Alef: The NEXT Conversation
Six-Word (Jewish) Memoirs
Smith Magazine has teamed up with Reboot (the people who brought you the National Day of Unplugging and Sukkah City) to bring you “Six Words on Jewish life.” Submit your six-word memoir (www.smithmag.net/jewish) by January 4th for a shot at being included in the book and a guarantee at being on the website.
Not sure where to start? We’re so glad you asked. Some of the staff at NEXT have teamed up to provide you a list of their own six-word memoirs:
Ruvym ~ Russian family, still fears nonexistent KGB
Terissa ~ Single?! You should meet my son!
Emily ~ Once Kosher-style Texan loves pulled pork.
Hazon’s 5th Question
We’ve asked Jewish educators and organizations all over North America to add a fifth question to the Seder – one that will inspire us to make Passover meaningful for today’s Jewish world. Find out more about our 5th Question project.
This 5th Question comes from Hazon -
“kol dichfin yaitai v’yaichul – let all who are hungry come and eat…”
Seder night means more Jews eating together than any other night of the year. We say a lot about freedom and we eat the matzah – but where does the food that we eat at the Seder actually come from; and to what extent does it reflect our deepest values, in eating as a free people in a free country….?
Hazon means vision. As an organization, they’re committed to creating healthy and sustainable communities in the Jewish world and beyond. They do this in three primary ways: transformative experiences for individuals and communities; thought leadership in the fields of Jewish and environmental knowledge; support of the Jewish environmental movement in North America and Israel. They’re programs are multi-generational and give entry points for Jews of all backgrounds who are concerned about the environment and the world. Hazon serves a national and international population; members of every denomination and those who are unaffiliated; intergenerational from children to seniors – including families and singles, with a particular focus on young adults interested in developing the skills to take on leadership roles in their communities and make a difference in the world.
Photo by RonAlmog, licensed under Creative Commons.
Keeping Kosher?
For some people the decision is easy, and for others it’s a little more complicated. To keep Kosher or not to keep Kosher is a question that many Jews grapple with for certain. As you make up your mind about the issue, here are a few Jewish and Kosher Food links that we found interesting…
The Jew and the Carrot – a blog about Jews, Food, and Contemporary Issues.- The Detroit Free Press reports on taking a business Kosher.
- An Alef writer discusses why she eats the other white meat.
- One blogger’s Jewish Food Cookbook.
- Huffington Post excerpt from Sue Fishkoff’s book, Kosher Nation: Why More and More of America’s Food Answers to a Higher Authority.
For more on Jewish Food, check out Alef’s Issue #23: Why I Eat What I Eat.
Photo by BecomingJewish.org, licensed under Creative Commons.
Prep for Purim
If you’ve been hearing a lot about “groggers,” “hamantaschen,” and “megillahs” in the last week or so, that’s because Purim is officially on the horizon – Saturday evening into Sunday March 19th and 20th to be exact (or the 13th and 14th of Adar if you’re going by the Hebrew calendar).
Here’s a quick breakdown of what to expect from all this chatter:
Grogger
The grogger is traditionally the noisemaker of choice for congregants and party-goers alike while listening to the story of Esther, used to drown out the sound of the name “Haman,” the villain in question. For some, they’re also a sign of drunken revelry. For the reading of the megillah, listeners are strongly urged to drink to the point of confusion between the good guy (Mordechai) and the villain (Haman).
Hamantaschen
Yes, there will be food. You may recognize these triangle-shaped, jelly-filled cookies (see above) from bakery shelves all year round, but they are actually the signature treat of Purim.
Megillah
“Megillah” is the generic term for a scroll but is traditionally used to describe the biblical writings. Among these is the story of Purim found in the Book of Esther, which will be told and celebrated in Purim Spiels all over the land.
Alef is joining in the celebration with a few bits to get you through the holiday, like this video from the Maccabeats (made famous by their Hanukkah-ized interpretation of the song “Dynamite”) or this Purim Spoof of The Jewish Week. Stay tuned.
Photo by Plutor, licensed under Creative Commons.
Here’s One For the Recipe Books
When we talk about how people choose to eat on Alef, usually we’re referring to Jews keeping kosher, making changes to live sustainably, or even just deciding where to buy their lox.
This week, we’ve discovered a whole new category of person sharing the reasons behind why they eat what they eat. The Shiksa in the Kitchen, Tori Avey, is a Jew by choice with a keen eye for Jewish cuisine. Her blog is downright full of mouthwatering recipes that might just change the way you cook and eat.
Photo by Zawezome, licensed under Creative Commons.
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