTA) -- In recent years we have witnessed anti-Israel demonstrations that have turned overtly antiSemitic and even violent, but police ignored initially as only political activity.

We have seen prosecutors and judges rule that an arson attack on a synagogue is not anti-Semitic because the perpetrator was motivated by anti-Israel sentiments.

And we have been confronted by traditional anti-Semitic invective where only the word "Zionist" has been substituted for "Jew," as

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though that somehow makes it permissible.

What guidance can we offer police and other law enforcement officials in responding to antiSemitic hate crimes and to raise public awareness of anti-Semitic discourse in its ever-changing forms?

Thirteen years have passed since a comprehensive and updated definition of anti-Semitism was drafted and adopted by the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia, or EUMC. Now, with proposed congressional legislation and various state and local initiatives, there are calls for employing a definition here.

The need for such a definition in Europe became evident after the EUMC conducted its first analysis of anti-Semitism in the European Union in 2004 showing that few of its monitors had any definition of anti-Semitism to guide them in preparing the report. I am proud that I was able to play a role, working with the EUMC director and Jewish organizations at the time, in the development of what has come to be known as the Working Definition of Anti-Semitism. It offers a succinct core definition along with clear and practical examples, including Jewish stereotypes, conspiracy theories, Holocaust denial and, notably, ways in which antiZionism can mask anti-Semitism.

Since then we have seen a steady and significant increase in incidents of anti-Semitism in Europe, including verbal, physical and even lethal attacks. It remains a constant presence on the internet and social media. While not a solution to the problem, the Working Definition has become a useful and important educational tool. It helps government and civil society organizations in their work of monitoring anti-Semitism, and law enforcement respond to and define antiSemitic hate crimes.

In the years since its drafting, there has been growing recognition of its practical value. The Working Definition has been adopted by the 31 nations that constitute the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, it was endorsed by the

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European Parliament and was formally adopted by seven European governments. A version of this definition has long been used by the U.S. State Department when monitoring anti-Semitism internationally.

Can something that has such obvious merit in Europe be used in the United States?

America has also seen a significant increase in anti-Semitic incidents. Civil discourse is becoming more inflammatory and polarized.

Raw and hateful anti-Semitic invective abounds on social media and physically in the public square, as we witnessed last summer in Charlottesville. We all feel the need to confront this and naturally seek new methods to do so.

The Working Definition has received special scrutiny because of its description of anti-Semitism as it relates to the State of Israel.

Claims that Israel is a racist state and comparing contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis can be examples of the ways in which antiSemitism manifests itself.

It also cites the problem of holding Jews responsible for the actions of the State of Israel. At the same time, it states that criticism of Israel cannot be considered anti-Semitic.

This was both the most controversial section of the Working Definition and the most necessary.

Critics on the left claim that the mere mention of this definition is intended to muzzle criticism of Israel on campus. In the face of proposed legislation in South Carolina, several of the critics, including the Arab American Institute and Jewish Voice for Peace, have gone so far as to claim that endorsing the definition "will legitimize censorship of and punishment for political speech supportive of Palestinian human rights." They have further maintained that it would lead to government "surveillance" of Muslim and Arab students. Such action would be reprehensible and illegal, and surely no one can realistically believe it would happen.

At the same time, Jewish students say that anti-Israel protests have sometimes turned into harassment and intimidation. This may not be widespread, but it is real. In such situations it is reasonable to ask whether employing the Working Definition could help. And the answer is a resounding "Yes, but .."

Yes, college and university administrators are challenged daily to maintain a hospitable environment for critical and even contro-

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A Turkish demonstrator holding a banner with a Nazi swastika and Star of David in Istanbul, Jan. 2, 2009.

(Mustafa Ozer/AFP/Getty Images)

versial thinking while insuring that the discourse is civil and respectful of a diverse student body. They must be mindful when racism or anti-Semitism or homophobia or other forms of intolerance threaten to upend this balance. As such, an awareness of anti-Semitism and the various ways it presents itself today can be helpful.

But the Working Definition is not intended to be a speech code, and it certainly must not restrict or inhibit our constitutionally protected freedom of expression.

Proposed congressional legislation known as the Anti-Semitism Awareness Act calls on the Department of Education to "take into consideration" the definition when evaluating under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act if Jewish students are facing a pattern of harassment and a hostile environment. Even though the bill only offers the definition as an additional tool when assessing the overall campus environment, opponents believe it will be misused. They fear that organizations on the right will use the Working Definition to demand an end to the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign targeting Israel and other anti-Israel activities. That may well happen, and those of us who believe in its utility will need to guard against it.

Yet we cannot let these extreme possibilities serve as reason to reject an important educational tool in these difficult times. Instead they remind us that we must employ it with care and consideration.

(Rabbi Andrew Baker is the American Jewish Committee's director of International Jewish Affairs.)

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of JTA or its parent company.ďƒŹ THE

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Israel's Conversion Laws Are About to Get Stricter

Israel Under Radar

By Ben Sales

The headquarters of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel is located in Jerusalem.

(Flash90)

(JTA) -- Jewish converts in America may have a much harder time being accepted in Israel because of a new set of regulations proposed by Israel's Chief Rabbinate If adopted, some activists in Israel say, the new guidelines for religious courts could drive a deeper wedge between Israel and Diaspora Jewry The Chief Rabbinate, which controls Jewish marriage, divorce, conversion and burial in the Jewish state, is largely run by haredi Orthodox leaders. For years it has clashed with rabbis in America -- even Orthodox ones -- who have more liberal interpretations of Jewish law.

The Chief Rabbinate does not consider non-Orthodox Judaism to be valid, so it does not accept the authority of Conservative and Reform rabbis. And in recent years, it has had a series of public disputes with Orthodox rabbis whose authority it rejects.

This week, hoping to clarify exactly which Orthodox rabbis meet its standards, the Chief Rabbinate published a list of draft criteria for religious courts in the Diaspora. If a religious court meets the criteria, the Jewish conversions it conducts will be recognized by the Chief Rabbinate. If not, the Chief Rabbinate will not consider its converts Jewish.

The same goes for Jewish ritual divorces: The Chief Rabbinate will

accept them only if they are performed by a qualified religious court.

