These reflections were written by participants in Rabbi Julie’s Pre-Passover workshop, Seder During Wartime, in April 2024. Continue reading
Tag Archives: Sarita Eisenberg
Shabbat in Uzbekistan
We spent two Shabbatot in Uzbekistan.
The first Shabbat was in Bukhara. The men in our group attended Friday services (we had been told earlier in the day by the Rabbi that women do not attend services on Friday).
Afterwards we all made our way for Shabbat dinner to the home of a Muslim family who specializes in cooking kosher meals for Israeli tour groups. Continue reading
Shabbat Your Way Message From Rabbi Julie
Dear Shomrei Community,
Every Friday night when we bless the wine for Kiddush, we sing both of the creation of the world and the exodus from Egypt. It’s a reminder that it is only as free people that we can pause our work and celebrate Shabbat. And this year, the one and only Shabbat during Passover falls on Shabbat Your Way!
Even though there won’t be any challah, we encourage you to have or host Shabbat Your Way on April 26.
And please share your Shabbat Passover story with us at email hidden; JavaScript is required.
MESH Report April 9, 2024
The sun shone brightly and spirits were high as our energetic volunteers prepared 50 take-away meals for our MESH guests. Working hard on chopping were Rabbi Julie and her sons Ilan and Rafael. Always willing volunteer Susan Rosenblatt filled little cups with tartar sauce while Carole Rothman wrapped Italian rolls. Alex Kent got the main course ready for the oven. Continue reading
Purim in Uzbekistan
I was sorry to be missing the Shomrei Purim celebrations. But I was looking forward to celebrating Purim in another country.
We met with Rabbi Abram Ishakov the day before Purim, on Friday. Rabbi Abram is the rabbi of the synagogue in Bukhara, Uzbekistan, a Jewish community of about 100 people. Continue reading
MESH Report February 27, 2024
A most efficient crew prepared and packed Chef Sarita’s hearty, tasty and nutritious BBQ Chicken Feast for 50 in a repeat record time of 2 hours. The A+ Team included Captain Sarita Eisenberg, #1 First Mate Lou Hammerman, and First Class crew members Linda Ariel, Susan Rosenblatt and Lynne Kurzweil.
Quick-ish Soups
We love soup in the winter. However, many soups take 2-3 hours to cook and I don’t always leave myself enough time to make the soup to have for dinner the same day. These are a few soups that take an hour or less to prepare.
Continue reading
Hardening the Heart: Thoughts on Parashat Va’era
The notion of hardening the heart occurs 20 times in the book of Exodus.
Ten of these occurrences state either that Pharoah hardened his [own] heart (8:28, 9:34) or say that Pharoah’s heart hardened, suggesting that this was something that Pharoah did on his own (7:13, 7:14, 7:22, 8:11, 8:15, 9:7 , 9:35). The other ten occurrences attribute the heart hardening to God (4:21, 7:3, 9:12, 10:1, 10:20, 10:27, 11:10, 14:4, 14:8, 14:17).
The idea that God intentionally hardened Pharoah’s heart has always troubled me. Why would God do that? And how, if God made this happen, can we blame Pharoah and hold him accountable for his actions? Continue reading
MESH Report Sept 12, 2023
Our team for this first MESH of the year included Linda Ariel, Lou Hammerman, Lynne Kurzweil and me (Sarita Eisenberg).
We made our signature dish of barbeque chicken – each guest received 2 drumsticks with a generous side of roasted potatoes and a slice of bread. The meal also included a serving of cole slaw, fuit cup, cookies (left over from Selichot), and a bottle of water. Continue reading
Recipes for a Sweet Year
It’s traditional to have honey on Rosh Hashanah to symbolize our hope for a sweet new year. That includes dipping apple and challah in honey. Over the years, I’ve also accumulated some recipes with honey that I make only at this time of the year – on Rosh Hashanah itself or during the period between Rosh Hashanah and Sukkot. Continue reading