By Ruth Abusch-Magder
Growing up on the snow-swept banks of Lake Ontario, I experienced the celebration of Tu B’Shvat as the triumph of hope over reality. The rebirth of vegetation was banished to the dark recesses of a damp bathroom closet, where we would try to get lima beans to sprout. If, by some miracle, the mold did not suffocate the potential for growth, the lack of sunshine that inevitably met the seedling upon transport from the recesses of the bathroom often meant a morbid end.
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By Ruth Abusch-Magder
San Francisco’s Contemporary Jewish Museum is taking a hands-on approach to learning Torah. Literally. Set to open on January 24, the exhibition From Verse to Universe: Reading the People’s Torah provides a unique opportunity for individuals to put their personal stamp on a letter of a Torah for the digital age.
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By Ruth Abusch-Magder
After considering a dreidl, but sharp points and angles don’t hold so well in dough art. So I decided to jump right in and make my challah into a menorah.
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By Ruth Abusch-Magder
Last Purim, I was touting my hamantaschen recipe to a friend. After years of searching, I had found one that folded easily, held its shape and actually tasted good. When my friend politely declined my offer to share because she was so happy with her recipe, I ventured to guess — correctly — that we were both baking the same cookies from Marcy Goldman’s “A Treasury of Jewish Holiday Baking.”
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By Ruth Abusch-Magder
God speaks to Jewish women as well as to Jewish men. God loves Jewish women as well as God loves Jewish men. From biblical times to the present, there have been prayers that speak to this love, answer this call and voice concerns of their own, but not usually in mainstream liturgy. Usually uttered outside the synagogue, and often hidden from public view, these prayers speak to the inner desires and struggles of Jewish women.Read More