These matters for non-Israeli converts and divorcees if they ever want their religious or marital status recognized in Israel. Those who convert in America under an unrecognized religious court, for example, would not be able to marry in Israel because the Chief Rabbinate controls Jewish marriage there.

Likewise, divorced individuals would not be able to remarry in Israel if their Jewish divorce is not recognized. Children from a female convert's second marriage would be forbidden to marry a Jew. The document's language is in the past tense, which means it could apply retroactively -- rejecting the status of Jewish converts who formerly were accepted in Israel. In other words, a convert accepted by the Chief Rabbinate this year could be rejected next year.

The criteria demand that the courts be permanent and operate year-round. Their rabbis must demonstrate fealty to Orthodox Jewish law and be endorsed by a major Orthodox organization.

This means non-Orthodox rabbis and rabbinical courts will be rejected. So will graduates of Yeshivat Chovevei Torah, a liberal Orthodox seminary in New York City, because they are not recognized by the Rabbinical Council of America, the major U.S. Orthodox rabbis’ group.

Ad hoc religious courts, often set up in small communities for a specific person’s conversion, also will not be approved.

If two courts are serving the same local population of Jews, only one will receive approval. Courts that want to apply for approval must submit their rabbis to an exam on Jewish law administered by the Chief Rabbinate.

The Chief Rabbinate says the

criteria are an attempt to set transparent, objective standards. At a Knesset meeting on the proposed criteria this week, Knesset member Uri Maklev of the haredi United Torah Judaism party said that “clarifying what is Judaism is an obligation in [rabbinical] courts and a fundamental principle upon becoming part of the Jewish people.”

In the past, the religious authority has rejected the qualifications of an Orthodox rabbi because it deemed him insufficiently observant of Jewish law. That's what happened in 2014 when the Chief Rabbinate rejected a conversion affirmed by Rabbi Avi Weiss, the prominent liberal Orthodox rabbi and founder of Chovevei Torah.

But in other cases, the Chief Rabbinate has rejected rabbis' authority simply due to bureaucratic confusion. In 2015, one of its district courts rejected the authority of Rabbi Haskel Lookstein, a widely respected Modern Orthodox rabbi in New York, even though Israel’s chief rabbi vouched for him.

As of now, one midlevel bureaucrat, Rabbi Itamar Tubul, decides which rabbis and marriages are accepted by the Chief Rabbinate.

Last year, JTA obtained a so-called

“blacklist” of Diaspora rabbis whose authority the Chief Rabbinate had rejected.

Critics are calling the criteria demeaning and overly strict. Itim, an Israeli nonprofit that works to navigate and challenge the Chief Rabbinate’s bureaucracy, called the list a "power grab."

“These ‘criteria’ show the Chief Rabbinate’s disdain for world Jewry, blatant attempt at power consolidation, and profoundly unJewish approach," Rabbi Seth Farber, Itim's founder and director, said in a statement. "Itim will fight this using every legislative and legal tool available.

The Israel Democracy Institute think tank called the document “very problematic.”

“The proposal creates a reality in which the Israeli rabbinate extends its monopoly over Jews' personal status in areas of marriage and divorce -- beyond Israel,” Shuki Friedman, director of the institute’s Center for Religion, Nation and State, said in a statement. “Thus the rift between Israel and Diaspora Jewry could grow, many Jews around the world may feel alienated, and immigration to Israel could decline.” 

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Summer 2018

13

Summer Bridal What Makes A House A (Jewish) Home?

The mezuzah isn't a finishing touch, but a starting point.

By Alachua Nazarenko What makes a house a home?

Transforming what was once just a brick and wood into a place for families to gather, friends to laugh, and lives to unfold takes a lot of work. For me, the idea of turning a house into a home is no longer just a cliché, but a reality.

My fiancé Erik and I just purchased our first home. We are putting down roots in our adopted home state of Mississippi. We have

spent the last month painting, cleaning, and organizing. “Doing house stuff” took up every hour that we weren’t working or sleeping. I thought a lot about how I wanted it to look: bright colors, inviting layout, and lots of natural light. I thought about how I wanted it to feel: comfortable, warm, and happy.

I have been pleased with the progress we’ve made working toward those goals. Last night we finally

A beautiful bride.

A handsome groom.

The perfect setting.

finished the last item on our current to-do list. Our home is everything I could have hoped for and more.

Our blood, sweat, and tears paid off. The last thing on that to-do list was to hang up our mezuzah.

We realized the mezuzah isn't a finishing touch, but a starting point.

We realized the mezuzah isn’t a finishing touch on a Jewish home, but a starting point.

As Erik nailed it in and I said the blessing, I began to think: maybe we weren’t quite as finished as I thought we were. Sure, the furniture is in place and the art is hung up, but I realized that there is still a lot of work ahead of us to make sure our house is a Jewish home.

We realized the mezuzah isn’t a finishing touch, but a starting point.

Ever since hanging the mezuzah, I have been thinking about what this means: What makes a house a Jewish home? The mezuzah was a great start, and I know that many Shabbat candles will be lit within, but there’s more. What Jewish values are important to me? How do I want them to be expressed through our physical home?

One of the aspects I love most about Judaism is the encouragement to question and discuss, and I want our home to host lively conversations. Hospitality is a Jewish (and

Southern!) value, and I want anyone and everyone who enters to feel comfortable and welcomed. I hope that our home is a place where learning is constantly happening and that my curiosity and Erik’s curiosity about the world only grows deeper throughout our time there. I hope that in the house we explore causes that are important to us, and focus on ways to better the world and participate actively in tikkun olam. I hope that, for each other and for anyone who enters, we model engaged Jewish life and reflection, constantly bettering ourselves and learning from our experiences to become better people.

There are so many things that make a house a home, but I am looking forward to continuing to discover what makes a house a Jewish home. I’ve realized that, while the decorating is done, my home will never really be done – we will always be working to make it Jewish. I can’t wait to begin that journey! (Although I hope most of this home-building-work is less messy than painting.) 

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Bridal Guide

Things to Do Before Your Wedding

By Jordana Horn (Kveller via JTA) -- I’ve been married twice. Some might think if I failed at it once that means I’m not so good at marriage. Personally, I’d say, like Peppa Pig’s father, that “I’m a bit of an expert.”

I mean, two marriages means two weddings, right? I’m a pro. So let me give you some unsolicited advice as to how to have the best one – yes, ideally one – ever.

