We had what I consider to be small seders this year ― 6 people the first night at my sister’s and only 10 (plus our 2 toddler grandchildren) here for the second night.
I am from a family of six (I have 2 brothers and a sister). My mother had two sisters – each with a spouse, one with three children and the other with five. Adding in my grandparents meant that we had 20 people at each seder. So 20 is what I always considered to be a normal-sized seder. Continue reading
Our MESH guests were once again treated to a meal of barbeque chicken and roasted potatoes, this time with a side of chopped salad. For the three vegetarian meals, we warmed up leftover mini-quiches and cheese kugel from last Saturday’s kiddush. Continue reading
Pesach for me has always been about more than the actual week of the holiday. It starts several weeks before as I think about clearing out all the chametz from our pantry.
Here are a few of the recipes I’ve come up with over the years to use up pasta. During most of the year, I make pasta once or maybe twice a week. However in the last few weeks before Pesach, we might have pasta almost every night. We also usually have stockpiled several large jars of marinated artichokes as well as cans of beans and tomatoes. Continue reading
Synagogue of Santa María la Blanca, Toledo
When we visited the Czech Republic, it was bittersweet to see restored synagogues in every town we visited although there were no longer any Jews. But in Spain, as we found out on our recent visit, there is mostly nothing remaining. Jews were not only expelled from Spain but their heritage was erased. Continue reading
The team of Sarita Eisenberg, Lou Hammerman and Linda Ariel whipped up 30 meals and had them bagged and ready to go when Aileen Grossberg arrived at 4:45pm to bring them over to MESH.
Chef Sarita Eisenberg prepared 25 to-go meals assisted by Lou Hammerman, Linda Ariel and teen helper Jaden (taking time out from b’nai mitzvah preparation).
Rabbi Julie began Torah Study last Thursday (Oct 27) with a question – To what extent are we pursuing our own journey or continuing our parents’ journey?
Parshat Lech L’cha begins with God telling Abraham (Abram as he was then called) to start on a journey “to the land that I will show you (Genesis 12:1)”. Abram then gathers together his people and possessions and sets out for Canaan. This is, of course, a huge deal; but is it actually a break with the past?
This week’s MESH meal was prepared by the efficient foursome of Sarita Eisenberg, Lou Hammerman, Gail Stock and Ian Stock with assistance from Ehud Klinger. It took only two hours to prepare and pack the food into bags, which were loaded on carts and brought downstairs to be picked up by MESH staffer, Joe Tyson. Continue reading
Thank you to everyone who donated to this year’s High Holiday food drive. With your support, we were able to provide food to Family Promise, Toni’s KItchen and the Human Needs Food Pantry. We were also able to set aside some of the food to help keep for our LIttle Pantry stocked.
Thank you to Ehud Klinger for reminding us that it was time to start the food drive. Thank you to Shirley Grill for organizing the food drive and to Linda Ariel for assisting with the food delivery. Thank you also to Carlos Alegre and Ehud for helping to load up our cars. Continue reading
I did not grow up celebrating Sukkot. Lou built our first sukkah when our son was 2 years old. Each year Lou drags the sukkah pieces up from the basement and our now 36-year-old son comes over to help him put it together. We cut the schach from grasses that we grow in our yard and Lou spreads it on top of the sukkah. And then I hang the decorations – stained glass and metal ornaments that we’ve collected over the years. Continue reading