Experience Israel 2.0 - Home Judaism 101 Why Do People Hate The Jews? Why Do People Hate The Jews? It has been said that the history of almost all of the Jewish holidays can be summed up succinctly: "They wanted to kill us; we won. Let's eat." Between the years 250 CE and 1948 CE - a period of 1,700 years - Jews have experienced more than eighty expulsions from various countries in Europe - an average of nearly one expulsion every twenty-one years. Historians have classified six explanations as to why people hate the Jews: Economic -- "We hate Jews because they possess too much wealth and power." As we examine the explanations, we must ask -- Are they the causes for anti-Semitism or excuses for Anti-Semitism? Economic -- The Jews of 17th- 20th century Poland and Russia were dirt poor, had no influence and yet they were hated. Every other hated group is hated for a relatively defined reason. Now we know what are NOT the reasons for anti-Semitism. The Reason for Anti-Semitism (article) The Reason for Anti-Semtism (online seminar) by: Rabbi Kalman Packouz
Soul Food The Jewish Dietary Laws The Premier Kosher Information Source on the Internet by Rabbi Mordechai Becher, Yeshiva Ohr Somayach Copyright ©1999 Ohr Somayach International - All rights reserved.; Reprinted with permission of the publisher. This article first appeared in Ask The Rabbi, 6 February 1999, Issue #225, Parshat Yisro Few activities are as instinctive as eating, and few activities have such a profound impact on us physiologically, psychologically and spiritually. Many people do not give much thought to when, what and how they eat until their cardiologist tells them to lower their cholesterol or their friends begin to ask if they are pregnant (for men this question is especially disturbing). A kosher animal must be a ruminant and have split hooves -- cows, sheep, goats and deer are all kosher, whereas camels and pigs (having each only one sign of kashrut) are not kosher. References: The Jewish Dietary Laws, Isidore Grunfeld, Soncino Press, London.
Jewish Singles Events from LetMyPeopleGo.com - Partnerships and Sponsorship Since 1995, LetMyPeopleGo.com has sponsored some of the nation's biggest singles events, geared for single Jewish singles in their 20's, 30's and 40's. We host many events throughout the year, from intimate affairs of 200-300 people, to larger events of 500-1000 to The Ball - the Nation's Biggest Singles Event 18 years in a row, attended by 3,000-4,000+ annually in NYC alone. We are uniquely situated to help you reach this desirable demographic directly and affordably, online and off. Email sponsorships provide permission-based access to our members through their inbox. On LetMyPeopleGo.com, we can help create buzz for your product, service or company with banner ads and direct links to your website. At our events, you can interact with our members in-person and one-on-one and can even complement this interaction with pre-event and post-event communications. Partner with us to reach single young professionals: In their inbox: On the Web In Person
The Jewish Holidays Directory Jewish Holidays Around the Year Click Here For Your Purim Guide Jewish Holidays are so Jewish! How so, you may ask? Though Jewish Holidays are celebrated each year, the time of celebration depends on the Lunar based Hebrew Calendar, with each month beginning with the new moon. Unlike the Gregorian calendar used by most of the world which arbitrarily sets the length of months to 28, 30 or 31 days, so it corresponds to the 365.5 days of the Solar year, the Jewish calendar coordinates the astronomical characteristics of our cosmological environment, the Months are either 29 or 30 days corresponding with the 29½-day lunar cycle, and the years are either 12 or 13 months, corresponding to the 12.4 month solar cycle. As a result, some years we celebrate Chanukah around Thanksgiving time and other years closer to New Years Day, and the high holidays are upon us at times in early to mid September and other years Rosh Hashannah, Yom Kippur and Sukkot/Simchat Torah are celebrated in October.
shakshuka There are a lot of reasons to make shakshuka, an Israeli Tunisian dish of eggs poached in a spicy tomato sauce: It sounds like the name of a comic book hero. Or some kind of fierce, long-forgotten martial art. Or perhaps something that said comic book hero would yell as they practiced this elaborate martial art, mid-leap with their fist in the air. Or you could make it because when I talked about making eggs in tomato sauce a while back a large handful of comments were along the lines of “oh, this sounds like shakshuka” and “I think you would love shakshuka” and “you really should make shakshuka” and you may have shrugged and forgotten about it until you finally had it at a café one day and whoa it turns out you really would like shakshuka! Or you could make it because that café had the audacity to close for Passover last week, right when you had the fiercest shakshuka craving yet. I mean, couldn’t they just not serve it with pitas? Serves 4 to 6
Sukkah City: NYC 2010 How the Jews Invented Checks How the Jews Invented Checks Kai Feng Jews A Christian merchant in 12th century London once remarked, “As long as Isaac of York trusted his brother Jacob of Marseilles, and both of them trusted their cousin Joseph of Jerusalem, all three stood to make a profit.” That wasn’t true just in the Middle Ages; it was true in the ancient world as well. Paper money was first invented by the Chinese in the 11th century, but evidence of the first check came from the geniza of the Great Ezra Synagogue of Cairo, which dates back to the 9th century. Cairo Genizah Fragment from Maimonides' son The check found was written by a Jew from Baghdad to a Jew in Cairo, and it read, “Please give Joseph, the bearer of this check, a hundred coins,” and it’s signed. Now as we all know, trust depends upon honesty. When I first came to Israel to live, my wife and I wanted to carpet one of the rooms in our home. “Oh, no,” I thought to myself.
Potato Latkes For Chanukah! Above: My children's Chanukiot (menorahs) on Saturday night, the 2nd night of Chanukah Potato latkes (pancakes) are a classic and delicious Chanukah dish. And since it's now Chanukah I am taking a tiny break from crafting to celebrate the holiday with my family, which involves feeding them! I made latkes tonight, but since I eyeball most of the quantities, my own recipe would be a bit too vague. So thanks to some help from my friends over at gourmetkoshercooking.com here's a few simple recipes with exact measurements: Classic Potato Latkes 10 potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks 1 onion, peeled and cut into chunks 4 eggs ½ teaspoon pepper 1-1/2 teaspoons salt Oil for frying (canola is a good choice) In a food processor, using the grater blade, (or with a hand grater) grate the potatoes and onions. Note from creativejewishmom: My family prefers Moroccan/Israeli style cooking, so applesauce and latkes is strange to them. Sweet Potato Latkes
Khazaria.com - History of Jewish Khazars, Khazar Turk, Khazarian Jews