Think about premarital counseling.

As a prerequisite to marriage, the Catholic faith requires a course of premarital counseling set by the church called pre-cana. No equivalent really exists in Judaism, but I did appreciate it very much when our rabbi offered an opportunity to sit and meet with him a few times to discuss how we wanted our lives to look as a married couple. (I would also love to go back in time and see what we said, since I am sure we didn’t really think we would have six kids, but that’s another story.)

Ask your rabbi if you can do the same. It’s a good way to talk about things you may not have already discussed, like how religious you want your life to be, how you want to raise any kids, how you want to handle money and so forth.

Get a genetic screening.

Here’s another one you may not have discussed: genetic screening.

Before marrying, get tested for Jewish genetic diseases! Most people get reassuring results, but even if you both test positive as carriers, there are options to help you have healthy children. The national nonprofit JScreen offers those with Jewish lineage subsidized testing for more than 200 genetic diseases. Their testing is meant for anyone with Ashkenazi, Sephardic or Mizrahi backgrounds, as well as interfaith couples.

You can do the test at home. After registering online, you just spit in the container JScreen sends you and FedEx it away in their prepaid mailer. While genetic testing can be expensive, JScreen has a set fee of $149 for people with medical insurance. It’s super common to be a carrier for some kind of genetic disease: One in three Jews is a healthy carrier. The crazy part is you have no idea without testing. So be tested today and get peace of mind.

Signed, sealed, delivered: Consider the paperwork.

You’re probably going to want a THE

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ketubah, a Jewish marriage contract.

While I have a rabbi friend who refers to it somewhat pejoratively as an “Aramaic document of acquisition,” I see it as an opportunity to frame your marriage and mutual Jewish future. In the secular world, you may be considering a prenup As a Conservative Jew, I am a tremendous advocate of the Lieberman clause, in which both parties to the marriage agree not to withhold a "get" – the Jewish instrument of divorce – should the marriage not hold. Including this clause in your ketubah is a statement on behalf of women’s rights. There are many websites with ketubah options. Personally, I like the great array of options and artists on the surreally named thisisnotaketubah.com.

Talk to each other.

This often gets lost in all the meetings with the florist, the band, etc.

No one is actually going to recall what card stock you used for the thank you notes or how big your centerpieces were. Take time every day to talk about something not weddingrelated. You know, like why you like each other, or a movie you saw. If you can, write a letter to your partner (offer them the chance to do the same for you, but this is optional, not mandatory) to be opened on your first, or 10th, anniversary.

On the flip side, if there are warning spots of trouble between you, don’t sweep them under the rug. Talk about the problem. Do you differ on fundamental issues, like whether to send kids to Hebrew school or what you believe, spiritually and politically? If you’ve got concerns, it’s not “just jitters” – and even if it were, this is a litmus test for how you deal with stress (and this is just the good kind of stress). You are going to need to spend the rest of your lives talking to each other when problems arise, so set a good precedent for how you handle things now. If you don’t like the answers, you may need to have a more serious discussion that yes, could include postponing or calling off the wedding. Don’t compromise your future because you already paid for the caterer.

Plan the ceremony.

The core of the wedding is the ceremony, not the party (I know – shocking!), so take time to focus on that element. What would make the ceremony more meaningful to you and your partner? When I asked the

cantor at our synagogue for traditional wedding music, he gave us a CD of music performed by our synagogue’s band, and I chose a song and sang it with them as I circled my groom. I will never be able to think about that without simultaneously smiling and crying.

Think beyond yourselves.

Use the kiddush cup your partner’s great-grandfather brought over from Russia, even though you think it’s hideous. Use the tallis the entire family has been married under rather than the floral huppah of your dreams. At the end of the day, you’re not making a wedding for Pinterest – you are making it for your family, past and future. Honor those people.

And, for that matter, honor your guests by making the registry easy to navigate (and easily refundable), the seating comfortable and the food plentiful. Today’s bridal magazines would have you believe “It’s All About You!” It isn’t. And newsflash: It won’t, and shouldn’t, be.

Be kind.

Figure out ways to pay your happiness forward. Write thank yous not only to those who gave you gifts, but to those who are giving their time: your officiant, the photographer. Be kind to everyone.

Give your centerpieces to a nursing home or hospital. Donate a portion of your gifts, if they are monetary.

Make sure you tell people how thrilled you are that they took the time to come and be with you to celebrate this milestone in your life, and how you hope they will be there for every special day to come.

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Wishing you transcendent happiness that will shine more light into the world!

(This article was sponsored by and produced in partnership with JScreen, whose goal of making genetic screening as simple, accessible, and affordable as possible has helped couples across the country have healthy babies. To access testing 24/7, request a kit at JScreen. org or gift a JScreen test as a wedding present.)

Kveller is a thriving community of women and parents, who convene online to share, celebrate and commiserate their experiences of raising kids through a Jewish lens.

Visit Kveller.com. 

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How to Choose a Ketubah, or Jewish Marriage Contract A guide to finding the right document for your wedding.

(Courtesy of Reconstructing Judaism)

By Jamie Rubin Mazel tov (congratulations) on your upcoming wedding! If you’ve decided to include a ketubahor Jewish marriage contract as part of your wedding, you have myriad options. Here is a brief guide of things to consider as you select the one that’s right for you and your partner.

Ketubah Wording While some ketubot (the plural of ketubah) are stunning works of art, the most important part of any ketubah is what it says. After all, you and your partner will be signing this document and affirming that what it reads is true, so the first thing you’ll want to do is find a

ketubah with text that reflects the values you and the person you’re marrying share.

You also may want to strike the right balance for yourself between traditional and progressive options.

Until the 20th century, almost all ketubot contained the same basic text in Aramaic and were signed only by the groom and two male

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witnesses. The document was essentially the groom’s marriage proposal to the bride and his pledge to “honor, support, and provide for her”. While many traditionally observant Jews continue to adhere to the original text and customs — or to keep them, but add to the ketubah a prenuptial agreement that promises a get, or Jewish divorce decree, if requested — a wide variety of alternatives are now available.

For example, at www.ketubah. com, you’ll find 15 different choices of pre-written texts including an option to write your own. Some offer language inclusive of samesex couples or that reflects a more egalitarian view of the couple’s relationship. Others are specifically tailored for interfaith couples. If you don’t know which text to select, read several and consider which ones reflect your values.

