Norwitz Notions

Drash for Congregation Ner Shalom‘s Shabbat service, October 13, 2023, a few days after the start of the Israel-Gaza war. by Cyndi Norwitz. A few days ago, we celebrated Simchat Torah, marking the cycle of our sacred book from the end all the way forward to the beginning.  We unrolled the Torah scroll, creating a […]

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I have lots of memories of food my mother cooked when I was a child, but her strudel is one of my very favorites. She made it sometimes with poppyseed filling (from a can) and apple filling (from scratch). I made it many times with her and a bunch of times without her. Just like […]

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  Jewish Cemetery in Žilina, Slovakia Sorted by Surname I visited the very well-kept Žilina cemetery in May 2017.  At the entrance are two framed maps of the cemetery, painstakingly hand drawn to scale, each grave listed with the name found on the headstone.  This document is my transcription of these maps. The cemetery is […]

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Jewish Cemetery in Žilina, Slovakia Sorted by Location of Grave I visited the very well-kept Žilina cemetery in May 2017.  At the entrance are two framed maps of the cemetery, painstakingly hand drawn to scale, each grave listed with the name found on the headstone.  This document is my transcription of these maps. The cemetery […]

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Bytča Archives Jewish Records Sorted by Microfilm Number On a recent trip to Slovakia, my cousins and I visited the Slovakian state archives in Bytča, one of 7 regional archives in the country.  Their paper documents are generally for researching the nobility and other things not relevant to Jewish history.  The main records are on microfilm.  They have […]

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Bytča Archives Jewish Records Sorted by Place Name On a recent trip to Slovakia, my cousins and I visited the Slovakian state archives in Bytča, one of 7 regional archives in the country.  Their paper documents are generally for researching the nobility and other things not relevant to Jewish history.  The main records are on microfilm.  They […]

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This is the drosh, the Torah commentary, I wrote for my Bat Mitzvah on June 14, 2014.  My Torah portion was Sh’lakh L’kha, specifically Numbers 15:14-16. I gave a shorter, and less technical version, at the actual service.  The only changes were to the genetics portion in the beginning (I also did not read anything in boxes). […]

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Sites, books, music, and more For bat mitzvah, bar mitzvah, d’var Torah/drosh, aliyot, services, etc From the adult education class at (the Reconstructionist) Congregation Ner Shalom, Cotati, CA in preparation for our b’nai mitzvah, June 14, 2014 (plus June 28 & July 11) Last updated June 5, 2014 Torah Reading Sh’lakh L’kha (Numbers 13:1 – 15:41) in […]

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Thanksgivukah, Thanksgivukah Come light the cranorah… Friends, family, and a once in a lifetime holiday.  And how else to celebrate the first, and probably only, mashup of Thanksgiving and Chanukah but with sweet potato latkes and cranberry applesauce? I’m no stranger to vegan latkes (due to my dairy allergy and my daughter’s egg allergy) and […]

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Riddle: What is harder than taking care of a baby after having major surgery? This will be my last pregnancy update. I was 36 weeks pregnant on Saturday, September 26, 2009.  40 weeks is the “due date” and 37 weeks is considered “full term.”  But 36 weeks is considered safe and close enough to full […]

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Once a month, our synagogue, Ner Shalom in Cotati, California, holds a family Shabbat dinner.  Sometimes it’s a potluck, other times they order platters from a local restaurant.  A few months ago, I volunteered to do the cooking.  I had two motives here: 1) I love to cook for large groups of people.  Seriously, I […]

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We spent Thanksgiving 2008 much like Thanksgiving 2007, at a potluck gathering at Ecology House in San Rafael, California.  Ecology House is the only HUD (US Government) low-income housing for people disabled with chemical sensitivities.  It has 11 apartments and a community room where residents host events, meetings, and parties.  The Environmental Health Network holds […]

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Okay, so this isn’t a classic Thanksgiving dish, but it’s mine.  To people eating turkey or other meat, it is a nice side dish. For a vegetarian, though, it’s a good way to get significant amounts of protein without filling up on starch. This recipe disappears fast and gets raves (even from the meat-eaters). I […]

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I’m not going to pretend that making your own pumpkin puree is just as easy as opening a can and everyone should do it, but it is more satisfying, it tastes better, and does double duty using up your Halloween pumpkins.  And it’s not particularly hard. Start with the right pumpkins.  Your fabulous jack-o-lantern is […]

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Shhh…don’t tell anyone it’s vegan: they’ll never guess.  The first time we made this was Thanksgiving 2007 and it (along with all the cashew cream) was devoured. Someone else’s pumpkin pie (homemade with traditional ingredients) still had half left.  In 2008, this Thanksgiving treat was one of 3 pumpkin pies (all gluten-free as it happens) […]

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