Category Life

Nature, adventure close up

photo - If you’re coming for the natural splendours of Costa Rica, you won’t leave disappointed

If you’re coming for the natural splendours of Costa Rica, you won’t leave disappointed. (photos by Lauren Kramer) This travel story comes with a caution: if you’re visiting Costa Rica for any reason other than its nature, don’t bother. Don’t…

A trip to a garden paradise

photo - If you are seeking a mecca for happiness, and are going to take your first trip with your baby, you might want to consider a relaxing and beautiful place like Hawaii

If you are seeking a mecca for happiness, and are going to take your first trip with your baby, you might want to consider a relaxing and beautiful place like Hawaii. (photos by Masada Siegel) According to a 2014 Gallup…

A Jewish gladiator?

photo - A painting from Pompeii showing gladiators fighting. It is housed in the National Archeology Museum in Naples

A painting from Pompeii showing gladiators fighting. It is housed in the National Archeology Museum in Naples. (photo by Deborah Rubin Fields) Among the fabulous finds of Pompeii is the helmet of an apparently Jewish gladiator. Who would have thought?…

Delicious and new recipes

photo - Naomi Nachman’s Fudgy Chocolate Bundt Cake with Coffee Glaze is gluten-free

Naomi Nachman’s Fudgy Chocolate Bundt Cake with Coffee Glaze is gluten-free. (photo by Miriam Pascal) What? Another cookbook for Pesach? Yes. And a welcome one – Perfect for Pesach: Passover Recipes You’ll Want to Make All Year by Naomi Nachman…

Familiar sounds of Passover

photo - Heron among the flowers near Kibbutz Be’eri, in southern Israel

Heron among the flowers near Kibbutz Be’eri, in southern Israel. (photo by Aliza Reshef via PikiWiki) There is something about Passover that speaks to almost every Jew. In 1840, in a book titled Der Rabbi von Bacharach, Heinrich Heine wrote:…

Food with long history

What food, served with cooked beef, is an essential component of a traditional wedding dinner in southern Germany? It is also used in salad served with lamb dishes at Easter in Transylvania and other Romanian regions. In Serbia, it is…

The path to our destination

More than 100 years ago, no one could have imagined the destruction that would ravage the earth, nor the scientific breakthroughs that would transform it. Yet, in every generation there are rare visionaries who provide us with a blueprint for…

Singing about national miracles

photo - “The Crossing of the Red Sea,” a painting by Nicolas Poussin, which was commissioned in 1632. It can be found at the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne, Australia

“The Crossing of the Red Sea,” a painting by Nicolas Poussin, which was commissioned in 1632. It can be found at the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne, Australia. (photo by Nicholas Poussin via Wikimedia Commons) The Israelites left Egypt…

Haggadah from 1500s

photo - Pages from the 1500s Passover Haggadah that was recently sold to the National Library of Israel

Pages from the 1500s Passover Haggadah that was recently sold to the National Library of Israel. (photo from Sotheby’s) On the right, a man sits and prays holding a liturgical book. On the left, a rabbi is seen explaining the…