You also will need to decide in which language or languages you’d like your ketubah to be. Many ketubot are in Hebrew or Aramaic, with side-by-side translation. When Paul Golin, an American Jew who serves as executive director of the Society for Humanistic Judaism, married Yurika Mizuno, who is from Japan, they had the ketubah at right created with English, Hebrew,

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The Japanese-Hebrew-English ketubah of Yurika Mizuno and Paul Golin.

(Courtesy of Paul Golin)

and Japanese text.

If you choose to start from scratch and write your own text, it’s a good idea to consult with a rabbi or scholar of Jewish law.

Rabbi Jodie Gordon of the Reform congregation Hevreh of Southern Berkshires in Great Barrington, Massachusetts suggests that custom-written ketubot include: the date of the wedding on both the Jewish and Gregorian calendars, the couple’s names as well as the names of witnesses in attendance, and, what she calls “a conversation ofy promise,” a reflection of what each partner wants in the relationship and the marriage as they move forward.

Ketubah Aesthetics and Price Once the text has been decided on, the next choices you’ll have to make are about style and presentation. For some couples, buying a ketubah is an investment in a piece of art. Some commission artists or artisans to create custom ketubot that can cost thousands of dollars.

One place to find such artists is through the creative marketplace on Etsy.

More affordable ketubot can be found elsewhere online, at Judaica shops and at Jewish museum gift shops. A quick Google or Pinterest search will lead to plentiful options from simple to abstract to unusual like these these 3D style ketubot, this two-sided one, this Andy Warhol-inspired one, or this one set over a backdrop of the Guggenheim Museum in New York.

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JEWISH LIGHT

KETUBAH Continued from Page 16 Crafty couples might also consider purchasing art supplies and making their own ketubah. MPArtworks Ketubah Studio’s offers a “paint-your-own DIY” ketubah, and fans of adult coloring books can now purchase coloring ketubot.

You can select your own text and color in the designs that surround it. Use it as a way to unwind from your wedding planning, or offer it as an activity for a bridal shower or bachelor party — or as an activity just before the wedding.

What Alternative Options Exist?

A small but emerging trend in the world of ketubot is the idea of replacing the ketubah altogether with what’s known as a “Brit Ahuvim” or a “lover’s covenant.” Jew-

ish feminist theology professor Rachel Adler, who wrote Engendering Judaism: An Inclusive Theology and Ethics in 1998, introduced this alternative practice for those who find the gendered roots of the traditional ketubah off-putting. Some couples reject the notion that in their view, traditional ketubot were documents outlining a groom’s purchase of his wife. The idea of Brit Ahuvim is to create a new document, without roots to a traditional ketubah, that looks at marriage through an egalitarian lens and contains promises the couple makes to each other. Adler’s original sample text for Brit Ahuvim, as well as several other alternative ketubah texts, can be found here.

Whether your ketubah is an artist’s finest masterpiece or something simple and beautiful that you found in your local Judaica store or something you wrote and crafted with your own hands, it should be a document that you want to look at for the rest of your lives. 

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Planning the Right Jewish Wedding for You How to make your wedding both authentically Jewish and personally meaningful.

By Anita Diamant And Mjl Admin

According to Jewish law, the requirements for a kosher (proper/ legitimate) wedding can be summed up in a few words: a bride accepts an object worth more than a dime from a groom; the groom recites a ritual formula to consecrate the transaction; these actions must be witnessed by two people who are not related to either bride or groom. That’s it.

The traditions associated with Jewish weddings — the canopy, the breaking of a glass, the presence of a rabbi, even the seven wedding blessings — are customs. Custom — in Hebrew, minhag — changes over time and differs among cultures, nations and generations; customs can vary wildly from one synagogue or neighborhood to the next.

Customs are not trivial; they are the heart and soul of rituals, and while some have been discarded

and forgotten, others persist and carry even more symbolic and emotional weight than some religious requirements. Customs are not set in stone. Over the centuries Jewish weddings have been celebrated with variations in ritual and custom that reflected the needs and values of different times and places.

The nostalgic fallacy that there was once a standard, universal and correct way to do a Jewish wedding ignores differences in everything from clothes to the fact that for centuries some Jews practiced polygamy. Throughout history, Judaism has been a living tradition, examined, debated and reinvented, generation after generation. Jewish weddings are grounded in the past, but they have always been the stuff of the irrepressible present.

Today, communities are scattered, culturally diverse and even virtual. We don’t share a common ritual language, and many of us have never been to a Jewish wedding. Our celebrations are mounted by professionals, whose main focus is on the reception, not what goes

on under the huppah (also spelled chuppah ). There is a lot of handwringing and breast-beating about how this represents a terrible loss.

But the truth is, Jews of the 21st century cannot marry the same way their parents did, much less their great-grandparents. The world has changed too much; our expectations of marriage are not the same.

To be emotionally and spiritually authentic, our weddings need to synthesize the sum total of our experience, which includes the reality of our daily lives.

To make a wedding that is both authentically Jewish and personally meaningful requires a level of conscious decision making that would have mystified previous generations: Should we use Hebrew words in the wedding invitation? How do we arrange the processional with two sets of divorced parents in the mix? What do we want our ketubah (wedding contract) to say?

How are we going to make our wedding Jewish? How Jewish are we going to make our wedding?

The more numerous the choices,

the greater the likelihood of disagreements. The Yiddish proverb “No ketubah was ever signed without an argument” was addressed to family squabbles (still a reality), but it also applies to the friction between tradition and personal style, between a 4,000-year-old system of laws and contemporary values about, among other things, women’s roles. Transforming that heat into light is the challenge of making Jewish tradition your own.

In planning your wedding, I encourage you and your partner to learn, choose and even argue. As rites of passage, weddings clarify and express a lot about the people under the huppah. A wedding is a public announcement and demonstration of who you are as a couple. When you draw on Jewish tradition — borrowing, revising, even rejecting — the tradition becomes yours. And it lives.

Adapted with permission from The Jewish Wedding Now (Simon & Schuster) 

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Planning My Southern Jewish Wedding

By Alachua Nazarenko

Planning a wedding is quite a feat. It will be a fun, exciting, thrilling, crazy feat, but a feat nonetheless. Especially when you’re planning a Jewish wedding — and most especially when you’re planning a Southern Jewish wedding!

