Tu B’Shvat Strudel (a very different kind)
As promised, here is my Tu B’Shvat recipe for your enjoyment.
In our family this recipe goes back at least all the way back to my great-grandmother. When my mother was 19, my grandmother suffered a stroke from which she did not recover. Along with all the other losses, [...]
Posts from ‘January, 2010’
Tu B’Shvat Strudel (a very different kind)
Checking Fruit for Insects – Tu B’Shvat
As balmy spring-like weather gave way to four straight days of rain last week, all of us in Israel were reminded that the winter is far from over. The rain was a fitting gift for the fruit trees (and their growers) as they get ready for Tu B’shvat, the Jewish Arbor Day, in just a [...]
Do We Value Children?
A month ago, I visited my relatives in Russia. From the few TV programs I watched while there, it appeared that children are the number one issue on the Russian agenda. Yet, there seemed to be a cognitive dissonance between the declarations about the importance and the value of children and the fact that Russians [...]
The Israeli Hospital in Haiti – even CNN noticed
The Israeli medical team in Haiti must be REALLY amazing to have drawn praise even from the CNN.
You’ve got to see it to believe it. It is not going to be repeated any time soon, unless G-d forbid another major disaster strikes for Israelis to run helping. I guess as far as CNN is concerned [...]
Egg-free Schnitzel (Not for Allergics Alone)
What do you do when a sudden lifestyle change prevents you from enjoying something you like? Last year, when my nursing baby was diagnosed with an egg allergy (preventing me from eating fried eggs as well), I needed to find an idea for making schnitzel without eggs.
Schnitzel is a staple at our house. My husband [...]
The Danger of Parenting Books
What has been the worst decision of your life? For me, buying a subscription to a parenting magazine some 10 years ago has become the most destructive mistake I have ever made.
Since I was born in Russia, my parents had a hierarchical, children-are-children, parents-are-parents, approach to child-rearing. And that was exactly the attitude with which [...]
The Point of Divergence
In the wake of the recent Leib Tropper scandal, I have read quite a lot about his Eternal Jewish Family and its ongoing battle against Modern Orthodox and Religious Zionist conversions in the US and in Israel. While many bloggers view it as a power struggle, I think that the political differences are an extension [...]
Buckwheat – the Other Side Dish
One Thursday, during the early years of our marriage, my husband and I discussed the upcoming Shabbat dinner menu. “Can you think of an interesting side dish,” he asked. “I am tired of rice and potatoes.” A quick perusal of my only cookbook at the time left us disappointed. Rice and potatoes was all it [...]
TSA Security Measures
When I was a kid back in Russia, my family would spend all our summer vacations in Yalta, a seaside resort on the Black Sea. One year, as we were driving to the airport for our flight back home, we were stopped by the police and diverted into the local botanical gardens. Together with several [...]
Seven Ways to Bring Moshiach
This week’s Maayanei Hayeshua shabbat pamphlet published an interview with Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu’s wife, Rabbanit Tova. Amidst stories of other patients healed following a blessing from Rav Eliyahu, she recalled a conversation in which she asked why he was not praying for himself. Rav Eliyahu answered that he was accepting the suffering upon himself in [...]
