Israelis are increasingly seeking to modify the marriage ceremony, within bounds.
Linda Gradstein / JTA
12/13/2011
Jerusalem — Anna Melman and Ari Bronstein are in the midst of planning their wedding, which will be held next month in Israel. They have a venue and a rabbi. But they want to find ways of making the traditional ceremony more egalitarian.
“In the wedding ceremony as it is now, the bride is inherently passive,” Melman told JTA. “We wanted to do something where it would be more egalitarian within the confines of a non-egalitarian ritual. I wanted to have more of a voice.”
For Israelis, outdoor venues for wedding ceremonies and receptions are very popular, despite the heat.
Michele Chabin
Israel Correspondent
12/13/2011
Jerusalem — When Miriam Sushman and her then-fiancé, Owen, were planning a summer wedding, they searched for an outdoor venue that would reflect their love of nature.
“Israel is such a beautiful country and I couldn’t imagine not getting married outdoors if the weather was nice. Also, we both love nature and enjoy hiking,” Sushman, a photographer, said.
The coming-of-age ritual, in the hands of filmmakers and writers.
Stephen Whitfield
JointMedia News Service
12/13/2011
Think of what might happen to the Jewish calendar if literary scholars got their hands on it. Tisha b’Av would be classified as a tragedy; Tu b’Shvat would come under the heading of the pastoral; and Yom Kippur could serve as a soliloquy. But what would the bar mitzvah ceremony be? The answer is obvious: a comedy.
Beauty dos, don’ts, how-tos and whys. Where? The Bible.
Angela Himsel
Special To The Jewish Week
12/13/2011
The Bible as a moral guide, the Bible as a record of historical events, the Bible as God’s revelation to man — yes. But the Bible as the original Glamour Magazine?
Yes! According to “Biblical Beauty: Ancient Secrets and Modern Solutions” (Anbern Press) by Rachelle Weisberger, the Bible provides excellent advice for everything from keeping your skin hydrated to the importance of choosing a good lipstick and mascara before heading out for that black-tie event.
With old-world recipes for everything from Russian coffee cake to New York Water Bagels, new book brings life to the ‘Golden Age of Jewish Baking.’
Sandee Brawarsky
Jewish Week Book Critic
12/13/2011
It wasn’t only grandmothers who shoved the onion rolls into their pocketbooks at Ratner’s. The soft, freshly baked rolls flecked with onions and poppy seeds that appeared in bottomless baskets on tables in the Lower East Side restaurant, reappeared in the kitchens of many diners the following morning — that is, if the rolls weren’t already enjoyed on the way home.
Twelve-year-old’s project turns out to be a book on the subject.
04/05/2011
W hen it came to choosing a bat mitzvah project, Alexandra Kukoff had a long, make-the-world-a-better-place list: volunteer at an animal shelter, help out at a soup kitchen, take on an environmental project, and so on. She knew she needed to pick just one if she had any hopes of completing a project in time for her Aug. 20 celebration.
The cakemaker to the stars still likes it best
when customers actually cut into his creations.
Amy Spiro
Editorial Assistant
04/05/2011
Ron Ben-Israel wants you to know that he “is still a schlepper.” The cake decorator to the stars, who rocketed to wedding cake fame after being discovered by Martha Stewart, is still happy to pitch in with his small team and deliver his confectionary creations himself.
Tradition never goes out of style.