Over the past year, as I get closer and closer to my own April wedding date, I’ve learned about this firsthand. Between flowers, hotel blocks, invitations, and all the other details spinning in my head, I am up to my ears in decisions. In addition to the decisions every bride must make before the big day, I have discovered a whole new side of planning a wedding: the Jewish side.

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I have always known that I would have a Jewish wedding, but the extra details that go into its planning have become apparent only this year. Below are my top 5 Jewish wedding details, with some Southern twists thrown in for good measure: 1. Sunrise, sunset. Never in my life have I been more obsessed with sunset than I am right now. When does it go down? When can we do Havdalah? When will the more observant guests be able to drive again and participate in activities?

How hot is it going to be in the Deep South in April? Time and temperature require a lot of thought…

2. The John Hancocks. Everyone knows that there are certain honors to give to people at a wedding, but even more so in a Jewish wedding. One of the most important honors to give to someone is choosing them to be a witness and sing your ketubah. This process is a tough, but important piece of the planning puzzle – their name will be displayed on your wedding contract forever!

3. #Blessed. In addition to the important task of choosing who will sign the ketubah, there is also to honor of choosing someone (or many someones) to recite the seven blessings at the wedding. Friends?

Family? One language? Multiple languages? Oy vey! This decision is quite an important one in planning a Jewish wedding.

4. To kippot or not to kippot, that is the question. There are certain customary pieces of any traditional wedding attire: white dress, veil, and tux. But what about for a Jewish wedding? How should we dress? Are kippot and tallit required, or maybe a full kittel?! For us, the kittel was pretty easy to rule out,

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but we are still working on the rest of the accessorizing.

5. Let them eat non-dairy cake.

Last, but certainly not least, planning food for a Jewish wedding is quite the process. For me, it’s all about balancing the food I love with the food I know my kosherobservant guests can eat. I am asking myself these essential questions: Do I have enough vegetarian options? Are at least some of my meat options without dairy? Do I have enough food without shellfish (like I said… it’s a Jewish wedding, but it’s also a Southern wedding)?

Do I have vegetarian meals without dairy so that folks can eat those with the meat dishes? Hopefully….

YES! Planning a Jewish wedding has required me to go above and beyond when it comes to organizational skills. Those are my top 5 essential pieces. For all you other Jewish brides or brides-to-be out there, what are yours? 

Summer 2018

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What Should Be At the Top of Your Pre-Wedding To-Do List?

By Sherri Essrog There I was. Twenty years old, newly engaged, and feeling like the luckiest girl in the world! I had a whole notebook dedicated to planning the perfect wedding. It had lists of photographers, caterers, and musicians. It also had a list of

important people we needed to have at the wedding; family, close friends, and the Rabbi.

My husband picked the mesader kedushin, the Rabbi who would be the one to officiate the wedding. It was a rabbi he had built a relationship with, and who was also a very important man in the community.

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signed halakhic pre-nup! Even when I was getting married, it was something I had heard about, but had no intention of signing. The rabbis didn’t suggest it, and my new and shiny fiancé certainly didn’t suggest it. How would you even bring that up in a conversation? “Hey, in case we get a divorce, let’s make sure to sign that halakhic pre-nup!”

The answer is, that is exactly how it could be brought up! The conversation would be about suggesting to the other person that if, God forbid, the marriage does not work out, you both come out of the marriage with the same amount of respect and understanding that you had going into the marriage. It should be a way of saying that as much as I never would have wanted anything to hurt you in our marriage, so too I wouldn’t want to be the one hurting you at the end of the marriage.

Unfortunately for me, no one advised me to sign the halakhic pre-nup. The rabbis instead made sure to ask the “pressing” questions that “pertained” to the wedding, like if I had ever slept with another man. But something that would show the beginning steps of shalom bayit (peace in the home), and of working together in the most important relationship you could have, THAT they did not question! This misstep of guidance ultimately led to the downfall of my life.

If I had signed a halakhic pre-nup, I would most likely have my gett, bill of divorce, now. Sadly, after seven years of marriage, my husband and I agreed that we should get a divorce. Except it is now two and half years later, and I am still waiting for that divorce.

Within the first month after we made the decision together, he was anxious to give me my gett already. I moved out, as you must live separately in order to end the marriage religiously, and I am still waiting for the gett.

If he were still adamant about not giving me the gett, and we had signed the pre-nup, then he would owe me OVER $100,000 to make up for every day that the gett was not given.

I can’t help but feel so ignorant and helpless. There I was, a young girl excitedly waiting for my wedding. If only the rabbis, any of them, had insisted on the pre-nup. My life would be so different. Instead, I am coming up on my ten year anniversary, in a dead marriage. And there is nothing I can do about it, and no way out.

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The Best Jewish Cookbooks to Give as a Wedding Gift From fresh Israeli cuisine to classic brisket, this list covers it all.

By Shannon Sarna Joan Nathan’s Jewish Holiday Cookbook Every Jewish kitchen should have at least one of Joan Nathan’s cookbooks, if not several. And classic Jewish holiday dishes from the queen of American Jewish food is an absolute must.

The Book of Jewish Food: An Odyssey from Samarkand to New York This classic book by Jewish food legend Claudia Roden may not have fancy photos on every page, but it’s a book of deep substance, history and deliciousness whose recipes are researched and perfected. Anyone who is interested in Jewish food will want to devour it from start to finish.

The Book of New Israeli Food The flavors and spices of Israeli cuisine can be exciting, and overwhelming. But Janna Gur’s first cookbook provides an education on the origins of Israeli food itself as well as dozens of perfect classic recipes from basic hummus to green Persian rice, stews, babka and more without sending readers off on a neverending ingredient treasure hunt.

Zahav: A World of Israeli Cooking Michael Solomonov’s award-winning cookbook is part storytelling and part mouthwatering recipes that any newlyweds will be excited to tackle together.

Aromas of Aleppo: The Legendary Cuisine of Syrian Jews This book brings the traditional recipes and flavors of traditional Syrian cooking to life with personal stories and beautiful photos. There THE

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are delicious tious new cooks busy for some time.

