Dec 10
Jeanette Friedmanholidays, judaism, life cycle events and celebrations
BY JEANETTE FRIEDMAN
NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM
In the secular country that created Santa Claus, not too far from the North Pole, where the nights start early and are bitterly cold and long, Rabbi Binyomin Wolff of Chabad Finland lit a giant Chanukah menorah made of ice near the city’s railroad station, at 3 in the afternoon. More important than the traditional latkes and donuts were the gallons of hot chocolate that warmed the fingers and bellies of 400 folks from all over, including statesmen and politicians, who blessed the Chanukah lights. The hot cocoa is a sweet lure — for in Finland, light has strong meaning and plays an important role in society. It sustains the Finns — and the message will last at least as long as the menorah does. It won’t melt until March.
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Dec 06
Jeanette Friedmanholidays, interfaith relations, life cycle events and celebrations, liturgy, local stories/community, social action
It’s become almost commonplace for hundreds of thousands of people to attend grand public Chanukah menorah lightings in metropolises and in front of statehouses dotting the American landscape. But the first such ceremony, in Philadelphia’s Old City in 1974, included less than a handful of Jews; they watched as a Soviet émigré stood in front of the Liberty Bell and lit a small menorah.
As he stood there celebrating religious freedom and the Chanukah message of light’s victory over darkness, Chabad-Lubavitch Rabbi Avraham Shemtov prayed from the depths of his soul that his small public act would fuel a groundswell of religious pride. Three years later, President Jimmy Carter would welcome the first National Menorah on the Ellipse in front of the White House; seven years later, President Ronald Reagan would endorse Shemtov’s hope in the form of a letter after the first presidential Chanukah party.
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Nov 30
Jeanette Friedmaneducation, holidays, Jews, judaism
By Jeanette Friedman, Chabad.edu
Nov 30, 2010 9:00 AM
Tufts University was founded in 1852 to be a shining light on the hill – Medford, Mass.’s Walnut Hill, to be exact – and nestled on its New England campus stands the eternal flame that burns 24/7 at the Chabad House Jewish Student Center, where Rabbi Tzvi and Chanie Backman offer a home away from home for the university’s Jewish members.
Wednesday night, hundreds of them will gather at the center of campus as the folks at Jewish Jumbo, as the Chabad-Lubavitch center is affectionately known, celebrate the Festival of Lights by lighting a giant Chanukah menorah with the assistance of University President Lawrence Bacow.
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Nov 24
Jeanette Friedmanholidays
By Jeanette Friedman
Nov 23, 2010 11:30 AM
With the olive harvest two weeks late and Chanukah arriving two weeks early, rabbis across the country have been praying that they’ll get enough of the ripe fruit in time for holiday classes. As they do every year, they want to visit area schools and synagogues to show just how Jewish craftsmen made the oil used at the first Festival of Lights.
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Mar 15
Jeanette Friedmanholidays
NEW YORK (JTA) — Seder night is a challenge. There’s just so much to do and so many things to put on the table!
With so much “stuff” there, who is going to notice those gorgeous new napkin rings or your gleaming flatware and crystal glasses?
In addition to a formal setting — charger, dinner plate, appetizer plate, water glasses and wine glasses, four kinds of forks (salad, fish, meat and dessert), two knives (one for fish, one for meat), three spoons (appetizer, soup and tea), and dinner napkins — there are ceremonial foods and objects that need to be available to the seder leader.
Sometimes making enough room means adding leaves to the table, putting two tables together or putting a round table at the end of a rectangular one.
Keep things as simple as possible. Use rectangular tables and get the smallest folding chairs you can find. You can get sturdy folding tables at Home Depot or Lowe’s, or use hollow core doors on saw-horses.
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