Holidays

The Sun Belt is so yesterday.

Temple Beth Shalom in Sun City is inviting the women of the community to a Women’s Interactive Seder, “to share a Passover experience with a feminine twist,” organizers say.

If your Passover seder is anything like mine, it can resemble the world’s most difficult classroom: different ages, ranging from 3 to 93, and varying levels of interest. Some want to read and discuss every word in the Haggadah, some just want to get to the food – and everything in between.

What kind of leadership style works best for a seder? During a period when we are experiencing a shake-up in national leadership, you may want to re-examine the relationship that exists between leader and participants at the Passover meal.

Author Naomi Nachman, known as “The Aussie Gourmet,” shares some of her favorite Passover recipes that make delicious meals all year round in her debut cookbook “Perfect for Pesach: Passover Recipes You’ll Want to Make All Year, released this month by Artscroll ($30, hardcover).

Passover requires a great deal of preparation, especially if you are making your home kosher for Passover.

Gesher Disability Resources (formerly Council for Jews with Special Needs) will be hosting its second annual community model Passover seder 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Sunday, March 26, at The New Shul, 7825 E. Paradise Lane, Scottsdale.

With costumes, spiels and lots of drinking, Purim is one of Judaism’s most raucous holidays. You might know about beautiful Esther thwarting evil Haman’s plans, the custom of getting drunk and what hamantaschen are. But we’re guessing there’s a few things about Purim, which this year starts at sundown March 11, that might surprise you.

VOSJCC brings back communitywide Purim carnival: The Valley of the Sun JCC is bringing back its communitywide Purim carnival, which will take place 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday, March 12 on the soccer fields of the JCC, 12701 N. Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale.

The Midrash in Kohelet Rabbah teaches that God told man He created everything for him. “Be careful not to spoil or destroy my world – for if you do, there will be nobody after you to repair it,” God said.

Eight days of a holiday allows for a variety of celebration options, from building a menorah to lighting one, as well as opportunities for mitzvah projects and even a Jewish Heritage Night hockey game hosted by the Arizona Coyotes. Here are some snapshots from this year’s Hanukkah events.

The Menorah Candle Company, a manufacturer and exporter of millions of Hanukkah candles worldwide, is one of the oldest businesses in the industrial zone of Sderot, the Negev city better known as a frequent target for Hamas rockets than for its commerce.

We love Hanukkah. The message that the Rabbis in the Talmud give about the holiday is that we light candles each night in order to increase the holiness in the world. 

New York’s Jewish Museum is shining a bright light on the many forms and enduring ritual uses of Hanukkah lamps from around the world in a new exhibit that runs through the winter holiday season.

Hanukkah is a celebration, a joyful holiday with delicious food and family memories. I remember lighting our menorah as a little girl with my bubbe. Now, raising my daughter, I hope to create special memories with her.

They’re sometimes greasy, sometimes salty and soggy, and they are fried in oil. They’re high in calories sometimes; high fat – sometimes; high cholesterol – sometimes. But they’re oh, so good!

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LOS ANGELES — It was just a few weeks ago, on the night of Nov. 8, that my family had all anxiously exchanged text messages as we watched the election results trickle in. State by state, my Hillary-loving family saw our hopes slipping away — and now, too soon, we are going to have to gather around the dining room table to celebrate Thanksgiving.

By the time Sukkot arrives, we are three weeks into nonstop Jewish holiday mode. Some people might be a little tired of cooking, and I don’t blame them one bit.

At its High Holiday services this year, Temple Havurat Emet in Chandler will hold a special ritual for one of its members, Holocaust survivor Irving Berk.  

Beth Emeth Congregation invites the community to a free community service for Rosh Hashanah at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 3, and for Yom Kippur at 1:15 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 12, at 13702 W. Meeker Blvd. Sun City West.

Tomchei Shabbos of Phoenix, a 501(c)(3) charitable organization that provides food to needy families for Shabbat and the High Holidays, is seeking help from the public for these families.    

There is a lot of beauty to the traditional synagogue experience. However, a traditional High Holidays service just does not speak to some – especially many young adults.

If you’re like me, you blog, read and share a lot of political stuff. But who really reads these posts and articles all the way through? Especially with the longer stories, who has time to look up the sources, or check if that odd photo was first posted on some sketchy partisan website?

For Rosh Hashanah, many of us eat an apple dipped in honey as an auspicious sign for a sweet new year. The symbolism is clear, and the ritual as easy to pull off as squeezing a bear-shaped plastic bottle of honey.