The Moosewood Cookbook recipes, but also Mollie Kata fascinating zen’s vegetarian history of the cookbook has Syrian Jewish been a classic in community.

Jewish kitchens since its release Modern Jewish Cooking over 30 year ago Leah Koenig’s for good reason: stunning cookThe vegetable-forbook offers the ward recipes are simple, healthy and perfect guide to perfectly complement Shabbat meals, modern yet tradi- holiday dinners or everyday eating. tional dishes, with beautiful photos, creative twists and truly trustworthy recipes. This book would nicely complement one of the more classic books on this list for a perfect gift set.

The Gefilte Manifesto: New Recipes for Old World Jewish Foods Jeffrey Yoskowitz and Liz Alpern’s goals have always been to bring New World sensibilities and flavors into Old World foods, like gefilte fish, kugel, challah and other Jewish classics. Their cookbook, like Leah Koenig’s Modern Jewish Cooking, is a perfect new-meetsold book that is beautiful, clean and the perfect gift.

Barefoot Contessa: Back to Basics Jewish cooking isn’t just about the food: it’s also about hosting and welcoming guests into your home.

Ina Garten not only provides an education in ingredients and cooking, but how to host a meal from start to finish with simple, perfect recipes.

The New York Times Jewish Cookbook This enormous volume offers more than 825 recipes from around the world, which is sure to keep even the ambiwww.thejewishlight.org

The Superfun Times Vegan Holiday Cookbook: Entertaining for Absolutely Every Occasion For the vegan couple in your life, this book offers unique recipes for Hanukkah, Rosh Hashanah, Passover and everything in between. 

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Kaufman describes traditional wedding customs, some of which may not be observed by the liberal Jewish movements and others like the Yichud (seclusion) Room or Birkat Hamazon (grace after meals) are observed differently.

Yihud, The Seclusion Room Amidst singing and dancing, the bride and groom… weave their way through the congratulating guests to the yihud (seclusion) room. It is customary for bride and groom to be alone for a period of time immediately following the marriage ceremony.

The complete seclusion of the couple in a closed room is a public act symbolizing their new status as husband and wife. Since this act, more than any other, signifies that they are truly married, a public awareness of their seclusion is required, and it must be attested to by qualified witnesses. The witnesses remain outside the door to ensure that no one enters until the couple have been alone for a reasonable period of time.

Yihud provides a period of respite for the newly married couple, an interval of tranquility for them to enjoy together in total solitude amidst the turmoil of the wedding. It is customary for the two to have their first meal as husband and wife together in the yihud room. Both will have been fasting all day, and this food will be their first of the day.

It is important that the yihud room be prepared before the wedding. It should provide absolute privacy. It should also have food for a light repast for the couple.

The Festive Wedding Meal The wedding feast is a seudat mitzvah , a festive religious meal integral to a wedding, participation in which is considered to be a mitzvah [commandment]. In many areas, it is customary for a table to

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be set aside at the wedding feast for the poor and indigent of the community, so they can participate fully in the wedding. It is also customary for the poor to be allowed to collect alms from the wedding guests, or for the parents of the new couple to give them a substantial sum.

The wedding meal is a joyous feast, punctuated by lively Jewish wedding tunes and dancing in accordance with Jewish tradition.

When bride and groom leave the yihud room to enter the banquet hall during the wedding feast, they are greeted and raised up on chairs by their friends, as the assembled guests dance around them.

It is considered a great mitzvah, in the category of chesed (obligatory acts of love for others), to cause the bride and groom to rejoice at their wedding. The Talmud declares that whoever gladdens the bridal couple is considered as if he had brought a sacrificial offering at the Temple in Jerusalem, or as if he had rebuilt one of the ruins of Jerusalem.

According to Midrash, God and his angels served as exalted exponents of this mitzvah when they participated in the wedding celebration of Adam and Eve and caused the couple to rejoice: The Holy One, Blessed be He, made 10 wedding canopies for them in the Garden of Eden, of precious stones, pearls, and gold… the angels were playing upon timbrels and dancing with pipes… the Holy One, Blessed be He, said to the ministering angels, ‘Come, let us descend and render acts of love to the first man and his wife, for the world rests upon acts of love…’

And the ministering angels went to and fro, [dancing] before Adam…

Ketsad m’rakdin lifnei hakalah?– “How does one dance before the bride?”– asks the Mishnah. Following the example of the talmudic sages Hillel and Shammai, Torah scholars usually take the lead in actively participating in the dancing in honor of bride and groom.

Friends of the couple vie with one another to enliven the festivities See AFTER on Page THE

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How to Plan a Jewish Wedding A Checklist of 7 Things to Consider, From Clergy to Chuppah

By Gabrielle Kaplan-Mayer

Mazel Tov! If you or someone close to you is planning a Jewish wedding, you are in the midst of an exciting — and at times stressinducing — experience. Besides the many wedding details that all couples need to plan, Jewish brides and grooms have several other important factors connected to their ceremony to consider. Whether you are Jewishly knowledgeable or relatively new to Judaism, you may want to review the list below before you make your plans to create a meaningful Jewish wedding.

For videos on Jewish weddings, including “Why Do Jews Break A Glass at Weddings?,” scroll to the bottom of this article!

stretch or just part of it is a problem. Marrying during the three weeks between the 17th of Tammuz and Tisha B’Av is also prohibited in traditional Jewish practice. Because many of these dates fall during prime wedding season (spring-summer), it’s important to check a Jewish calendar before you select a date.

And although Shabbat weddings are out, many couples choose to wed on Saturday at sundown, so that they can begin their ceremony with havdalah, marking both the end of Shabbat and the end of the time that came before their public commitment to one another. Some couples choose to wed on Tuesdays, believing it to be an especially blessed day, since in the Biblical story of creation, the phrase “God saw that it was good” appears twice on the third day.

First off, it’s important to know that a rabbi is not the only person who can lead a Jewish wedding. A cantor can officiate, as can another educated professional serving the Jewish community. Increasingly, couples are asking friends to officiate by becoming ordained as a Universal Life Minister. To meet most states’ requirements, the officiant does need to be a recognized member of the clergy; be sure to ask this question of any clergy you speak with.

You may want to begin the search for your rabbi by visiting local congregations and observing how different rabbis lead services. You can also contact rabbinical schools to connect with a student rabbi, whose work will be supervised by an experienced faculty member. Students are eager to gain experience and may even give you more time than

a busy congregational rabbi could.

