Focusing on the miracle of the oil
For us to become a glowing menorah, casting light in and around us, and lighting up the world, we must be oil-like. (photo from Cinco Resources, Inc.) The story of Chanukah takes us back to the year 164 BCE, two…
Life
Going with the flow in Petra
An ancient water reservoir at Petra. (photo by Orli Fields) Desert living is tough. The toughest part of it is having water fit for consumption. Nobody knew this better than the Nabatean people. The desert was their home. Some 2,600…
Navigating Northern Ireland
The HMS Caroline, a First World War light cruiser, is worth visiting. (photo by Deborah Rubin Fields) Identified for so long – from the late 1960s to the late 1990s – by “the Troubles,” peace appears to be bringing both…
Bevis Marks 315 years later
The interior of Bevis Marks Synagogue looking towards the ark and with the bima in the left foreground. The ark is made of oak, but painted to look like Italian marble, as are the supports to the ladies gallery. (photo…
Chanukiyah’s evolution
When the Second Temple was destroyed, its menorah was said to have been taken to Rome. This is depicted, with the menorah being carried by Jewish slaves, in a carving on the inside of the Arch of Titus. (photo by…
Dreidel’s lasting popularity
Dreidels from the author’s dreidel collection. Clockwise from the top left: a hand-painted dreidel with an open top; a hand-painted dreidel on a base; a felt dreidel; a hand-painted dreidel; and, in the centre, a tiny hand-painted glass dreidel. (photo…
The genie in the chanukiyah
Alan Dean was the world’s largest manufacturer and distributor of Chanukah menorahs. “You what!” Zoe’s father was yelling at her. Again. “You traded my lamp?” Nothing Zoe did seemed good enough for Dad. Her room was too messy. Her grades…
Decembers of my childhood
This story comes from the book Life Doesn’t Get Any Better Than This: The Holiness of Little Daily Dramas (Read the Spirit, 2015). *** My father used to take showers with the lady next door. It was all pretty…
Lovin’ from the oven
A young Dawn Lerman with her grandmother, Beauty (photo from Dawn Lerman via JNS.org) In her memoir My Fat Dad, New York Times wellness blogger and nutritionist Dawn Lerman (@dawnlerman) shares her food journey and that of her father, a…
Figuring out family holidays
Adam Brody played Seth Cohen in the show The O.C. and celebrated “Chrismukkah.” (photo from cookiesandsangria.files.wordpress.com) If nothing else, The O.C., the popular 2003-07 American television show that featured the overblown dramas of hyper-privileged Orange County teens and their self-obsessed…
