Celebrate

Israeli Weddings Going Alternative

Dani Shetrit — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 22:02:23 +0000

Israelis are increasingly seeking to modify the marriage ceremony, within bounds.

Linda Gradstein / JTA

Tuesday, December 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.”

Garden Party

Dani Shetrit — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 21:59:00 +0000

For Israelis, outdoor venues for wedding ceremonies and receptions are very popular, despite the heat.

Michele Chabin

Israel Correspondent

Tuesday, December 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 Mirth Of The Bar Mitzvah

Dani Shetrit — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 21:57:18 +0000

The coming-of-age ritual, in the hands of filmmakers and writers.

Stephen Whitfield

JointMedia News Service

Tuesday, December 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.

Holy Mascara!

Dani Shetrit — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 21:55:18 +0000

Beauty dos, don’ts, how-tos and whys. Where? The Bible.

Angela Himsel

Special To The Jewish Week

Tuesday, December 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.

For Daily Cooking And Entertaining

Dani Shetrit — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 21:53:49 +0000

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Several handsome new cookbooks offer suggestions for daily cooking and entertaining. And one of them tells how to keep it all “green.”

For The Love Of An Onion Roll

Dani Shetrit — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 21:51:55 +0000

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

Tuesday, December 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.

Celebrate December 2011

Dani Shetrit — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 21:49:00 +0000

Beauty secrets from the Bible, old-world bakery recipes, outdoor weddings in Israel, and more.

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Celebrate Showcase

Janet Hoffman — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 15:46:00 +0000

Tradition never goes out of style.

The Book On Bat Mitzvah Projects

Dani Shetrit — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 15:22:30 +0000

Twelve-year-old’s project turns out to be a book on the subject.

Tuesday, April 5, 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.

Just Desserts

Dani Shetrit — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 15:20:00 +0000

The cakemaker to the stars still likes it best
when customers actually cut into his creations.

Amy Spiro

Editorial Assistant

Tuesday, April 5, 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.

Wild About Saffron (And Tumeric)

Dani Shetrit — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 15:18:00 +0000

The exotic culinary-cultural journey of the author of ‘Persian Food from the Non-Persian Bride.’

Sandee Brawarsky

Jewish Week Book Critic

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

W hen her new Persian relatives told her that she’d never be able to learn to make dolmeh, stuffed grape leaves, Reynah Simnegar grew determined to prepare this staple of Persian cuisine. She brought her husband’s grandmother into the kitchen and insisted that she not leave until she taught her. Although the older woman didn’t speak much English and Reyna didn’t understand Farsi, they worked together until Reyna mastered the “little bundles of joy.”

Simcha Necessities? There’s A Gemach For That

Dani Shetrit — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 14:36:00 +0000

Having lost its stigma,
the rental-shop concept is now expanding.

Tamar Snyder

Staff Writer

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

At a wedding the other evening, the guests peered at the tall glass vase filled with white calla lilies in full bloom. “Do you think they’re real?” a woman asked the guests seated around the table. “They look real,” another replied. “Why don’t you touch them and see?” said a third.

The State Of The Art Of The Jewish Marriage Contract

Dani Shetrit — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 14:34:00 +0000

Ketubot past and present, from here to Philadelphia.

Diane Cole

Special To The Jewish Week

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

T here’s an art to marriage — quite literally so, when it comes to the decorative art of the Jewish marriage contract, known in Hebrew as the ketubah.

My Big, Fat, Mixed-Union Wedding

Dani Shetrit — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 14:32:00 +0000

She’s Ashkenazi, he’s Sephardi: what’s a couple to do?

Michele Chabin

Israel Correspondent

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Jerusalem — When Debbie Miller and her then-boyfriend, Ofer Valkurlker, decided to marry, they knew their wedding would be a fusion of east and west. Miller is American-born and Ashkenazi while Valkurlker, who is a member of the B’nei Menashe community, was born in India.

Celebrate April 2011

Dani Shetrit — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 14:30:00 +0000

Cross-cultural weddings, ketubot past and present, cakemaker to the stars, wild about saffron (and tumeric), and more.

Tuesday, April 5, 2011