Every year the International Board on Books for Young People sponsors a day to celebrate children’s books. Called International Children’s Book Day,  the celebration falls on Hans Christian Andersen’s birthday, April 2.  The intent is to both  inspire a love of reading and to call attention to children’s books.

This year’s poster and message come from the United States. The colorful poster was designed by Roger Mello, an internationally acclaimed illustrator, author , and awinner of the Hans Christian Andersen award. Continue reading →

Oh, today we’ll merry, merry be! Ooops…wrong holiday. But certainly we should be merry, or at least rejoice, as we celebrate freedom. What is more precious?

The following resources will help you to have an enlightening, delicious, and fulfilling holiday. Continue reading →

March is a very busy month with Passover coming up shortly. However,  Women’s history month and the celebration of brave, strong, accomplished women can’t be glossed over.

Think back to the women of the Bible who led, who were warriors, who spoke up for their rights and who were often unsung.

Strong women have also been a part of Jewish fiction, often appearing as matriarchs who buoyed up their menfolk. And it’s a truism that fiction may not be “real”  but it can certainly be “true.”

Enjoy the following books for both children and adults. And, remember, if you’ve never heard of her, often a book for younger readers is an excellent way to learn about an unfamiliar person. Continue reading →

While Tu B’Shevat is behind us, we should always be aware of our natural surroundings, their blessings and their challenges. Dayenu: a Jewish call to climate action is a “movement of American Jews confronting the climate crisis with spiritual audacity and bold political action. We care deeply about equity and justice in our world and about the future we create for our children and future generations. We believe that together, drawing from our Jewish tradition, experience, and faith, we have the power to create real and lasting change.” Continue reading →

January should be called Soup Month- in fact it is. Along with baths, birds and hugs, soup is celebrated in January although it’s perfect any month of the year. Just ask Maurice Sendak whose slim book Chicken Soup with Rice celebrates that staple in every month of the year.

Soup can be silkily elegant or chunkily hearty. It can whet your appetite for what comes next or make you feel satisfyingly full.

In fact, soup can be whatever you want it to be and can be made with almost anything. In addition, cooking soups from different Jewish communities is a great way to learn about different Jewish cultures. It can also be the inspiration for stories for the young and reminiscences for the older folks. Continue reading →

Today,  January 21, marks the 69th anniversary off the Wannsee Conference. Wannsee was a small suburban area of Berlin known for its two lakes and forests. Many members  of royalty had built castles in the area and, in more modern times, prominent wealthy Berliners built mansions. A prominent recreational area, several events from the 1936 Olympics were held in its woods and on its golf course.

The area is most well known, however, for what came to be called the Wannsee Conference held on January 20, 1942.  Nazi officials from Interior, Justice, Propaganda, Occupied Eastern Territories and 4-year plan— though not Hitler, Goebbels, or Himmler- met at the Wannsee Villa to formulate the final solution to the Jewish problem and to  definitely establish who was a Jew and who was a mischling  (mixed).

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Mondays @ 1 pm
Return to Torah Hosted By: Judaism Unbound
https://www.jewishlive.org/returntotorah

This weekly class is an opportunity to learn from Richard Elliott Friedman, author of the bestselling, most-assigned book on the Bible, Who Wrote the Bible?

Our new knowledge of Torah in this extraordinary generation, thanks to archaeology and new understandings in almost every area of the Bible, can be a comfort in this moment – and for long into the future. Continue reading →

Eliezer Ben-Yehuda, the father of modern Hebrew, was born on January 7, 1858 in what is now Belarus. Like many Jewish boys of his time, he was raised to be a rabbi and scholar of traditional Jewish texts. However, he was exposed to the Enlightenment’s modern languages and thought and eventually moved to Palestine. There he put into practice his goal of reviving Hebrew as a spoken language which, he felt, would replace Yiddish and other immigrant languages and unite the Jewish residents of Palestine. Continue reading →

Don’t forget to sign up for A Very Jewish Christmas Eve, ( also called Nittel Nacht) a night  of discussion, a Chinese cooking demo, trivia, and comedy. Unfortunately, you’ll have to bring your own Chinese food. Sponsored by My Jewish Learning the evening runs from 7-11 p.m. on December 24. Click here to sign up. 

My Jewish Learning has thousands of articles, videos and resources on all aspects of jewish life. No matter your knowledge or your practice, there is something for you on this site. It is non-denominational.   Continue reading →