Rabbis’ schedules fill up quickly, so if you have a particular rabbi in mind, be sure to clear the date with him or her as soon as possible.

Interfaith couples who encounter difficulties finding a rabbi can contact Interfaithfamily.com (Officiation Request Form), or the Rabbinic Center for Research and Counseling (www.rcrconline.org), which work with interfaith couples and can help them to find a rabbi.

When you meet with rabbis you are considering, be sure to ask them their philosophy about leading weddings, if they are open to adapting rituals, and what kind of ketubah[marriage contract] text they prefer that couples use. You See HOW TO PLAN on Page

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2. Selecting an Officiant

1. Choosing a Date

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Jewish weddings are traditionally prohibited on Shabbat and most holidays — including Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur , Passover, Shavuot, and Sukkot — and the fast days Tisha B’Av, the 10th of Tevet, the 17th of Tammuz , the Fast of Gedaliah, and the Fast of Esther.

Traditionally, Jewish weddings are not held during the counting of the omer between Passover and Shavuot, although customs differ as to whether that entire seven-week

For some couples, this step is an easy one. They may be active members of a congregation or have a childhood or Hillel (college) rabbi that they are still close to. But for many engaged couples who are not affiliated with a Jewish community in a formal way, finding a rabbi or cantor to lead their wedding ceremony is a daunting task. Parents may suggest using the rabbi from their congregation, whether or not the couple knows them.

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Bridal Guide HOW TO PLAN Continued from Page 23

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While working with a rabbi can help you learn about the wedding rituals, you will probably get more want to make sure that you are on out of the experience by doing a bit the same page about major issues of research, so you can bring ideas from the start. to your meetings with the rabbi.

3. Planning the Ceremony (See Recommended Reading.)

Even couples who grew up in a 4. Choosing a Ketubah Jewish home with years of Jewish education may find themselves surprised when it comes to examining traditional Jewish wedding rituals.

For example, in a traditional ceremony, only the groom gives the bride a ring, an act which is thought to symbolize kinyan (acquisition).

Many contemporary egalitarian couples find this ritual to be not in Just as our government issues a keeping with their values and marriage license, Jewish law has choose to do a double-ring ceremo- historically used a ketubah to sancny; some Orthodox rabbis will tion a marriage. Ketubah means allow a modified form of this. “writing” or “written” and refers to

the document that is signed by witnesses before and often read during a Jewish wedding. Traditionally, a ketubah served as a kind of premarital contract, outlining a bride’s ongoing rights: food, clothing, and even sex should be provided during the course of the marriage. The ketubah also specified her rights in the case of her husband’s death or their divorce.

Many contemporary couples choose to veer away from the traditional ketubah text and its implications and instead choose a text that expresses their hopes and commitments for their marriage. Some couples write their own text, while others search for a text that speaks to their vision.

Historically, the ketubah is not only a legal document, but also an

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artistic one. Ketubot[plural of ketubah] have long been–and continue to be–an expression of Jewish creativity. So couples not only have decisions to make about the text, but also the kind of art they want for their ketubah. Some couples shop together for a lithograph; others hire an artist to create an original design.

Couples should also think about who they want to invite to sign their ketubah. Traditionally, a witness must be a religiously observant Jewish male, unrelated to the bride or groom. Reform and Reconstructionist and some Conservative rabbis accept women as witnesses, though most still prefer that the witness be Jewish.

See HOW TO PLAN on Page

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HOW TO PLAN Continued from Page 24

5. Selecting a Chuppah

The chuppah is the canopy that covers the bride and groom during the wedding ceremony, creating a sacred space that is both open for all to see and private and intimate for the couple beneath it. It symbolizes their new home together, and is said to be open as was the tent of Abraham and Sarah, who were always ready to receive visitors.

In planning your wedding, think about what kind of chuppah would be special for you. Some are covered in flowers, others are made of fabric squares that friends and family decorate for the couple. The chuppah is attached to four poles, which can be free-standing or held by four people. It is considered a great honor to hold a chuppah pole, so this job should be given to people very close to the bride or groom.

6. Including Ritual Objects Jewish weddings call for some objects that, with a little thought, can be enhanced to create special meaning for your wedding. For example, at most Jewish weddings kippot(yarmulkes) are provided for guests. Many couples have them imprinted with their name and wedding date; others knit original kippot or paint or decorate satin or felt ones to match wedding decor. Cou-

ples also need a kiddush cup for under the huppah, and some couples are creating a new tradition by using one heirloom cup from each family.

And no Jewish wedding is complete without the glass for breaking at the end of the ceremony. Today’s couples are sometimes saving the pieces of their broken glass to be trans- choose to follow an altered version formed into a new piece of Judaica, of some of these traditions, such as such as a mezuzah or candlesticks. eating something light before the 7. Making Pre-wedding ceremony to protect against fainting.

Choices

One of the greatest things about Jewish weddings is that the celebration is spread out over time, giving you maximum time to honor bride and groom. The celebration may begin with an aufruf, when bride and groom (in traditional circles, only groom) are called to the Torah for an aliyah. They receive a mi shebeirakh blessing, which invokes God’s blessing for the bride and groom, and then they are showered with candy, a symbol of sweetness to come in their life together. Many couples host a kiddush lunch following services. This can be an ideal time to include the entire community in your wedding joy.

You and your partner should also discuss whether you want to include various traditional pre-wedding rituals such as going to the mikvah (ritual bath), separating from one another during the week before your wedding, and fasting on your wedding day. These rituals can help the couple prepare spiritually for the seriousness of the day to come.

While a Jewish wedding is full of joy, it is also like a personal Yom Kippur for the bride and groom, who want to enter their marriage with a pure heart. Many couples

You and your partner should give yourselves ample time to talk through each of these seven steps, and to use the process of planning your wedding as an opportunity to learn more about Jewish tradition and the way each of you envisions your life together once you step out from under the chuppah, hand in hand.

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Bridal Guide AFTER Continued from Page 22 through acts designed to make the bride and groom rejoice at their wedding.

In the words of R. Shlomo Ganzfried, author of the Kitzur Shulhan Arukh, the Condensed Code of Jewish Law, “It is a mitzvah to

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gladden a groom and bride, and to dance before the bride, and to declare that she is attractive and performs acts of loving kindness, and indeed we find that [the talmudic sage] R. Ilai would dance before the bride.”

Grace after the Meal Upon the conclusion of the wedding feast, Birkat Hamazon, Grace after Meals, is recited by the assembled guests, concluding with the recitation once again of the Sheva Berakhot, the Seven Blessings [recited previously in the second part of the wedding ceremony].

Two cups of wine are required, one of which is held while the grace is recited, and the other for the Seven Blessings. Like the earlier Seven Blessings recited under the huppah [wedding canopy], these may either be recited by the person who leads the Grace after Meals, or they may be treated as honors that are distributed among different guests.

The person who leads the guests in the grace then recites the blessing over the wine, pours wine from the two cups into a third one, and drinks from the original cup, while the other two cups are given to bride and groom to sip from them.

It is customary in some circles for those closest to the married couple to remain with them after the other guests leave and have a “mitzvah dance” with the bride and groom. Rabbis and other dignitaries take turns dancing with the bride, with the rabbi holding one end of a handkerchief and the bride the other. This custom, which may relate to the mishnah [a section of an early rabbinic legal code] that discusses “dancing before the bride,” is ascribed by some as a means by which the rabbis and scholars express to the groom their confidence in his choice of a bride.

The Week after the Wedding In Jewish tradition, bride and groom do not embark upon a honeymoon immediately after the wedding; they remain for a full week (three days if it is a second marriage for both) to celebrate. These Shiv’at Y’mei Mishteh, or Seven Days of Feasting, are said to have been ordained by Moses, and are a custom that is thought to go back to patriarchal times. These feasting days serve as a focal point for communal rejoicing and for the couple to begin their married life together while in the lap of the community.

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During the Seven Days of Feasting, the bride and groom do not work, nor may they be involved in business transactions of any kind.

They only eat, drink, and rejoice with each other. Each day, close relatives or friends host the married couple for a festive meal, which is punctuated by singing and rejoicing. It is customary for the groom, if he is learned, to deliver a d’var Torah, a learned discourse. Again, in most cases, it is also customary for the groom to be interrupted with singing as he begins, so that he will not be shamed if he is not capable of delivering it.

At the conclusion of the meal, Sheva Berakhot are recited. A minyan, or quorum, of at least 10 adult males [or in liberal communities, 10 adults of either gender] is required for each meal, at least one of whom was not present at the wedding and at previous Sheva Berakhot for this couple.

Reprinted with permission from Love, Marriage, and Family in Jewish Law and Tradition, published

by Jason Aronson Publishers. 

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Jewish Marriage Is Not Merely a Secular Legal Partnership, but a Union Sanctified

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the cornerstone of Jewish community. As the venue for fulfillment of the biblical commandment of p’ru u’rvu, be fruitful and multiply, Jewish marriage is also the basis of Jewish survival.

Genesis tells us that God recogDesirable times for a Jewish wednized “it is not good for man to be ding have been set by both custom alone” and created the first human and law, but Jewish weddings tradicouple, Adam and Eve. Their “mar- tionally are not held on the Sabbath; riage” ensured the propagation and on the holidays of Rosh Hashanah, survival of humanity, and the joy of Yom Kippur, Passover, Shavuot, this archetypal couple is reflected in and the first and last days of Sukkot; one of the Jewish wedding bless- and around certain fast days. ings: “Make these beloved companHow Has Jewish Marriage ions as happy as was the first human Evolved? couple in the Garden of Eden.”

Over time Jewish marriage has Jewish marriage is not merely a evolved from a property transaction secular legal partnership, but a union to a more spiritual commitment. In sanctified by God. Marital obliga- biblical times the fathers arranged tions, therefore, are not merely per- marriages. Because the father of the sonal, but have implications for uni- bride would be losing a valuable versal harmony. The existence of household worker, he received from God as a “silent partner” in Jewish the groom’s father a bride price, marriage endows a relationship with called mohar, in exchange for his sanctity and solemn commitment. daughter. The groom would also Judaism views marriage as the give gifts to the bride, called mattan. basis of human companionship and Over time, the mohar evolved into a gift to the bride’s father, a portion of which he passed on to his daughter.

During latebiblical and postbiblical times the economic situation worsened.

Because men were afraid to marry and take on extra financial responsibilities, fathers began to offer dowries to attract eligible men.

To relieve t h e g r o o m ’s financial burden at the time of marriage, the mohar was transformed again, this time into a lien to be paid by the City Park for husband to Storybook Romance* the wife in case of *Princes not provided Call 488-2896 divorce.

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This change also gave the bride some protection against an arbitrary divorce.

Eventually a minimum for this obligatory lien was specified in the marriage contract, known as a ketubah: 200 dinars for an unmarried girl and 100 for a widow. The groom could also provide an “additional ketubah,” a gift corresponding to the ancient mattan.

What Were the Rituals of Marriage?

Until the late Middle Ages, marriage consisted of two ceremonies separated in time: the betrothal and the actual wedding.

The betrothal was a legal marriage and could only be dissolved by a formal divorce, yet the woman remained in her father’s house. The betrothal constituted the actual “purchase” of the bride, and her later move to the groom’s house, the “delivery” of the purchased “property.”

By talmudic times, a betrothal celebration followed the signing of the ketubah. The groom gave the bride an object valued at less than a prutah (small coin) and declared in the presence of two witnesses: “Be thou consecrated to me, be thou betrothed to me, be thou my wife.”

The betrothal itself was renamed as kiddushin, implying sanctification or setting apart and suggesting a spiritualization of the original property transaction. A betrothal blessing prohibited forbidden unions and permitted only unions sanctified by Jewish marriage.

The actual wedding, approximately a year later, was preceded by a lively procession escorting the bride to the home of the groom. The chuppah (today, the marriage canopy) was originally a decorated pavilion in the house of the groom or his father, where the sheva berakhot, or seven blessings, were recited over a cup of wine. Contributing in any way to the joy of the bride and groom was deemed a mitzvah (a religious obligation).

Today, the betrothal and wedding generally both take place under the chuppah. As is still the custom today in traditional communities, the celebration continued for seven days at festive meals where the sheva berakhot were repeated following the grace after meals.

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